#spark gone!donnie

[another-melomanie-blorbo]

Spark Gone AU

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Okay so I already have playlists for this AU well they're in progress and i already have an idea abt what it is and the design (im just not very artsy like that TvT)

ANYWAYSSSS

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Splinter and Draxum take care of the turtles but they're always fighting and the fights have even gotten physical before. All and all its not a very good environment.

As for the boys, they mostly live in the sewers but frequently go to Big Mama's hotel to escape it.

In this AU Mikey is no longer the sunshine character, as much as he would like to he just... isn't. Instead a girl named Vicki (my besties oc) is. She lives with her father and step-mother and has a good environment, however, every other week she goes to stay with her mom and step-dad which is not exactly a good environment.

Donnie is often getting in fights WITH his two dads. He's sick of it but at the same time doesn't care. Still, he gets in between them which hes never ended well. If he doesn't feel like getting in the fight Leo told him not to and he needed to heal he'll lock himself in his lab and work, ignoring it as much as he can.

Leo is still the medic, actually he's really good. That comes from practice though. He would/will patch up his dads and Donnie after their fights. Its would always be so brutal, he was glad they at least were good fighters, at the same time though he wished they wouldn't fight at all. When they start arguing he goes to the med bay and starts to prep wondering if it'll ever end.

Raph is the oldest and is normally taking care of his brothers, making sure they are fed, that the have clean clothes, etc., etc. He protects them, tries to keep them out of trouble. Raph normally stays im his room or with one of his brothers. When his dads start to fight he just tries to ignore it by meditating or training.

Mikey spends most his time out of the lair. In the Hidden City, Big Mama's hotel, New York City roof tops, anywhere that wasn't home. He hated when they fought and hated hearing it. When he's on roof tops he listens to music and sketch's. He used to dance and he was a beautiful dancer at that. When Splints and Draxum fight Mikey leaves the lair, if he can't leave then he goes to Donnie's lab with his headphones and turn the volume all the way up.

Mikey has also thrown away his ballet shoes and no longer dances, only he knows why.

The boys have gone to school before but are now home schooled. They went to April's school thanks to Big Mama giving them cloaking broaches.

VICKI! okay so she has step parents on both sides. She lives with her dad and step-mom which is a pretty good environment. Every other week she goes to her mom and step-dads, which is not. They are always drunk and fighting. When she meets the turtles shes like "okay if i can't fix my family i can try here" she pretty much gives them their spark back.

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OKAY so whadaya thiink~? honestly i kind like this one. IM EXCITED EEEEEEEE i wonder how it will turn out OH WELL :D.

[httpvomitello]

You don't mess with our sister *⁠.⁠✧

Request: Hello! I would be interested in how the turtle brothers and dad Splinter would be. What if their little sister dated an abusive boyfriend?

TW: mentions of toxic relationship, aggression, aggressive boyfriend

The family had noticed the changes in you for weeks. Normally upbeat and quick to laugh, you’d become quieter, more reserved, and you always seemed just a little on edge. The spark that had once been so distinctly you was fading, but whenever anyone asked, you’d wave it off with a tired smile.

The first to catch on was Mikey. You’d always had an easy relationship with him, so when he noticed you flinching or brushing him off whenever he asked about your boyfriend, he knew something was up. He tried gently at first, coming up with plans to take you away from your boyfriend or slyly joking about “that punk boyfriend of yours” to see how you’d respond. But each time, you brushed it off, insisting everything was fine, despite the bruises you always tried to hide and the excuses you’d make for them.

Raph was next. He had a sixth sense for danger, and his anger flared whenever he saw you shrinking away from your own family or flinching at sudden movements. He was relentless, trying to get you to admit what was going on, but you’d grown defensive. “Just stay out of it!” you’d shout, but he wasn’t easily deterred. He knew something was wrong, and he was determined to protect you—whether you wanted his help or not.

Then there was Leo, watching the situation carefully. He’d seen Mikey and Raph struggle to reach you, and it tore him apart seeing his little sister like this. He wanted to help but knew that pressuring you might push you further away. Instead, he tried reaching you through quiet moments, asking if there was anything he could do or gently reminding you that you always had family here for you, no matter what.

And then there was Donnie. He’d been piecing things together in his own way. The tech-savvy genius had taken note of your boyfriend’s patterns, his social media presence, and everything he could find about him. Donnie didn’t push you as hard as the others, but he kept a close watch, knowing that he’d need to act fast if things took a turn for the worse.

Finally, it was Splinter who sat down with you one evening, his voice gentle but his eyes firm with concern. “My child,” he said softly, “I have taught you much, including strength and courage. I know you carry burdens we do not yet understand. But you do not carry them alone.”

