#leonardo tomato

[localcreeture]

leonardo tomato

[bittertomato]

Oldie for the Lostbelt 6 crew

Castoria is technically all of the above but sharing is caring, Castoria

[seagull-scribbles]

Happy Fathers Day to this mutated rat and whatever he has going on 💕

[nameissmile]

Drumroll please! After a lot of debating I’ve decided to debut my own tmnt iteration! Everything will come to light shortly, and if you’ve got question shoot for the stars my guy :D

[transmasculine]

alt:

canon trans character icons!

if youre a weirdo i will fucking block you

dana adler, ella, gakuto, haru, jacques de molay, leonardo da vinci, lev, liezel, madeline

[kursedmayo]

He ate too many tomatoes </3

[balkanbitch]

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??

[fandom-hoarder-official]

Best part of the series is when leo fucks up his surname

[theblueredearedslider]

I Think I was Dyslexic

[zoniks]

Tomato Leonardo:

Descendent of the Tomato clan.

[adorkablecringeworks]

That Color Looks Good on You

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Pairing: rottmnt x gn!reader

Warnings: Mild swearing

Summery: You show off your new lipstick to your favorite dork, Leo. After a series of events, you and Leo come up with a plot for a perfect prank. You’ll ambush every one of his siblings and smother them in kisses with your new lipstick all the while Leo films the whole thing. Let the Shenanigans Commence!

Author’s Note: I originally came up with this as a Leo x Reader. But the way the story progressed, it can be read as any rottmnt x reader as well as either romantic, platonic, or familial. The same can be said for the gender. I was putting on my own lipstick when I thought up this scenario and I thought ANYONE CAN WEAR LIPSTICK!!! So gender neutral it is! Writing in the 2nd person made it easy too.

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Part 1: Neon Leon

You are excited about your new lipstick.

Berry pink.

Not too light. A deep shade without it being too dark.

Putting on the final touches, you admire yourself in your bathroom mirror. It made you feel strong, confident, Dazzling!

“Whadda ya think?”

You strike a pose in your bedroom doorframe, framing your face with your hands. You have returned from your shopping trip and eager to show off your spontaneous purchase. Your favorite mutant turtle ninja lounges on your bed with his snout deep in the newest issue of Jupiter Jim: New Universe H2G2. Not only is he claiming your space as his own… he’s out right ignoring you.

Leonardo Hamato. Your other half, partner in crime, bestie, your first mate. Although Leo would beg a differ on that last part, claiming that since he’s the only one with pirate experience that you would be HIS first mate.

Eeeehhh… Tomato Tomahto.

The point being that you and your Neon Leon give April and Donnie the run for their money for the ‘Besties Awards’.

You deadpan at him. At this point in time, you’re thinking about accepting new applications for the Bestie role.

Meanwhile, that said comic (that is apparently Soooo much more interesting than you) was the purpose of your errand. A favor for him for it was sold out online and the one comic shop that still had it in stock was for pick up only. Donnie had gotten caught up in his newest project, something about a portal device to alternate realities, alternate selves, (other Mad Sciencey stuff) and Apparently forgot to preorder the damn thing. That particular shop just happens to be down the block from your apartment as well as you are the ‘bestest-most-awesome-supreme-person-ever-and-he-loves-you-sosososo-much’.

So much for being the ‘bestest most awesome supreme-’ so on and so forth.

With a huff, you pick up a hoodie you left on the floor, balled it up, and chucked right into Leo’s head. With a ‘THWUMPH’ and ‘hurmf ’, you pounce on him, snatching his comic from his grasp (carefully for you just bought the damn thing), setting it to the side during which you grab your pillow and whack his still covered head.

“I was joking!” He cries out as you laugh maniacally. “I heard you I heard you!”

Fully satisfied with his punishment, you stand up and plop to the side all the while you let him get his bearings. Leo finally frees himself from your shirt and throws it back on to the floor simultaneously sticking his tongue out at you.

Such a drama queen.

You roll your eyes and return the gesture whilst you adjust yourself to sit facing your Leo with him doing the same, finally takes in your lips.

“I like it.” He nods approvingly, “Muy Bien!”

You grin so big your checks begin to ache. But then you notice your turtle going quiet, grabbing his chin as he goes deep in thought.

“You’ll hurt yourself if you keeps that up.”

You know to well how clever he is but that doesn’t mean you won’t give him a ration of shit. It’s in your job description.

It’s Leo’s turn to roll his eyes.

“I was just thinking on about how it would look on me.”

You lean back on your hands and squint at his face for a moment. You then pull out your lipstick form your pocket to hold the color bottom sticker up to him.

“Hmmm I don’t know… I think something more of a red shade would be better for you. You know, to match your moons.”

You love those moons.

“Are you kidding?!” The Bratticus Maximus snatches it out of your hand, “I can totally pull this off!”

You gasp and quickly reach for it back, but Leonardo (being a stupid fucking turtle ninja) easily keeps it out of your reach. Keeping you at bay by smooshing his hand against you cheek.

Where’s the respect?

Then a wicked idea creeps into your mind. You drop your arms and let them hang for a moment causing Leo to pause. You switch your effort. Grabbing his wrist, subsequently tearing it off your face. You then yank him towards you, pulling his face close to yours.

“Well then let’s try it out shall we?”

You lean in, planting a firm kiss to his cheek with an exaggerated ‘MWAH’ .

You take in his face for a moment as he gapes at you.

“Hmm I can’t tell, I need a larger sample size.”

A mischievous grin spreads across your face and in turn Leo balks. He’s on to you. You both are on the same wave length. Even though it isn’t possible, everyone swears you two can Mind Meld together. He goes to shove you with his free hand but you catch that wrist as well, leaving him open.

You attack.

Smooching all over his face, leaving kiss marks in your wake. He cries out as you leave no spot uncovered.

You fall back and admire you work while your dear slider sits there stunned

“I guess I was wrong,” you release him, “That color does look good on you.”

Leo bolts up and dashes to your bathroom to assess the extent of the damage during which you almost fall to the floor cackling.

You await his return, biting your lip, trying to stifle your giggles. However, you fail when he appears back in your doorway.

There Leo’s tries to put on his best sulk (adorable really), crossing his arms as you devolve to wheezing. But who’s he kidding. You got him good. Plus watching you turn blue in the face and on the verge of passing out is pretty hilarious in on it self.

He returns to your bathroom and you're able to gather yourself enough to follow. He give you his signature smirk once he sees you in the mirror where upon poses with his finger and thumb in the L position to under his chin.

“I told you a could pull it off .” His smugness oozing off of him as he looks over himself again. You swear you saw sparkles.

You’re finally able to get yourself under control and you meet his gaze in the mirror as you come up from behind him.

“Yeah ya did stud muffin.” You shoot him a wink. “That’s a good look on you.”

A furious blush blooms across your favorite blue boy’s face to which he responds by bumping his hips against yours as you pull up next to him. In turn, you bump back, pushing him over to make room for you in the mirror.

Chuckles are shared and you lean towards the mirror to reapply your lipstick.

There’s a moment of comfortable silence as you focus on the task at hand while Leo watches you. You and him share glances between each other through the mirror when a plot begins to form. Your shared glances become knowing ones. Insouciantly, you turn to face each other, Leo crossing his arms as you lean against the counter.

Your wicked grin returns to which the leader in blue bares one to match.

Once again, evidence that supports the conspiracy that both you can Mind Meld.

“Sooo…?”

“Sooooo…?

“We should show my brothers how good I look.”

“They’ll be sooooo jelly. We should totally include them so they don’t feel left out.”

Nonchalance is evident in your voices as you converse.

Leo reaches into his pouch to pull out his phone, his brows bounce up and down as he holds it up between you two. Your brows return the gesture in agreement. So, with your lipstick and his phone in hand, you both set off. At your front door, the true blue slider casually opens it and stands off to the side, bowing while holding his hand out. You play along, responding in a curtsy before placing your hand into his. The two of you are barely able to contain excitements check as you both leave your apartment.