As you finally broke down, telling them everything about the abuse, the room changed. Leo’s jaw clenched, Raph’s fists tightened, and even Donnie and Mikey exchanged dark glances.

"I’ll find him," Raph growled, his voice low and deadly. “And he’ll wish he’d never laid eyes on you.”

Mikey’s usual grin was gone, replaced by a steely resolve. “Nobody hurts my little sister and walks away from it,” he muttered, cracking his knuckles. “It’s payback time.”

Leo placed a steadying hand on Raph’s shoulder, but his eyes were as fierce as the rest of them. “We need to be smart about this. We’re not just going to hurt him. We’re going to make sure he never sees (Y/N) again.”

Donnie adjusted his glasses, his voice unusually cold. “Don’t worry. I'll track him down in a sec.”

Splinter, who had been sitting beside you, gave each of his sons a calm but knowing nod. “Remember, my sons—do what you must to protect your family, but do not become the very thing you despise.”

As you watched, they disappeared into the night, slipping out of the lair and into the shadows of the city.

They split up as they approached the boyfriend’s apartment, each taking a position around the building. Leo held up his hand, signaling for silence.

“We go in quietly,” he whispered. “We’ll give him one chance to leave her alone. If he refuses…well, then we make sure he gets the message.”

Mikey grinned, though it was a far cry from his usual warmth. “Oh, he’s gonna get the message, alright.”

With a nod, Raph kicked the door open, sending it crashing against the wall. The guy jumped up from his couch, stumbling as he tried to scramble away, but Donnie was already blocking his path.

“Going somewhere?” Donnie asked, voice low and menacing.

He looked around, his eyes wide with fear as he took in the sight of the turtles closing in on him. “What…what are you freaks?” he stammered, backing up until his back hit the wall.

Raph stepped forward, towering over him, his expression dark. “We’re her brothers, and you’re the guy who thought he could put his hands on her.” He cracked his knuckles, leaning closer. “You ever hear of karma?”

“W-Who? Y-You mean... Do you mean (Y/N)? Look, I…I didn’t mean—” the guy started, but Mikey cut him off.

“Save it,” Mikey spat. “You think you can just hurt her and get away with it? Not on our watch.”

Leo held up a hand, signaling for his brothers to stand back for a moment. He looked the guy in the eye, his gaze unwavering. “This is how it’s going to go. You’re going to leave her alone. Forever. If you so much as think about coming near her again, you’ll be dealing with us.”

He gulped, nodding frantically. “Okay…okay, I’ll leave her alone! I swear!”

Donnie raised an eyebrow, not convinced. “Words don’t mean much coming from someone like you. But if you break this promise, we’ll know.”

With a final glare, Leo nodded to his brothers, who turned to leave, but not before Raph leaned in close one last time. “If I hear you’ve have you been texting her or something? I’ll be back. And trust me, you don’t want that.”

As they left, they felt a grim satisfaction, knowing they’d done what was necessary to protect you. They returned home that night, slipping back into the lair, each one’s expression softened as they saw you waiting for them.

Leo said, his voice calm. “He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

You ran into his arms, relief flooding over you as Mikey and Raph ruffled your hair. Even Donnie managed a small smile, his voice gentle as he reassured you, “We’re here for you. Always.”

Splinter watched from the sidelines, a hint of pride in his eyes. His pride in his family only grew as he knew he had raised his boys the right way.

[rallentando1011]

hey so can I get a scenario with rise donnie’s s/o coming up to him and invited him to a restaurant in the hidden city where it has couples dancing? Entices him with his favourite music that’s gonna be playing and massive puppy eyes?

late nights, flashing lights

rise Donnie x gn reader

“Come on, it’s the weekend! Why not do something special?”

Donnie flipped up his goggles in response to your question and set down his welding gun, sparks ceasing to fly at his confusion. “I haven’t the slightest notion on what the day of the week has to do with my choice of activities.”

“Our choice of activities - we’re hanging out right now, so it’s collective,” you corrected.

“Fine - our choice of activities. Sitting and working and engaging in riveting discussions is all we do on other nights, so what makes this one any different?”

You paused. All week, you had been planning a surprise for him - a trip to a quaint little disco in the Hidden City you’d heard about from April. She’d sent you some pictures from when she’d gone with Sunita and Casey, and then the idea took root.

But it was easier said than done.

Planning to surprise your turtle was difficult primarily for two reasons: the snoop always found out about it in advance (which you’d avoided narrowly this time by not mentioning anything about any plans tonight) and, the most difficult part, trying to get him to choose to go out of the lair, the step you found yourself currently stuck on. Still, you were going to try.

“I don’t know,” you replied coolly, “maybe the fact that it’s supposed to be the end of the week, time to relax or go out or something?”

“Out?”

“Yes. Out. With me. Instead of holing yourself up in the lab or whatever,” you mumbled.

“Out where? Not a lot of Homo sapien-mutant-accepting entertainment establishments come to mind, and, much as I love pretending not to be myself,” he flicked his goggles back down and turned back to his workspace.“I don’t know if I’m really in the mood for it right now.”

“Well.” You didn’t want to say that you knew of one in particular because that sort of spoiled the surprise element of the night. Hesitantly, you suggested, “we can try to look for one?”

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, hand stopping just shy of picking up his welding tool once more. “I don’t know…”

“Could we please just give it a shot?” Hook.

You nudged his arm, mustering up the warmest look you had. Line. “Any time you want to come back or feel uncomfortable, we’re headed right back here.”

Donnie glanced back over to you, and you could discern the exact moment he caved. Sinker. “Sure.”

The next half hour consisted of throwing on sweatshirts, linking arms and whipping out of the lair straight toward one of the many entrances to the Hidden City.

As you wandered through portals, down ramps and bystreets, the turtle you were practically dragging along looked at you exceedingly more quizzically.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Donnie eventually muttered.

“What?” you asked incredulously, quite unconvincingly. “No, of course not. Just meandering randomly. What gave you that impression?”

“Oh, nothing - just the fact that you’re walking with assertion in a seemingly predetermined path.”

A subtle smirk worked its way onto your face. “Maybe.”

He scowled, lighthearted. “Oh, sweet Galileo- why mustn’t you ask me out with you straightforwardly when you already have plans?”

You pulled on his sleeve to direct you two left before pushing the entrance of your location open for him. “Because then I wouldn’t get to see the look on your face when I take you places like this.”

As soon as he stepped foot in the building, you saw the glow in his eyes, his radiant beam, and they were far more beautiful than the already gorgeous venue.

The pictures you’d seen of it looked good, but seeing it in person was even better; with the amber lights and colorful tiled-dance floor and overhead disco ball, the place looked like it was ripped straight out of the 80’s. 

“It’s a discotheque, baby!” you grinned, throwing an arm back around his shoulder. “Last one like this within, like, a thousand mile radius.”

“Woah!” Somehow his eyes lit up even more when he looked back at you. It was stunning. “How have I not heard of this place?”

“I mean, that checks out. April recommended it, and apparently it took Sunita forever to find somewhere with a more traditional disco - it only plays 70’s and 80’s hits. You’re welcome.”

Donnie was still stupefied. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

“I heard they’ve got some tables over there for dining, and that the drinks from there-”

Your hand was gently snatched from the air where it was pointing at a countertop across the room. You looked down at the tridactyl hand holding it, then up its owner.

The turtle grinned, finally pulled from his daze and emphatically lucid. The look in his eyes bore a striking resemblance to the exact one you’d used to get him to agree to come here. “We can get into the dives and dining and whatnot later - for right now, care to dance?”

“I mean, I have a reservation for-”

Another hand on your waist was all it took to shut you up, and slowly walking backwards landed the both of you on floor, and pulling you closer resulted in the both of you grinning and spinning and dancing.

As a myriad of killer songs blasted from the front of the room, you found yourself inundated with a seeping, saccharine satisfaction, partially derived from doing the merengue and cha-cha and some deviant of the Cabbage Patch along with many more improvisations, but mostly from the sheer elation exuded by your dance partner.

Even as you two continued to bounce to Whitney or sway to Prince, his focus stayed on you, eyes locked, with scarcely a moment without a hand or arm making contact with you.

Somehow, just that affectionate attention, that carefree yet caring energy made the efforts of getting him into a social setting and keeping a surprise from the nosiest person in the world abundantly more than worth it.

[lizaaardstuff]

Hellebores (shattered)

Hey guys, I’ve decided to try something a little new. This is a fic I’ve been working on for the last month now, and I wanted to share a small snippet of the beginning with you guys since it’ll be a bit longer before I’m able to post it on ao3.

This is a Donnie centric story that will take place after the invasion (like my other fanfic), but the beginning kicks off during the end battle.

⚠️Trigger warning for this fic will include: Major Character Injury, Permanent Injury, Paralysis, Internalized Ablism, PTSD, Medical Stuff; you know, the works.