You and Leo soon arrive at the lair, ready to set you plan into motion.

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This is my first ever fic!!! For many years I’ve attempted writing. Most never made it past the notes and plot outlines while a few never made it past the first paragraph. My main medium for my creativity has always been drawing so this is a HUGE deal for me!!! Especially since any of possible skill for creative writing I had apparently died back in high school. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!❤️

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[localcreeture]

auugh finally posting this here because i've seen a few people asking for tips on drawing in the rottmnt art style

this is how i first learnt to really nail down how to draw leo's headshape a few years back, but i find with some small tweaks and adjustments it also works well for the other turtles too :3

(also like yeah sans is there too bc it also works for his headshape,,,)

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Shadows Entwined: Part 5

BatmanVsTmnt!Leonardo x sidekick!reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 / Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Bonus (18+)

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A/N: Boy, did this take longer than I had thought it would. Anyway, it is finally going again!💙

Also, how have I been so thick that I did not know commissioner Gordon is Batgirl’s dad?? My Batman loving little brother would hate me if he knew…

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You learn about a break in at Arkham Asylum and get a little closer to the leader in blue.

Warnings: None in this one. Just a little fun before the horror.

The reader and the turtles are 19.

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You watched curiously as the four mutant turtles started eating their pizzas, causing tomato sauce to be smeared all over their face. And you watched in amusement as they turned down Alfred’s offer on napkins, causing the poor man to enter yet another state of mental crisis. And here you thought your and Damian’s antics in the Wayne Manor was bad enough, but so far the turtles had already caused Alfred more trouble than you and your brother had ever done in a week.

Leo noticed the way you were looking at him and his brothers, and shot you a questioning look.

“Uhm…”, you said, holding a finger up to your face. “You got a little…”

“Oh!”, Leo said in sudden realization, quickly getting his face clean with the back of his hand. Once more you couldn’t help but laugh, and Leo found himself more focused on the beautiful sound instead of the pizza slice in his hand.

As Batgirl was about to take a bite of her pizza, and you finally managed to get a piece from Robin, Batman’s voice sounded behind you.

“Batgirl, Robin, (H/N). Shredder and Ra’s will be looking for something to replace the Cloud Seeder. Any leads on where they might find that?”

“Not right this second, no”, Batgirl said, quickly whipping the pizza grease from her face.

“Then that’s what you should be working on”, Batman said before walking away.

Suddenly the pizza in your mouth didn’t taste as great as it did a few seconds ago. You saw your brother stare down at the uneaten pizza in his hand, before he let out a sigh.

“Yes sir”.

“Come on, dude”, Michelangelo said, following Batman with a slice of pizza in his hand. “You can’t fight crime without partaking in a cheesy slice!”

“This isn’t the time for pizza”, was all Batman said, causing Mikey to stand back in shock and sadness, not believing what he had just heard. This prompted Donatello to comfort his brother with the same pizza slice, soothing his head while shushing him.

A familiar beeping rang out through the Batcave, with the well known bat logo taking over the big computer screen.

“The Bat Signal”, Batman said, turning back towards you and the rest of your bat family. “Robin, (H/N), Batgirl. Let’s move”.

“What about them?”, Batgirl asked, nodding towards the turtles.

“What do you mean, what about us?”, Leo asked, his eyes finding yours for a short second, causing your chest to feel a little lighter. “We’re coming with you”.

“Please no”, Robin said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “If they come along she'll never keep her eyes straight!”, he exclaimed pointing in your and Leo’s direction. Your face suddenly felt hotter than the pizza slice you ate a few moments ago. You did not dare to look at Leo’s face, but had you done it, you would have noticed how his face has gotten just as hot as yours.

“I don’t know Shredder and I don’t know the Foot. Leonardo and his brothers are important assets”, Batman said, handing Raphael his sai back. “But, you’ll have to follow orders”. Batman eyes narrowed in on Leonardo. “This is still my city”. That comment did not go past the leader in blue. Batman wasn’t just talking about Gotham. He was talking about you as well. Asking Leonardo to follow his order on his ground, and his order when in regards to you.

“Deal”, Leo said, holding out his hand for Batman to shake on, only to be interrupted by Michelangelo, carrying the last of the uneaten pizza.

“We’re definitely gonna want road pizza!”

And with that you left the Batcave and went straight to the source of the Bat Signal. You did not find it surprising, to find the location to be Gotham City Police Department, and you found it less surprising when you saw Batgirl’s father standing on the roof, waiting, mumbling to himself like always.

“Hmm… Ninjas… As if he didn’t have enough problems in this city”, you heard commissioner Gordon say.

“Commissioner Gordon”. The old and tired commissioner turned at the sound of Batman’s well known voice. “What have you got for me?”

“It’s Arkham”, Gordon said, pulling a folder from his jacket. “The alarms went off an hour ago, but when…” He stopped, seeing the company that Batman had brought along. You, Robin and Batgirl was not an unusual sight for him, but four humanoid terrapins. That was something new. “What are those?”

“Teenagers”, Mikey smiled brightly.

“Mutants”, Donnie pointed out.

“Ninja”, Raphael growled.

“Turtles”, Leo finished.

“Have your boyfriend and his brothers been practicing or something?”, Robin asked you in a whisper, causing you to flick him over the head with your finger. Leo swallowed, acting as if he hadn't heard that.

Commissioner Gordon sighed, rubbing his temple, mumbling about a nice retirement where turtles didn’t talk.

“It’s okay Jim”, Batman comforted the commissioner. “They’re friends”. Jim Gordon took a second look at the four mutant turtles, thoughts spinning in his head, until Batman brought him back to reality. “Arkham?”

“Right”, Gordon breathed out, fixing his glasses. “When my people tried to move in they were attacked by ninjas. Like the ones that have been knocking over laboratories”.

“Shredder”, Leo grumbled, punching his left fist into the palm of his right hand.

“We got the perimeter locked down, but we have to assume there’s hostages inside”, commissioner Gordon continued, looking back down into his folder. “Guards, doctors, nurses. I need you too…” Jim Gordon looked up to find that all of you had already left. No trace of the people he just had been talking to. “Sure”, he mumbled to himself. “Leave before I finish, pff, that never gets old”.

You jumped and ran from one roof to another, right in the heels of Batman and Leonardo, listening as they were discussing the information commissioner Gordon had just provided.

“The Foot have been robbing high tech laboratories all week”, Leo said as you ran across the rooftop. “It doesn’t make sense for Shredder to take over an asylum all of a sudden”.

“It doesn’t matter”, Batman said, keeping his eyes ahead of him as you got closer to the edge before the next building. “Arkham and its inmates are too dangerous to take any chances”.

You jumped over the edge and the alley underneath, seeing the moon light cast shadows on the street below, before continuing onto the next roof. You heard as Mikey laughed and roared, riding his skateboard like a mad man.

“Last one there pays the pizza!”, he called out to Robin as he rode past him.

“It’s not a race!”, Robin yelled back in annoyance.

“Not with that attitude it isn’t”, Batgirl said, bringing out her grappling hook, before shooting away over the night sky.

“You gotta step it up, little brother! Otherwise I would like a family size!” you smiled, increasing your speed so you could get ahead of him, inching ever closer to Leo’s side. His blue eyes catching a glimpse of you out of the corner of his eye. “What do you say, Blue? Last one there have to do push ups?”

“Just because I’m a turtle, it doesn’t mean that I am slow!”, he called after you as you raced ahead, a smile spreading over his face.

“I’ll have to see you ahead of me before I’ll believe it!”, you called out, jumping to the next building, your hair flowing behind you as you did so.