Please let me know your thoughts once you’ve read this, I’d love to hear them <3

Word count: 1,845

———

Being apart of the Technodrome was... incredible. Being so wholly welcomed into such vast knowledge and power was thrilling- world changing. He was everything. He was everywhere. Nothing was out of his reach. He could feel the space in his head expand, his senses heightened to new levels, and as long as he ignored the pain in his shell and the prickling in his limbs and the pressure in his head, he would describe this as the best experience of his life. Truly, nothing could ever compare.

And then he was ripped out.

Violently.

Without any care to what it would do to him.

And suddenly the greatest experience of his life had turned into a living nightmare. He had never felt pain like this before, and not a second too soon, he blacks out.

———

"...nie!"

"Donnie, wake up!"

Donnie's eyes blearily crack open, dizzying colors invade his senses, and he fights the urge to close them again. He can hear himself wheezing, struggling to take in a full breath. He feels his head dipping down towards his chest, and he realizes he's being held up. Blinking to try to clear the haze from his vision, he looks around to his brothers, who are all being held up by the same gooey Krang matter. Donnie almost does a double take when he sees Raph, with the Krang's influence gone, but he doesn't even get a second to revel in this new development, because Leo and Mikey are suddenly yelling for him again.

"Donnie, c'mon, you have to fight it!" Leo shouts from across the room. A flash of blue lights up the room, and Donnie can feel the electricity of his brothers ninpō light up in his chest. And now that he's focusing on it, he can feel Raph's ninpō there too, strong and steady. Feeling that spark ignites something within his own kindling, and when Mikey's ninpō joins the mix, that's all the push Donnie needs before a beam of striking purple joins the cacophony.

There's yelling, but Donnie's ears are ringing, and everything sounds like it's happening behind a wall of cotton. He sees everyone's ninpō burning away the Krang matter that was holding them up, and he assumes the same was happening to him, but he could barely feel it.

Donnie drags in a breath, feeling like he was breathing through a straw, and uses all of his strength to lift up his right arm to pull at the Krang gunk that was pulling at his neck. If I could just get a moment to catch my breath...

And then the Krang matter is gone, and he's falling.

Donnie lands hard on his side, pain flaring through the upper part of his spine and echoing out across his chest, and the impact forces a weak cough out of him that takes away the little bit of air he had managed to gain in his lungs.

"Donnie!" he hears from above, but his eyes are slipping shut again, his energy spent.

There's a soft thud next to him, and a gentle hand on the side of his face. "Donnie, open your eyes man, please. C'mon, just open your eyes."

Leo.

Donnie slowly peels open his eyes again, despite how badly he wanted to just let them remain closed. Because Leo asked nicely.

Donnie drags in another breath.

Why is it still so hard to breathe?

"There you are," Leo sighs, a confusing mix of worry and relief painted on his face.

Donnie hears quick footsteps behind him and a soft gasp, "his shell," "oh Donnie," but when he tries to turn his head to see who's talking, Leo's hand that was still on his face presses down lightly to keep his head in place. "Don't move."

Donnie's head is starting to feel light from the lack of oxygen.

"Oh my god, Leo, what do we do." Mikey. That's Mikey. Donnie's fingers twitch against the ground as he tries once again to turn his head to see his baby brother, but Leo's hand remains firm.

"We have to move." Raph. His big brother is here too. Wait...

Donnie's already unsteady breathing halts, his eyes going wide. "Wait," he croaks out, all eyes turning back on him, "if you're all here... the Krang." Donnie's words slur, and his sentence ends in another wheezing breath.

The others share a confused look above him. Leo looks back down to meet Donnie's eyes, gently taking his hand with the one that wasn't securing the softshell's head. But Donnie could barely feel it. Everything felt so disconnected and muffled. Shock, maybe.

"Donnie," Leo says sharply, like he'd been calling his name a few times. Donnie drags his eyes back up to Leo, blinking through another round of haze. "Donnie, you're holding them off. Or, at least I'm assuming it's you. There's a big purple dome around us, and you're glowing, so..."

Huh?

"Leo," Raph says urgently from wherever he is. Donnie still can't see him or Mikey. If only I could just sit up... "We still need to get the Krang through that portal." There's hesitation in his voice, and Donnie wishes he could see his face.

"I know!" Leo snaps, voice trembling and eyes brimming with overwhelmed tears. It felt so unlike him. He'd only seen Leo make that face a few times in their lifetime, and most of what he could count were from the last 24 hours. Donnie focuses solely on flexing his fingers around Leo's hand, and Leo squeezes back automatically, looking back down at him but still talking to Raph. "I know, but- we can't move him like this."