Doing his best to ignore the burning look from Batman, Leo sped out, jumping right after you. A laughter escaped you as you noticed he was catching up. Wasn’t all of you on a daring mission on your way to Arkham Asylum, with your father’s heavy gaze right behind you, Leo wondered what he could do when he caught up to you. Would he dare to hug you? Just the mere thought was enough to make him scold himself mentally. Just a moment ago he had thought of what Shredder’s plans might be, and now he wanted to hug you.

Leo watched as you jumped onto yet another roof, a level further down than the one you just came from, way ahead than the rest of Leo and the rest. Disappearing from his vision, Leo couldn’t help but get a little worried. He increased his speed even further, before jumping down to the same roof. But Leo’s worry only grew further when he couldn’t find you on said rooftop. A mild panic managed to settle into Leo’s head, worrying what could have happened to you. Did the Foot take you? Or Ra’s al Ghul? What would Batman say? Were you okay?-

“Boo!”

Leo jumped and turned, finding you laughing your warm laughter. He couldn’t help feeling relieved, seeing your happy smile in front of him. But how you managed to sneak up on him was a mystery. Yet another thing he wished to learn about you.

“I’m sorry, Leo”, you said, holding your stomach in laughter. “I couldn’t help myself”.

“No, it’s okay”, he said, taking the time to admire your face and your smile, just as Robin jumped over your heads and landed on the roof, his feet still moving as he ran.

“You gotta step it up, big sis!”, he yelled over your shoulder. “I doubt Turtle Boy can pay for my deep pan!”

Leo caught a glimpse of your face turning deep red under your mask, before you started running after your adopted brother.

“You little maggot!”

Leo couldn't help but chuckle as he started running after the two of you. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be dreaming about hugging you. Especially not if you looked that adorable with a red face.

[rhinocio]

ROTTMNT Fanfic Recommendations

Light

You Coveted This Prison by CaveDwellers (April / Donatello - Comedy / Character Study - WIP) THE April O'Neil character study. One part excruciating (for reader and supporting cast) slow burn romance, one part introspection on being true to oneself. Rated M but only for one chapter, which can be skipped. Riddled with laugh-out-loud comedy shenanigans and heartachingly tender intimacy. Hot takes all over the place because the author wrote this with very little fandom involvement, and intentionaly chose to be contrarian in as many ways as possible. April takes down her arch-rival! Raph locks her in a freezer! Casey Junior's keeping secrets! Donatello's wall of horrible fake sciencey souveniers keeps growing and it may or may not be a sign of affection -- he's going to crunch the numbers on that. An absolute blast of a fic, cannot recommend enough.

★

Tried To Grow Up Good by Sroloc_Elbisivni (No romantic focus - Character Study - Complete)

THE Casey Jones post-movie character study. Love is stored in the found family. Casey is an accidental felon. He and Cassandra are siblings now. Anatawa hitorijaNAI let's get the entire two timeline fam in here for a reunion so I can sob myself silly. Perfection. This author's constantly pumping out new fics, and often updating multiple at a time; I've read through and greatly enjoyed Tomato Maze (there is so much serotonin in the knowledge that these idiot turtle boys will do anything for watermelon), Sorrow Is An Autumn Heart (Leo/Usagi but make it a slowburn thriller-drama set in historical Japan), and The Passionate Pools of Salamandria (a post-movie Raph/Mona bodice-ripper with an amnesiac protagonist and a B-plot where the rest of the family fight space to find their missing brother). Honestly this author has the WILDEST takes and everything they write is fascinating.

★

Give Me Something That’ll Haunt Me When You’re Not Around by Taizi (Leonardo / Yuichi - Drama / Romance - Complete)

If you've decided you're finally gonna take a dive into the leosagi crossover ship and see what all the fuss is about, do it with this fic. The author has a strong grasp on how to make a character study about characters first and relationships second, and in doing so has crafted one of THE most tender romance stories I've ever read. Starts as a character study on Yuichi Usagi and the yokai perspective on the Kraang invasion, branches into an exploration of PTSD and what it means to recover, and ends with a friends-to-lovers quickburn that says, "because of you I'm learning to love myself." Leo gets a therapy dinosaur. Yuichi gets out of his head. The character nuance and showing-not-telling is godtier. Healing starts with telling the alien invaders to go fuck themselves. Do not pass this fic up, I promise you it's worth the read. It legitimately made me cry.

★

The Old College Try by Theashemarie (No romantic focus - Action / Drama - WIP)

Donatello cloaks himself human to go to college, and drags his twin brother along. This fic masquerades as a fun, comedy-heavy action adventure story, but under the surface is a really fascinating introspection on what it means to hide your true self in order to fit in. The queer subtext is off the charts! Leo babysits Baxter Stockboy. Mikey gets eaten by a bird. One of the grad certificates is definitely going to be made out to to the wrong Hamato entirely. This fic features an autistic writer writing an autistic character, and their personal experience shines through in the excellent way Donnie's awkwardness and affection are balanced. This author knows nuance; I also highly recommend The Hibernator (apocalyptic timeline and Raph's dead........ wink) and Very Thoughtful (a Donnie-centric low empathy study).

★

Aftermath by Bronte (No romantic focus - Drama - Complete)

The boys deal with the aftermath of the movie events in whatever ways they can. Donnie gets into pina coladas. Leo harasses his brother. Look at these disaster twins bonding! There's a flippancy to all the angst that keeps these lighthearted and love-focused without skipping the rough details. I'm literally never going to recover from the belly bongos scene and will probably end up making art about it. Fantastic read, made me viscerally emotional.

★

At The Bottom Of A Duck-Shaped Crater by CaveDwellers (April / Donatello - Drama / Comedy - Complete) One part worldbuilding for the apocalyptic timeline and one part heartfelt comedy from the perspective of Miyamoto Usagi. Leonardo adopts a babysitter. Casey Junior saves the war effort from collapsing under a dick-measuring competition. April may or may not be about to kill a man. CaveDwellers is among my favourite writers for several reasons, but this fic really highlights her strength in blending several different kinds of relationships in one story and building a plot that delivers achey-breaky sentiments without having to structure everything around romance. (We're also developing projects together; keep an eye out for the "next in series" button at the bottom of the AO3 page for soft apocalyptic stories of a similar nature!)

★

Superfight by Swordfright (No romantic focus - Drama / Comedy - Complete)

An easy-reading one shot! Leo comes to terms with being a teenager, Donnie calls his disability out for what it is, and everybody plays Superfight the card game. The author writes in a very Douglas Adams-y style, resulting in a wheezing-on-the-floor-funny reading experience. If you're burnt out on fandom angst and need a pick-me-up, this is 900% the fic for you. It got me cry-laughing with just the quick refresher glance I gave it to put this recommendation together.

★

Now That's What I Call A Vacation! by WayWardWatson (No romantic focus (?) - Adventure / Crossover - WIP)

This fic's a multi-feature! It's one part infodump about Japan's culture and tourist hotspots, one part study on what it means to cloak your identity to fit into the world, and one part surprise crossover with Usagi Yojimbo. I am OBSESSED with this author's takes on Splinter as a character; several chapters are dedicated to exploring his fixation on being "human again" and trying to juggle the life he once had as a star with the life he now has as a parent of mutants. Primarily this is a feel good adventure story about the Hamato brothers getting in touch with their heritage, but it comes in swinging with several different action/adventure plot points and drama beats to keep a reader invested. Legitimately have no idea where the author's taking things, which makes me all the more excited for the ride!

★

One Step Forward, Fall Forever Back by GriffinStone (No romantic focus - Action / Mystery - Complete)

This fic is one of those slight universe alteration stories that takes a one-off thought and runs with it: what if Casey Junior died on his way through the time rift, spawned into the past as a ghost, and Leo was the only person who could see him? Promise the execution is way less daunting than it sounds -- events move along at a breezy pace and characters never spend very long lamenting the whole dead boy situation. The final battle alone is so chocked full of found family ride-or-die energy between the two protagonists that it's worth the rest of the adventure playing out pretty similarly to the movie. Definitely a treat for those of you who are big on Leo-Casey interactions.