"Leo, we can't stay here," Donnie hears Mikey say from somewhere above him.

Donnie watches as a tear rolls down Leo's cheek, catching the purple lighting of Donnie's ninpō. Then Leo squares his shoulders and his face hardens, eyes glancing up to meet the others above him, and Donnie knows that he's come to a decision.

"Raph, in a few minutes I'm going to need you to pick up Dee. As carefully as you possibly can. I'll portal you down to a safe spot. Donnie actually managed to get the ship pretty close to the portal before the Krang grabbed him and Mikey, so all Mikey and I have to do is push the big guy through. I need you to watch Dee, if you can find anything hard and flat to lay him on once you're down there, that would be best. Make sure he doesn't move." Good, Donnie thinks as he listens to his twin slip back into his leader voice, Leo's got this covered. Donnie can feel his eyes slipping shut again right as Leo's eyes shift back over to him. "Dee, look at me, I need you to focus."

Donnie would have rolled his eyes at the slider if he wasn't feeling so sluggish. Instead, he tries to hum to let him know he's listening, but it turned more into a weak groan.

"Before I have Raph pick you up, I'm going to do a quick check to see how you're doing. I need you to keep the shield up, okay? Can you do that for me? No, don't move your head, I got it," Leo adds quickly, pulling their hands apart to stop Donnie from nodding with both of his hands.

"Okay," Leo says, more to himself, as he finally lets go of Donnie's head, throwing a sharp glare in his direction with one more, "don't move," as he picks up Donnie's wrist to take his pulse.

He frowns, clearly not pleased with what he's feeling, but he moves on anyways, carefully shifting his head to lean against Donnie's chest. It was difficult since Donnie was on his side, and Leo seemed to take extra care in making sure not to jostle him. Leo's frown only deepens. This check up clearly wasn't going well. Damn, there goes my perfect test scores...

Then Leo goes to check his eyes, but without a pen light to use and the lighting around them being so dim, he gives up on that, moving to hold Donnie's hands instead.

"Squeeze my hands," Leo instructs.

Donnie has to dig through his energy reserve moving his fingers, and he notices that his right hand reacts before his left. Huh. But either way, he manages to give Leo's hands a weak, lopsided squeeze, which seemed to be good enough for now because Leo nods approvingly.

"Okay, now wiggle your toes for me." The slider sits up a bit straighter to look at the softshell's feet. Or, where Donnie assumes they must be, because he can't feel anything below his chest. Donnie's never been in shock before, and after this experience, he never wants to again. Though, that's a bit redundant. No one ever wants to go into shock, that would be masochistic. But Donnie definitely would rate this experience a zero out of ten, would not recommend-

"Donnie, focus," Leo says, placing a hand on Donnie's arm, bringing Donnie back to the present. "I need you to wiggle your toes." Was Donnie becoming delusional, or was there a hint of desperation in his brother's tone? Probably both.

So Donnie wiggles his toes like Leo has asked of him, if only to ease his brother's concern.

"Donnie, seriously, man. Move your toes so we can finish this up. I know you're feeling kinda out of it right now but-"

What? "I already did," Donnie mumbles out, immediately wishing he hadn't spoken when such a simple task leaves him breathless and dizzy.

"What? No, dude, you didn't. Try again." Leo's tone sharpens, eyes going wide, despite his casual wording.

Donnie furrows his smudged brows. "What're you talkin about?" Donnie tries to get an arm under him to push himself up, turning his head towards his legs, confused, but the second he tries to move, Leo's on top of him again.

"Stop! Stop moving," Leo shouts hurriedly. Donnie can feel the sharp sting of Leo's panic through their interlinked ninpō, and suddenly there's a shift in the air. Ignoring Leo's frantic pleads and shaking hands, Donnie tilts his head up slowly, painfully, and sees the large purple dome he had accidentally created to surround them shudder. A loud pounding followed by muffled rage filled roars could be heard just outside of the shield, as the Krang leader slams his fists into the structure, clearly becoming impatient.

When the Krang brings his fists down again, the structure glitches.

Donnie gasps, along with his brothers, and by pure instinct he pushes more energy into the shield. The world starts spinning and the corners of his vision go dim as he uses up the last of his reserves, and when Donnie blinks his eyes back open, his head is laying on the ground again. Leo's shouting something to someone, and there's a flash of bright, neon blue, and there's a large arm shifting under him. The last thing he sees is a burst of purple pixels as the dome shatters before his eyes slip shut.