★

A Mixed Bag by MusingWordsmith (No romantic focus - Action / Comedy - WIP)

What if I told you there was a fic where the turtles of every major tv show TMNT iteration shonen anime-style battled their way through challenges in mixed teams of four in order to defeat a team of evil overlords who may or may not know what they're doing re: evillness? Trust me when I say this story is fun -- it blends comedy and drama flawlessly, and the author totally committed to the bit in keeping each version of the turtles loyal to the genre of their individual canons. The 1987 turtles are breaking the fourth wall. The Rise kids are absolute supersoliders. 2003 Michelangelo somehow ended up as the babysitter of his particular faction and is kind of having a crisis about it. I am so beyond impressed at how well this author distinguishes each character and keeps who's who from getting too confusing, which is a common issue in TMNT crossovers. Reading this fic feels like watching literally any version of the show as a kid on a Saturday morning. It is a blast.

Medium

Young Root, Old Rock by SiryyGrey (No romantic focus - Action / Thriller - WIP)  

Shortly after the Kraang invasion a mysterious file of an unreadable format shows up on Donnie's computer, and he's driven by an intense curiosity to decipher exactly what it is and means. This author goes HARD on creating tense, muscle-tensing atmosphere, which is balanced out by extremely tender character interaction. Casey knows something he's not letting on. Donnie makes himself a robo-brain. Leo blows up his brother. You ever wanted an adventure with the blorbos that was also an ARG? Cryptic messages are sprinkled throughout the chapters for readers to decipher. Mind the tags but absolutely do not pass this fic up!

★

No Rest For The Weary by Nekotsuki (No romantic focus - Action / Adventure - WIP)

Ever thought "hey what if the movie just kept going and we found out what happened to those other kraang"? Hello and let me introduce you to THE post-movie out of frying pan and into the fire fic. I have it on good authority that this author was a big name in the 2003 TMNT fic scene, and I suspect for good reason -- this story perfectly blends heart-pounding action with A+ belly laughs and solid found family energy. Donnie hacks cute animal emails and narcs on the enemy. April fights zombies back to back with Barold Draxum of downstairs neighbour fame. Raph gets tranquilizer-darted by his brother for being too emotional. 100/10 wild ride, cannot recommend highly enough.

★

I May Be Invisible, But I Still Look Good by Dandy (No romantic focus - Adventure / Thriller - WIP)

Several TMNT AU competitions have made this fic a household name, and for good reason -- the author's come onto the scene with a bold, fun plot premise: after a battle gone wrong, Leo finds himself alive but unable to be perceived via sight, sound, or touch. Naturally, his family assumes he's dead. While it starts on the angstier side, this story's got a lot of heart and shoves tenderness into every possible crevice; the longer it goes on, the more tears are swapped out for laughter, and anguished dialogue-heavy interaction trades place with high-octane action. Worth sticking with!

★

Creation, Haunted And Holy by Greenglowsgold (No romantic focus - Drama / Thriller - Complete)

I lied about the romance it's Donnie x Technodrome with a twist. This fic reads like fascinating poetry, and does right by its source material by taking one of the fandom's favourite angst catalysts and turning it into a demonstration of the strength of love. Looking for something wildly different? GGG's got you. Would also highly recommend their outside-POV slice of life fic Midtown Mutants!

Dark

The Lemonade Leak by TurtleSoupSwimmer (No romantic focus - Horror / Thriller - WIP)

How do you explain to your family that your twin brother's possessed when you have no evidence, aren't sure if said brother is still alive somewhere inside the zombie, and revealing you know something's wrong could get everybody killed? There is no describing how completely feral I've gone for this fic - the author's technique of starting chapters with small, raw, seemingly unrelated scenes that segue into the current plot and enhance the tone or underlying message of the story is just incredible. They've given the turtles a fascinating mutation feature that adds layers of intrigue to the plot. The character interaction is heckin' tender, we got a nice scoop of self-worth issues from Leo to deal with, and the scary scenes are grip-your-phone-and-stop-blinking scary. The author promises a happy ending but that doesn't make Lemonade Leak any less of an incredibly tense ride. This is a fic I jump on the second I get the AO3 email notification.

★

The Smoking Gun: A ROTTMNT Tactical AU by AlienMadame22 (Donatello / April - Action / Adventure - Complete)

Agent Bishop of the EPF stole four turtle mutants away from their father as children and raised them as militia; dad's gotten back in contact and intends to break them free. This author absolutely took off running with the tactical AU prompt that various visual artists started up, grabbed a handful of canon concepts to mess around with, and mcguyvered together a wild ride of a story that continues to catch me off guard. Strap in for a fic riddled with emotional complexity and character nuance, and come prepared to cry. Fear not the ship tag, as the fic is primarily non-romance-focused and the ship elements are handled in an interesting, convoluted way that works to further the plot and add comedic value. Smoking Gun is a refreshing new concept in a very busy fandom tag and I have been eating it up like candy.

★

The Dawning of the Hour (Series) by Faiakishi (No romantic focus - Horror / Drama - WIP)

Donnie is captured and brainwashed by a pre-Vegeta-arc'd Baron Draxum, who subsequently starts parenting the kid out of guilt while using his talents to fuel the canonical Mutate All Humans takeover plot. It's been often called the Donatello version of Like Father Like Son, but that does its storytelling a disservice - this series goes much deeper in the psychological and physical horror direction, has an underlying political intrigue plot, and spends a generous amount of time with the secondary cast (plus a few excellent OCs) in order to really ramp up the intensity of the premise's whole situation. The first story is very whump-heavy, but does a lot of setup for fic two: The Drax-Daddening, which gives Donnie a friend in Cassandra Jones and finds more space for affection and comedy. The author's ramped up the sources of conflict several times over in the first few chapters of the series' second fic, making rescue by the Hamato feel ever more impossible. Despite being a very complex and interesting read (grey-morality my beloved) I cannot stress enough how VERY not for kids this fic is, so proceed with extreme caution!

[ramzawrites]

My knight in shining shell - 2k12!Leonardo x Reader

GEN

Pairings: Leonardo/Reader

Characters included: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael

Warnings: n/a

Series: No

Summary: Leo is stoic and serious. He needed to be for his brothers and the team. This is just how it worked and honestly he has gotten really good at being the serious leader. But then there was Y/N who just tore that right down to pieces. They were a flirt and somehow they managed to affect Leo. So much so that he began having a serious crush on them. Sadly the flirtiness was only with him, no they did the same with everyone. One moment they flirted with him, which gave him hope on to take that hope and destroy it as they began flirting with someone else. It’s only natural that Leo would get to a point where he needs to tell Y/N to stop.

Word count: 4805

Authors Note: The truth come out, Ramza does not know how to flirt but they tried their best here 😤Also just saying, detailed prompts are always good! It gives the author you request to more to work with! Then again this can depend a bit on the author but I think this is true for a lot

Request: Ohhh requests are open??? How about 2012 leo with a flirty reader. He tries his damn hardest to remain composed and all responsable and leader-like but he just goes full on tomato when reader flirts with him.

Thing is... leo actually developsa crush on reader, but they are a bit flirty with everyone and he is not sure if they really like him back, and is a bit insecure about the whole "stoic boring leader" thing and thinks they would not choose him 

One time they are alone and teasing as usual, but leo can't take it anymore and says to please stop playing with his heart, he can't take it anymore. And reader is like... dude I mean everything I say to you, why do you think I flirt with you the most out of everyone?

Angst with a cute ending hehe 💓 

(Or just flustered leo with a flirty reader, If you don't like detailed prompts?)

(Ps. Could you tag my sideblog @selfship-mishaps if/when you post the request? I would love to see what you write but don't want it to get lost on my dash!)

Being the leader meant for Leo that he needed to be in control. It was his job to ensure that whenever the group was out on missions that everything went along smoothly. He needed to have a plan for every possible situation. Sure, his brothers may joke that he acts way too paranoid or is way too cautious but this way he could ensure that the chances of all four of them returning in one piece was way higher than if they just winged it. Besides he was happy to take on this burden himself. His brothers don’t need to worry about all those things and can instead goof around when the time allows it.

And the older they got the better he has gotten to fall right into his stoic leader persona. Not a single twitch in his facial expression when he dodged the sixth water balloon from Mikey that day.

His brothers have accepted him being the worrywart and stoic brother that he was. After all they grew up with him, they know him better than he might think. They very much realized what kind of burden he laid on himself. In private Leo did enjoy to goof of here and there as well, which especially Mikey took advantage of, though over time even that seemed to lessen.

Raph would sometimes joke that Leo’s face was made out of stone the way he always carried the same expression on his face.

Now for Leo, the chaos of his brothers was a known quantity. At this point he could predict fairly accurately what they were up to and what was going on. It wasn’t hard to steel his emotions and expression when you knew what to expect and after all, he has a ton of training in that regard.

So, when the group got into contact with a new human, Leo was certain he could uphold his typical persona fairly easy. But of course, the universe wouldn’t make it that easy for him, for the universe sent no one else but the agent of chaos right to them.

Y/N was actually quite a normal human. Did alright at school, had a few friends with whom they happily hung out with and loved to read comics in their free time. And yet if you asked the others, they would describe Y/N as someone who believed that life was a game and that they were currently winning it.

It was almost frustrating how easy Y/N managed to befriend everyone.

They were introduced to the group after the turtles saved them and April from some attackers. April has been already good friends with them. The two just randomly met and apparently hit it off immediately. It didn’t take long for Casey to meet them as well and from that on the mention of Y/N became an almost daily occurrence.

April or Casey would stare at their phones, sometimes giggle or roll their eyes only to explain to the turtles that it was “Just Y/N being Y/N”. Of course, the turtles got curious and asked them about this mysterious Y/N who suddenly caught Casey’s and April’s attention so much.

Poor Donnie saw April even less because she met up with Y/N as often as she could. Something about being happy that she had a normal friend as well.

That of course changed when the brothers saved April and Y/N from a Krang attack. April tried to send Y/N away, tell them to flee and that she got it covered but Y/N was stubborn. They tried kicking one of their attackers away only to painfully realize that they were more robust than anticipated.

The turtles dealt with the bots quite easily with the help of April as Y/N just stared mouth agape. As soon as the last one fell to the ground Donnie helped April up on the roof while Mikey grabbed the new human to help them up as well.

There April calmed them down and explained them that friendly turtle mutants exist and that they were good friends of hers. Saying something on the lines of “Remember the friend group I always hang out with and talk about? That’s them.” Which earned herself a bit of a stern stare from Leo.

“Well, what am I supposed to say when I have to randomly run off when I hang out with them. It’s easier to just say that a friend needs my help. Which is usually true, I just omitted some things.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Leo knew that April was in a bit of an annoying position, but she has managed to handle her two different lives as a normal student and as a kunoichi in training surprisingly well, so he felt it was fair to let this go. Besides the cat was definitely out of the bag at this point.

Which reminded him.

Y/N was standing next to April, once they realized that the turtles were friendly and good friends of their friend they definitely relaxed. They even sported a nice and friendly smile as he and his brothers introduced themselves. It spoke volumes about them how they managed to stay calm and even friendly in the night where they suddenly found out that robots with aliens in their bellies existed but also ninja mutant turtles who fought them on the regular.

Mikey was bouncing around, clearly happy since this situation probably meant that they get to have a new human friend. Even Donnie and Raph eyed them curiously.

Leo on the other hand had his typical neutral but stern expression on. He would be more worried about the implications of this situation, but April seemed to trust them with the knowledge of him and his family. But still, he had to ensure his family’s safety.

Taking a few steps closer so he stood right in front of the new human he took a moment to stare blankly into their eyes. Maybe it was a tactic to intimidate them a little, maybe he just wanted to see how they would react. Either way Y/N wasn’t afraid to stare him down right back. The slight grin on their lips didn’t go unnoticed. It made Leo feel like as if they knew exactly what he was doing. As if they could see right through him. He didn’t like that.

“Y/N.” He tried out their name. Even though their eyes were still burning right through him it felt like there was a new glint in their eyes.

“You do not tell anyone about us, if we find out you talked about us to others… I’ll make sure you will regret it.” Okay, sure some might say this was way too aggressive, but this was about the safety of his family. Seeing how his said family didn’t step in, they must have realized his intentions as well.

As a response Y/N laid their hand over their heart “I solemnly swear I will not mention you guys to anyone. I mean who will believe me anyway? Besides you guys saved me, and April seems to like you. Who am I to put my handsome knight in shining shell in more danger.”

That was a… response. It made him stop in his tracks. If he wasn’t already tense this would definitely make him tense.

April couldn’t help herself as she let out a chuckle “You are impossible.” Clearly used to their antics.

Leo just narrowed his eyes “This is serious.”

“And I’m being serious as well! Everything I said I meant wholeheartedly.” Their smile wide accompanied by a wink, clearly referring mostly to the little flirty quip at the end.

Before Leo could retort April just elbowed their side to which Y/N finally relented and sighed.

“I mean it. I won’t tell anyone anything. I don’t want to put you into more danger and from the little bit what April has told me over time I can tell that she trusts you a lot.” Somehow Leo thought it was impossible for them to sound serious but here they were.

Suddenly Leo felt some weight on his shell and Mikey’s face popped up next to him as he was still busy staring down the new human.

“Does that mean they will be a new friend that we can hang out with?”

“I’m not sure. They would be in way more danger if they hung out with us. It would be better if they just continued on and ignored our existence.” Leo replied.

But apparently Y/N had other ideas because they shook their head “Oh no, Blue. You can’t get rid of me that easily now. Any friends of April are my friends.”

Mikey beamed at that, leaning more over his brother as he continued climbing up him. Leo had to move a few steps to the side to keep his balance as Mikey tried to get closer to Y/N yet he still looked at Leo from the side “See! They say we are already friends, Leo!”

“If it helps, Leo, I’ll vouch for them. I honestly believe one of the reasons I wasn’t suspended from school yet for missing classes is because Y/N here managed to come up with excuses for me even without knowing what was going on. I trust them.”

“Only if Sensei is okay with it.” He finally relented.

Y/N and Mikey cheered at that while April happily laid her arm around them. April might have been happy with having a normal friend, but she accepted a long time ago already that her life will never be normal.

Finally, Mikey jumped off his eldest brother to begin talking Y/N’s ears off.

The group led their new friend to the sewers where Y/N met Splinter. Y/N must have noticed how the others held immense respect towards the tall rat mutant since they tried to act as polite as possible. They happily told him who they were and earnestly told him that they will keep their existence a secret. And after April once again vouched for them Splinter happily agreed to let them be apart of the little friend group of his sons.

When he retreated into his quarters Leo’s brothers, mostly Mikey, immediately jumped to get to know the human better. As they begun pulling them along to show off their home, Y/N took a look back towards the leader in blue.

“Seems like we will get to know each other better, Blue.” Another wink and they turned back around to follow Mikey around.

And as Leo felt a tingle in his stomach at their words and behavior, he knew that they would be more trouble than they are worth it.

And trouble they were. Specifically, for him.

The brothers sat around the kitchen table, opening their pizza cartons to finally grab a nice bite to eat after a long training session. Honestly it went better than usual. Even Mikey managed to somewhat focus. Well for a few minutes longer than usual.

It was then that Y/N just waltzed into their lair as if they owned it. They were about to fling themself on the couch but noticed the brothers in the kitchen.

“What’s up, dude! Good timing!” Mikey said, his mouth full with pizza.

Y/N chuckled as they walked into the kitchen, their eyes looking over the pizza boxes “Clearly! Can I get a piece? Pretty please?”