———

Okay so I really have no idea how to format anything on this app, so if it’s hard to read, I’m so sorry 😭

[msbarrybeeson]

Before You Go | Future Donnie & April Insight (Part VI)

(Reader Included)

A/N: Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Reader comments and feedback are also welcomed a lot. 

I have been gone for a long time. Just occupied with my studies! No fan fiction author curse or anything (yet).

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. The story follows the perspective of Donatello and April O’Neil during the Kraang apocalypse. You and Leonardo decided to ask them to watch over thirteen-year-old Casey.

In other words, familial interactions between April, Donnie, and Casey Jr.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “(Mom / Dad)” are also used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: Bittersweet.

Word Count:  ~3490

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / ...

~

Donnie knew how much of a genius he was.

It was no surprise after all. In his late teens, he improved NASA’s satellites to communicate with planets light centuries away. He cured breast cancer through the use of protons in radiation therapy to target specific cells, rather than affecting the harmless. Hell, he even managed to discover a new type of radioactive particles: mutons. By that point, he—.

“—should have been given a Nobel Prize in Medicine and in Chemistry.” Donnie cursed under his breath. He strolled over to his lab bench, equipping his goggles.

Squeeeak. 

April– who was found seated on Donnie’s roughed-up, spinning gaming chair– raised an eyebrow. Her hair had grown out and was left unbounded. Faint wrinkles and eye bags on her features displayed maturity, in contrast to a couple of years ago. However, everyone was well aware that time was not the only factor. 

“Whatcha going on about now, Donnie?”

The softshell huffed. “Recall when I wrote a report about my experimental findings with an invention meant to revive a deceased human being?”

“...You mean the one where you thought it was a good idea to open up Curie’s tomb? Even gone as far as to ask for my help?” April grimaced. “Who’d ever forget that.”

She proceeded to massage her temples. 

“God. You were in all kinds of messed up for that, Don.”

Lightning-like yellow sparks flickered as Donnie had his robotic hands occupied with a butane torch. His goggles were sealed tight around his eyes as he built a oval-looking device on his lab bench. Titanium outer-layer over a seriously complex circuit-board; appearing as if Samsung marketed grenades.

He scoffed. “Oh please. It wasn’t as if I’d taken long to understand how Marie Curie deserves her rest for her great contributions to radiation. Thus is why–.”

“–You decided to take a poor random husband of an old wife,” April interjected.

“Ahem.” Donnie pronounced. “The poor woman was begging me for her husband to be alive again. I was simply gracious and generous enough to not charge her for the process.” He set aside the butane torch. “At least it progressed well; he stayed alive for an additional two years. It gave his wife psychological comfort, and I was able to submit my paper to the N.S.F..” 

He picked up a screwdriver. “Except....” 

April could tell her friend’s eye was twitching. 

“They rejected my findings, nearly had me detained, and claimed it was far too ‘unethical.’” Donnie raised his volume. “Scoff! As if those researchers weren’t committing the crime themselves! Taking bodies away from families and claiming them as scientific property without permission.

If I could go back in time and shove my documents in their jaws, you bet I would.”

April smirked. “Well, I have my regrets too, Donnie.”

“You sound rather amused, April. Is that so surprising? And here I never thought you would regret your part-time job at Albearto’s. Or the fact you wasted money to switch to journalism in university.”

WHACK!

April threw her bat at Donnie’s head, flying back to her hand like a boomerang.

“Watch your mouth, mister. I may have regretted Albearto’s, but not a single moment in my life did I ever regret my journalism passion.” She stood up.

“Ouch.” The softshell vocalized, squinting his eyes toward her. His robotic clampers paused, setting aside the torch and taking off his goggles. 

“Mind yourself, April. Horse-playing is forbidden in the laboratory. I am not consenting to having yet another silver-titanium apparatus get scratched because of you.” Donnie gritted his teeth. “Can you hear the negative connotation?”

“Seriously, Donnie? Where’d that come from? Not only was that years ago but it ain’t anything except a simple accident.” 

“‘Simple accident?’” the softshell repeated with dramatic offense. “An accident, like many others in science labs, which could have caused severe damage! Remember the incident when your teacher dumped bleach and vinegar into the trash bin?

You know, if you had paid any attention in your chemistry class, those two would make mustard gas?” Donnie side-eyed his friend. “Simple accidents can have serious consequences, O’Neil.”

A hand crept up the lab bench.

“Uh-huh, and I’m supposed to believe an instance of me knocking over your phone and books would kill somebody?” April crossed her arms. “If anything, the blame’s yours for not organizing your desk when you got drunk on coffee.”

The hand took ahold of the butane torch.

“Donatello? Disorganized? Sounds cheap coming from you, a student majoring in Journalism.”