But Mikey put his arm protectively around his box, lightly pushing it away from Y/N a serious frown on his face “Nuh-uh! I worked for this! Should have grabbed some food before coming over.”

Their eyes widened, their mouth playfully turned downwards “Mikey! My pretty best friend! You would starve me?”

“Yep.”

Clearly Y/N couldn’t let this be so their pleading eyes landed on Raph.

“No chance.”

Then on to Donnie.

“Oh no. This is mine. You came in here unannounced that’s what you get.”

And when Y/N’s eyes landed on Leo, he made sure to ignore them. He just kept on eating. It didn’t stop him from feeling warm under their gaze. And while he made a point to not look at them and concentrate on his food, he did notice Y/N stepping closer. From the corner of his eyes, he could see them pout.

As they stood next to him, they leaned closer to him, one hand casually on his shoulder “Come on, Leo. Please?”

“You heard Donnie.” Was all he said.

Now what Leo forgot was that Y/N didn’t know what shame was and honestly, they were way too brave for their own good.

Just as Leo grabbed another pizza piece their own hand landed on his wrist as he was halfway back in the air. Now he couldn’t help but look at Y/N, who had a very smug smile on their face. Not wanting to give them the satisfaction of a reaction, he made sure to steel his expression into his professional neutral one.

As the two stood in this standstill the other three at the table couldn’t help but stare.

Both kept staring at each other. Leo stoically and Y/N smugly.

Once again to Leo it felt like Y/N could see right through him. Through the façade he put on to look stronger more able than he sometimes felt. Though right now he needed it to hide how his mouth suddenly felt dry, how there was an unmistakable heat climbing up his neck as Y/N stood so close to him. He knew they did it on purpose to stand close and press their side against his.

It’s just how they were, he tried to explain to himself. They searched for body contact whenever they could. Grabbing Mikey to dance to the music they randomly put on. Climbing onto Raph’s back as a way to distract him when they played video games. Throwing their arm around Donnie’s shoulders to pull him away from his projects.

He could feel the pull of their fingers against his wrist as they slowly moved his pizza towards them. Taking a huge bite out of it with a grin.

“Thank you, Blue. You’re my favorite for a reason.”

When they suddenly let go of his wrist, he couldn’t help but miss the warmth of their hand. Even while they forcefully had moved his hand so they could take a bite out of his pizza, it was still careful.

“Is… Is Leo blushing? Did Y/N manage to break our fearless leader?” Raph asked. He genuinely sounded impressed.

Leo moved his head away to the side, a frown on his face. He wasn’t blushing! He couldn’t be!

“Wow. Y/N is more powerful than I thought.” Donnie spoke.

Taking in a deep breath Leo tried to calm his heart down, this was horrible. Normally he could hide his emotions well but somehow Y/N really managed to get under his skin.

Speaking of Y/N they placed their hands on his arm, slightly squeezing it “Hey, Leo, come on. Look at me.” Their voice was soft, quiet even as they pleaded to him but even without looking at them Leo could tell that they were still smiling. They were always smiling.

At this point he felt like he had better control of his body, so he turned around, trying to look unamused. Expecting to see Y/N with a Cheshire smile on their face but he instead it was a soft one. There was an emotion hidden there that he couldn’t decipher. Their eyes clearly running over his face, probably trying to find a hint of said blush. Which he of course didn’t have!

“Aw, I wanted to see your blushing face! I bet it looks cute.”

Leo sighed defeated, once again turning away “Just grab a slice already. You won.” The heat exploded on his cheeks at their last comment. He knew it didn’t work like that, but he hoped that his mask would hide his blush.

“I know I just said this but there is a reason you are my favorite. You don’t let me starve.” They made sure to narrow their eyes and look at the other turtles accusingly.

The others didn’t even seem to properly register what Y/N was doing. They were honestly too baffled that this just happened. Getting under the leader’s skin like that so easily was not easy. Actually, they haven’t seen anything like that yet. Not from someone outside the family at least. As his brothers they knew how to push his buttons, but this was new.

Oh, they will be sure to remind him of this until the end of days.

As it turned out though, they didn’t have to do a lot since Y/N had it covered themself.

After the pizza incident they were mostly found around Leo. Throwing themself on his back whining something about wanting to be carried by him. Stealing his food whenever they could. Putting their legs across his lab whenever the group had movie night. And the hugs, there were so many hugs.

And whenever Leo broke out into another blush Y/N would cheer happily and give him compliments about how it apparently suited him.

It didn’t take long for Leo that he had to admit that he developed a bit of a crush on Y/N.

How could he deny that fact for long when there was literally only one thing that managed to break through his leader persona, and he couldn’t help but enjoy it a little bit. At first it was annoying. He needed to be the serious one, he needed to have the control but somehow Y/N just managed to break through that wall so easily again and again.

The problem with admitting that he did indeed have a crush was that he started having hope. Hope was dangerous, especially with Y/N.

Every time they searched for body contact with him, made compliments, flirty quips when they watched him train, he couldn’t help but for the moment think this was something they only did to him. That this meant something more than just to rile him up and see him flustered as his brothers giggled.

But whenever Y/N pulled Mikey along to dance again, interlacing their fingers with his, whenever they asked for a one-on-one training session from Raph with a wink, whenever they told Donnie that they enjoyed listening to his ramblings because they loved his voice, it felt like someone threw ice water onto his head.

A wake-up call from his own rose-tinted dream that he tried to hold on to.

He knew he made it worse for himself as he couldn’t help but enjoy the attention from Y/N and looked for it whenever they came to visit again. At this point he only needed to take one look at them for his heartbeat to pick up. A smile cracking through his façade when his eyes met theirs. His breath hitching when they notice how he looks at them and grace him with that soft smile that he saw so rarely.

And then they turn around and throw a compliment towards one of his brothers which always brought him back down to reality. Reality hurt.

Reality was that Y/N just liked to flirt with everybody. It was just who they were. It was harmless. It meant nothing.

It meant nothing to them. It shouldn’t mean anything to Leo. His mind knew what was going on, but his heart didn’t.

There was no chance that Y/N liked him back anyhow. They were funny, loved to goof off and did everything to liven the place up. He was just the boring leader who looked serious twenty-four-seven and forced everyone else to take everything serious. No, there was no chance that they could feel the same in any way. It was just impossible.

Honestly this was maddening. He tried to work through his frustration with training and meditation, but Y/N invaded his mind even then. Leo had to admit, he was thoroughly screwed.

Leo knew he had to do something about it but what, he didn’t know.

The day came sooner than he anticipated.

He just finished another training session alone when Y/N came into the dojo. Even as brash as they were they knew that the dojo was a bit of a special place. Taking cautious steps towards Leo, searching his eyes for permission.

Leo chuckled “What’s up?” He made a choice to ignore how his heart was thrumming behind his plastron as he saw how Y/N now walked happier over to him. Their hands behind their back as they smiled their soft smile.

Whatever the reason was as to why they came over, he wanted to believe that it was more than boredom that made them choose to look for him specifically. Damn, there he goes again, making life more difficult for himself.

Y/N shrugged but the glint in their eyes told him they had a specific agenda “Oh, I don’t know. Heard that you were training and thought I could maybe watch but apparently you are done already. Bad timing on my part.”

“You know how often you watch us train you might as well join us.”

“Oh, what? Then I have to save my sorry butt myself! Why save myself if I could just wait for my blue knight in shining shell come and sweep me off my feet.” They sighed dramatically, laying the back of their hand on their forehead.

Leo narrowed his eyes at that. Of course, he would come and save them whenever they are in trouble, but he would do this for all his friends. Y/N wasn’t special at all, yep.

Y/N giggled stepping closer, playfully poking him once at the top of his plastron “Don’t look like that, Blue. If I remember correctly when we met it was you who carried me while you all sailed along the roofs to bring me to your lair. What can I say, I got addicted. I mean who wouldn’t be when a guy just casually picks you up and safely carries you like it was nothing.”