April pulled up her coat’s sleeves. “Oh boy, you’re about to get it—.”

Squeeeak!

Heads spun and found a 13-year old boy, replacing April’s spot on Donnie’s chair. Casey eyed the torch with a great yet concerning amount of curiosity.

“Yo, what’s this for, Uncle Don?”

At lightning speed, while April ran to move the gaming chair away further from the workbench, Donnie snatched the tool from his hands. “Child. Casey. Young man.” The softshell heaved loudly. “I must inform you this is NOT meant to be handled with such casual ease. How in Hawking did you even—.”

“Don’t your lab have a passcode or something?” 

“–Is what I am wondering myself, O’Neil. I refuse to believe this child remembers the beginning thirty numbers of π–.”

“Nope, only us.” April and Donnie lifted their gazes to his lab entrance. You leaned on the frame while a dear red-eared slider stood just behind. A couple of steps inside, and the metallic lab door shut close. 

Donnie– strangely– was quick to hide his device-in-progress off to the side.

“You’re back!” April grinned. “Hell, you would not believe the convo Donnie and I were having a minute ago.” She hurried to hug you.

“Figures,” Leo remarked. “We could practically hear you yards off.”

“Sounds like things never get old.” You smiled.

There was a side-eye between Donnie and April, before the Commander proceeded to inquire, coughing: “Anyhow.. care to explain the occasion? You two don’t seem to be in a hurry.”

“The only times you ever visit my laboratory are to prepare for immediate combat engagement, and you look awfully collected.” The softshell furrowed his brows.

“No, no.” You waved your hands, shaking your head. “Thank God no. We came here to ask if you two could take care of our Casey here while we head out.” The other turtle scrunched his in-quote eyebrows. “You— You came here to request us to... babysit him?”

April jabbed him in his plastron.

“You see? Just like I said.” Leo turned to you. “I know my brother, love. Don’s not the kind of guy to take responsibility for a kid. Or anyone, really.”

“Hold on.” Donnie narrowed his eyes. “I never said I refused, Leo.”

“Don’t know, it sounds like it to me.”

“Well, my misinformed brother, contrary to your belief, I am perfectly capable of handling a child.”

You huffed with amusement. Your husband only winked back.

“If you say so, Don.”

“Where are you two heading off for if you needed us to watch over him?” April inquired. “Wondering, ‘cause this never happened even when you two leave for patrol.”

“Just finding some time for ourselves.”

April exclaimed, “As in a honeymoon? Why not just say so? We’ll leave you two alone–.”

“–In this economy and climate?” Donnie interjected. “Has it also not been six years since your yet-to-be-legal marriage?”

“Alright, alright,” Leonardo chuckled. “Cut us some slack, bro. Finding time wasn’t easy when there’s Kraang above our necks.”

“Right, and you’re going on a honeymoon, how?” The softshell crossed his arms. “Simply because you’re the leader does not equate to you making wise decisions, Leo.”

“His ōdachi can teleport anyone to anyplace, we have some hope we can easily teleport to a remote area,” you answered. “One without Kraang infestation. It’ll be hard, but we may as well try.”

“Bonus points if we find clear skies and an ocean.” The red-eared turtle grinned, wrapping his arm over your shoulders.

“What’s a honeymoon, (Mom / Dad)?”

Your hand went to caress Casey’s cheek. “Parent quality time. It just means you get to handle yourself like the responsible grown-up you’ll become one day. Just promise me you’ll be on your best behavior around Uncle Don and Auntie April?”

“I promise, (Mom / Dad)!”

“Good boy,” Leo laughed, ruffling the kid’s hair.

“You didn’t ask Mikey and Raph to help out too, or?”

“Between you and me, I think you guys are better of making sure Casey doesn’t get into any chaos,” you whispered to April. “Don’t tell them that, though.”

She laughed. “Okay, I see how it is. You both have fun.” 

Donnie bit his lip. Right as Leonardo and (Name) turn to exit the laboratory, he extended his arm out to them.

“Leo, (Name).”

You two faced back to him once more.

“Don’t kill yourselves out there.”

Everyone’s eyes widened– April, you, and Leonardo himself. But the brother in blue snickered, holding a smile that reached his eyes. “So you do also care for me, Don. And all this time I thought you were plotting to put me in my grave or something.”

“We won’t.” Leo placed a hand on your shoulder. “You got my word.”

“Bye (Mom / Dad)! Bye Papa!”

“We’ll be back soon, Casey!”

Donnie stood in silence as you finally left, leaving himself with none other than his best friend and his nephew. “I refuse to believe this is the future we have to deal with.”