“Can you just… stop.” His voice was quiet, yet it made Y/N stop blabbering while he was surprised himself. It just left his mouth, betraying what went through his mind. He needed this to stop, this false hope was painful.

“Not liking compliments today?” Y/N clearly tried to alleviate the awkward air that suddenly surrounded the two. Their eyes looked over him quizzically.

Leo gulped, noticing how his mouth was suddenly dry, something that happened way too often around them “I-“ It was his chance to finally set things right and get rid of this knot in the pit of his stomach.

Y/N cocked their head to the side “I know you are the serious one, but I really don’t like this frown on your face. I prefer a smile on it. Tell me what is going through your mind, Leo.” They rarely called him that, opting to calling him Blue most of the time.

Their hands tentatively traveled to his hand, squeezing it. It was their way to encourage him. After all they were very much the touchy type.

He sighed, trying to breath out the nervousness that encompassed him “I just can’t keep dealing with this. I don’t think you notice the way you are playing with my heart and it’s just-“

This might be the first time Leo saw Y/N almost mirror his serious expression “You need to talk to me otherwise I can’t help you.”

They were right.

This time Leo didn’t mind that he could tell that he was blushing, he needed this to stop. He couldn’t concentrate anymore but he needed to.

“Your compliments… your flirting is what the problem is. I care for you. A lot. And every time you throw these compliments at my head my heart skips a beat! At first, I was just embarrassed but the way- how easily you can just get to me… I fell for you, Y/N and every time you flirt with me only to turn around to do the same with others.” He sighs again “It hurts. I need you to stop playing with my heart like this. I can’t concentrate anymore. Just- Just stop this with me, please. I know this doesn’t mean anything to you but to me you give me hope only to tear it into pieces the next moment. I tried ignoring it, but I can’t anymore.”

Then there was quiet.

Y/N just kept staring into his eyes as he tried to stand his ground.

Leo just told them exactly how he felt but it was needed. He couldn’t do this any longer.

His face was ablaze, and he could tell that he began to sweat due to his nerves. Leo tried to untangle his hand with that of Y/N’s but they just squeezed his hand again, laying their other hand on top of his. The warmth was welcoming but at the same time it felt like it was burning him. He wanted to retreat, just get out of this situation, and forget this has happened but Y/N held him firmly in this place.

But what really made him stop trying to get out of their grasp were their eyes. The soft smile, a crinkle around their eyes as their smile seemingly reached their beautiful eyes. Though what surprised him was the unmistakable blush that was on their cheeks. It positively sucked all the air out of his lungs.

He could cry, he wanted all of this to stop but somehow it just got worse.

“Yeah, you are right. Only partially though. I am a flirt. It’s how I show I care for people, it’s just my go to reaction but the problem with that is when I really mean it… I guess it comes over as my usual self.” They chuckled nervously.

“Y/N?” his voice was wavering.

“It means that when I flirted with you, I actually meant it for once. Maybe I thought you could tell that I was flirting with you more than the others because I care for you. I think, the moment I met you I began having a crush on you. I never wanted you to feel this pain. The first time I saw your blushing face I knew that I had it bad for you.”

To say the least, this was not what he expected.

Leo expected that they might try to talk their way out of this. Say something that he should loosen up but this? Never. Maybe only in his dreams but that was that. Dreams.

“You mean that?” He flinched at the crack of his voice, suddenly feeling more like a child than a ninja that beat up all kinds of foes on the daily.

Y/N let go of his hand, sad at the sudden loss of contact once again. But their hands landed on his shoulders, pulling him closer against them in a hug. It wasn’t the first hug but this time it felt more genuine, more loving, more intimate.

They slowly moved a step back to snake their hands over to grasp his face softly between their soft hands. Leo involuntarily leaned more into their touch.

Seeing this as a good sign, Y/N smile and moved up to meet his lips in a chaste kiss. Their lips soft as they hesitantly brushed against his. It felt like he got electrocuted. Not believing what was happening. His heart felt like it exploded in his chest. The butterflies in his stomach seemed to have multiplied.

“Does this answer your question?” They looked confident but the waver in their voice betrayed their own nerves.

“I- I think so…”

“Okay, then if you can tell what I’m feeling for you now let me just say this. I’m sorry for doing this to you. I never meant to play with your emotions like that. I realize now how this all must have looked towards you and I’m really, really sorry.”

This time it was Leo who softly leaned over to catch Y/N off guard with a kiss. Where this sudden confidence came from, he didn’t know. Maybe it was all the frustration that has build up over the months.

“I think I can forgive you.” He chuckled. Immense relief rushing over him. “But…”

“But?”

“Maybe keep your attention from now on me only?”

This made Y/N laugh, it was a beautiful laugh that seemed to wash away any of the rest of the thick air that was still surrounding them “Oh, happily! How can I not! I have my handsome prince charming right here.”

And this time with this simple flirt, it felt correct. There wasn’t a heaviness, there was just the heat that laid across Leo’s cheeks while his heart tried to jump out of his chest. And dare he, he even allowed a huge smile to crack through on to his face.

[summersnow82]

Just in Case There's a Phantom: Part 6 of That Familiar Feeling

Author's note: Y'all are fabulous. Thanks for sticking with me. See if you can find my Easter Egg.

Fanfiction_TMNT Bayverse/ 2003 crossover

“Sooooooooo,” Mikey drawled, glancing back and forth between Leonardo and Sean. “This is awkward.” Both were glaring at the other, arms crossed over their chests, and Mikey swore he saw Leo flex enough to make his biceps bulge. Sean, to his credit, seemed unmoved.

Splinter sighed deeply. Clearly there wasn’t going to be any conversation tonight. “I’m going to bed,” he announced.

“Yeah, me too,” Mikey agreed. “Raph’ll probably have her out all night anyway.” Two pairs of blue eyes turned on him with blazing intensity, and he shrugged. “He’ll bring her back home safely,” he assured Sean before turning to his older brother. “Be nicer next time, Leo. She’s a nice girl, and I’m not gonna let you scare her off.” He turned towards his bed then stopped to toss in, “Besides, she likes me.”

Leo rolled his eyes, turning back to Sean. The human hadn’t moved. “I’m curious,” Leo began, and Sean arched an eyebrow. “Raph said he’d watched Annabelle for a week before he grabbed her. If you really are her brother why didn’t he see you, too?”

A slow, satisfied smile slid over Sean’s face. “You really think we didn’t know we were being watched?”

Leo’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Sean took a step forward. “I mean,” he said coolly, “I knew how to get past all of your booby traps. Belle knew something was coming. We’ve been doing this for awhile. We’ve been trained by others. We’ve been hunted, and we’ve been stalked. We know when we’re being watched, and your brother was not subtle.”

Leo’s frown deepened as he tried to connect the dots Sean was laying out for him. “The star,” he said softly. “Raph’s ninja star.” Sean nodded, and Leo thought he saw a flicker of approval in the man’s eyes.

Leo had forgotten all about that night, but now the memories can flooding back. They’d heard the laughter from the rooftops above, and the delicious smell of mozzarella, tomato sauce, and garlic lured them closer. He saw her first; hair in a high ponytail, dress swirling around her ankles, and her laughter tinkling like music. He had stared, and Raph had noticed. It didn’t help he’d just lectured Raph for an hour on staying in the shadows, accepting their life apart from the humans, blah blah blah. His hot-headed brother swung down into the alley behind the restaurant, and caused enough commotion for her to investigate.

“Raph!” Leo hissed in his brother’s direction, but the red clad turtle ignored him. He was watching the brunette peer around the corner of the building.

“Leave it, Belle,” Sean cautioned, shifting his tray of dirty dishes to the closest outside table. “Loretta left us dinner. Let’s finish up out here and close up. I’m starved.” She’d waved him off, taking a cautious step towards the darkness and away from the light. “Belle!” Another step. “Annabelle, c’mon!”

“Hello?” She’d called out. Raph smirked up at Leo before expertly tossing a ninja star out of the shadows. It landed where he’d intended – inches from her feet. Leo didn’t know what Raph was expecting, but curiosity wasn’t it. She narrowed her eyes, crouching down to pluck the star from the spot it was currently embedded. She fingered the weapon carefully, examining it slowly, before her eyes flickered up to the darkness.

…and precisely to where Raph was currently crouched on top of a dumpster.

“Leo?” She whispered. Another step forward. “Leo?” She said a bit louder this time. Raph hissed in a breath, and shot Leo a withering glare. She opened her mouth to say more, but another star flew out in her direction, this one much more aggressively. She cried out, jumping back as it stabbed the street where she’d been previously standing.

“Time to go,” Sean had told her, grabbing her arm and jerking her towards the restaurant’s back door.

“Wait,” she’d cried, thrusting an arm out towards the shadows.

“Nope.”

“Wait!” Sean wrapped an arm around her waist, scooping her up, and slamming the door behind them. Leo had performed a similar exit with his own brother, but his was less… thoughtful.

Leo rubbed his brow as the memory faded into angry accusations and name calling from his brother, and he looked up to see Sean watching him. “She knew.”

“She hoped,” he said. “She’s been trying to get back to them for a very long time.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Donnie said, piping in. “And if you’re up for it I would love to pick your brain about a few of my theories on time and inter-dimensional travel.” He paused. “And I definitely want to know how you got past all my defenses.”

Sean blinked, his eyes shifting from Leo to Donnie. “That was you?” Donatello nodded. Sean’s face split into a huge grin. “Those were amazing! I was really impressed by the engineering.”

Donnie grinned, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. “I mean, it’s no time machine.”

“Hey, don’t do that, man,” Sean said, walking over to him and patting him on the shell like they were old friends. “Those were some really ingenious works of art out there. The only reason I knew how to avoid them was….” Leo tuned them out as the two men went into a lengthy spiel full of technical terms and jargon no one in their family could comprehend. Donnie didn’t have many people who could understand him on an intellectual level, and it was clear he was loving every moment of this conversation.

Sean’s demeanor had shifted, as well. The blonde visibly perked up as Donatello spoke, his eyes brightened, and soon he was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. It was obvious he understood everything Donnie was saying, and even more so, he was delighted by this unexpected meeting of the minds. Leo admittedly didn’t understand Sean’s reply, but it was hard to continue hating the man who was currently engaging in brainy geek speak with his genius brother. Leo watched as Donnie waved Sean over to his work station to continue the conversation with visual aids, the two men forgetting about the turtle in blue.

Leo cast his eyes to the exit Annabelle and Raphael had used not too long ago. It wasn’t too late; he could still follow them, and keep a watchful eye from a safe distance. But no. Leo was many things, but desperate wasn’t one of them. He was logical, and logic told him Raph would keep her safe, and bring her home to them. Logic also told him Mikey was right – he’d been acting like a jerk. To her, to Raph, to everyone. Yesterday he had no idea who this woman was, and now suddenly he was acting like a possessive boyfriend because some other turtle had passed on his own emotions and memories? To what end? What was the point of these turtles calling out to him and his brothers? Leo frowned, and tried to think about it logically.

Safety. They wanted to keep her safe. Endearing her to others would certainly do just that.

Home. They wanted her back, and she didn’t seem able to get back to them on her own. Donnie was a genius. Perhaps they were counting on his genius to be a staple in other dimensions, as well. If anyone could get her back to them it would be Donnie.

Leo thought those were excellent reasons on their own, but there was something else tickling the back of his brain. He’d felt the same earlier this evening, and it was gnawing at him. There was something else...something so close he could taste it.

Leo was many things, and proactive was one of them. The itching grew stronger as his resolution grew. He wasn’t going to wait on this other Leonardo to come to him this time. This time he was going to reach out and mind-dominate this turtle until he had all the answers he wanted.

……………….

“He really mentioned my singing?” Annabelle asked as Raph led the way deeper into the sewers. “I wouldn’t have expected that from him.”

“Here we are.” Raph stopped in front of her, and shifted out of the way so she could see their final destination. The sewer tunnel opened up in a dome-like shape with golden orbs clustered together in the middle of the ceiling. The masonry surrounding the globes was far more sophisticated than anything Annabelle had seen on their walk so far with depictions of curling vines, detailed feathers, and stone busts that looked more angelic than gargoyle.

“What… what is this place?” She asked, stepping further into the room, and turning around slowly to take in her surroundings.

“Honestly, we’re not a hundred percent sure. Donnie has some theories about bootleggers.” He paused. “Or vampires,” he said, shrugging. Annabelle shot him a glance, and realized yes, the vampire comment was serious. Then again, if there were mutant ninja turtles and time travelers in these sewers were vampires really that hard to swallow?

“Vampires, huh?” She spun again, slower this time. “Maybe the sewers have a Phantom instead?” She shot him a smirk over her shoulder.

“Freakin’ love that show,” Raph muttered, moving to the far left wall. He leaned back, crossed his arms over his broad chest, and tilted his head back a touch. “Think this will do for an impromptu concert?”

Annabelle cocked her head to the side. “You were serious?” He arched a brow, and she shrugged. “M’kay. I don’t really get it, but why not?” She pursed her lips for a moment, and then nodded as if she’d made a decision. “Just in case there is a Phantom… .” She shot him a grin, closed her eyes, and began to sing.

“Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye. Remember me, once in a while, please promise me you'll try. When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free, if you ever find a moment spare a thought for me.

“We never said our love was evergreen or as unchanging as the sea, but if you can still remember stop and think of me. Think of all the things we've shared and seen. Don't think about the way things might have been.

“Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do. There will never be a day when I won't think of you.”

Raph had been right – this was the perfect place to sing. The acoustics were phenomenal, and any nerves Annabelle might’ve had in the beginning disappeared as she marveled in the way her voice carried.

“I think you should do it.”

“Do what?”

“Sing professionally. I know you’d make a great doctor, but it’s obvious this is what you’re passionate about.”

Leo’s words of encouragement floated to the forefront of her mind as she finished the song. How many times had she caught him silently listening to her play the piano late at night when she couldn’t sleep or singing to herself to calm her anxiety? He’d made her feel so safe, so secure, and so confident with just a nod of his head or a simple smile. It seemed inevitable she would develop feelings for him, even if she didn’t quite know how to define them. Her chest hurt and her throat ached. Why had she chosen that song? The emotional baggage it dredged up was painful to relive.

Raphael’s slow clap jolted her from her thoughts. “Holy shit.” Her eyes flashed open to see Raph staring at her. “He wasn’t kidding. You really do have a set of pipes on you.” An almost feral smile split over his face as he began to walk towards her. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

“Ummmm.” Her nerves skyrocketed as the behemoth in red strode towards her. “No?”

“It means,” he declared once he stood in front of her, “that I am finally gonna beat Donnie and Leo at karaoke night!”

…………..

Master Splinter stressed meditation. It helped calm the warrior spirit, cleared the mind, and provided clarity and reflection. In hindsight, Leo wished his father had done more mental exercises instead of physical ones. Finding the right Leonardo and combing through his memories were proving to be harder than he anticipated.

Pizza, pizza, pizza, Shredder, robot Foot ninjas… wait… no. Wrong Leo.

Rain forests, stone statues brought to life… whoa! Big monster. Wrong Leo.

Leonardo sighed in frustration. Just how many alternate versions of himself were there? He could probably ask Donnie, but he didn’t want the explanation that would definitely follow. He closed his eyes again, took a deep breath, and tried a different approach.

Annabelle. Annabelle. Dark eyes, darker hair, pale skin. Feisty, sassy, thoughtful. Scared, angry, traumatized. Hopeful, gentle, caring. He focused on her image, cleared his mind of all other thoughts, and pushed.