“Times changed all of us, didn’t they?” April spoke. “One day we wish each other a good one, and the next, we hope we just don’t die. I could’ve been a famous news anchor by now, make my mother happy, fight crime without worrying about dying the next second.

..I wonder if there’s anyone else out there besides the small number of us down here.”

“..I doubt it.”

Donnie pulled himself together and walked back to his workbench, operating his clampers to work once again. He put on his goggles. Casey, being a young teenager of enthusiasm, peeked over.

“Watch yourself, boy,” April warned.

“Don’t worry about me, Auntie. I’m only standing over here.” Casey narrowed his eyes upon the glowing and metal-like ball his uncle had his tools on. “What are you working on, Uncle Don?”

“A sphere.”

“A sphere?”

“You heard correctly.”

“That sounds kind of boring.”

Donnie had to hold himself back from remarking with: ‘That is exactly what every child whose intellect is doomed would say.’

“I’m sure your mother would find it rather moving.”

“(Mom / Dad)? I don’t understand what’s emotional about a ball, though.”

“Hey Casey.” April coughed. “Why not tell us about your mask here? Haven’t taken a good look at it before. Maybe Uncle Don would like to hear it too.”

“You actually want me to talk about my mask?”

“Ain’t a problem, is it?”

“No.” He fidgeted with his fingers a bit. “You don’t have anything else to do?”

“We were just told to watch over you, kid.”

“Yeah, but everyone I know is always busy with the Kraang or supplying weapons. I never really get chances to hang out.”

There was a brief pause in the butane torch’s flame.

April’s expression softened. Her hand came up to brush his black hair. “Things have gotten calmer up there. So you’ve got plenty of time with us now.”

Casey smiled.

“So your mask?” 

The boy alternated between covering his face and removing it. “(Mom / Dad) gave it to me. She told me it is based on the one worn by my biological mother. (Mom / Dad) also said that my birth mother was kind of crazy-funny and likes to be loud. She would have a stick to play– what was it– hockey?

I don’t know what kind of game hockey is supposed to be, but I guess it’s nice to know how life was like before all the Kraang.”

A sad smile crept on April’s lips. 

“Anyways, I thought the mask looked kind of plain, so I decided to draw red marks on it. See?” Casey showed his mask off, fingers tapping the surface. “Guess who it looks like!”

There were two bold and thick streaks of red. Each one ran through one eye, truly a defining characteristic. The Commander chuckled, already imagining how much pride her friend in blue would feel from the fact a kid– let alone one he had been parenting– looked up to him so much.

“You know, I am seeing someone familiar here.” April hummed as she put on a thoughtful facade. Fingers holding her chin and everything. “Got to be Uncle Don.”

Named turtle paused for a moment and raised a brow.

“Seriously, Auntie April?” On the other hand, Casey gave her an incredulous look and shook his head. “You probably want to get your eyes checked out, ‘cause Uncle Don doesn’t have any red stripes.” Off to the side. “And even if he did, he won’t look as cool as Dad.”

April snickered behind her palm as Donnie eyed the boy from behind his goggles.

“You’re right, you’re right. Just messing with you, kid.” Her hand ruffled his hair once more. “Sounds like you really admire your Papa, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Dad has an awesome sword that opens up portals. He always moves so quickly whenever he’s fighting. Bam! And the Kraang’s gone!” The teenager stretched his arm for emphasis. “Even as the leader, Papa knows when to get serious and when to make people laugh. He also cares a lot about me, (Mom / Dad), you guys, and everyone!”

It made even Donnie himself smile. 

However, the way Casey’s enthusiasm died down had not gone unnoticed. “I’ve always wanted to help out though.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I want to fight the Kraang right by his and (Mom / Dad)’s side. Except I barely get the chance to, because they keep telling me to stay close to base and hide behind a giant rock.”

April crossed her arms and went quiet. His feelings were nothing new. In fact, she experienced the same thing herself, seeing she had always been a human. It was like that until–.

“Have no hard feelings,” Donnie spoke up, his hands and eyes remained on his spheric gadget. The sparks were flying. “Your parents are merely worried about your well-being.”

“I know, I know. They won’t have to though, if I can have enough training or something.” Casey sighed. “Then again, I also know I’m only a normal sensitive human.

...Why can’t I be a mutant instead?”

“Ahem. You are classified as a human. That is a true statement and one you cannot change.” Donnie hummed. “However, that does not mean you cannot be strong and capable in other ways.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve been in my place before?”

“Perhaps I did. Did you truly think being a soft-shell turtle is easy? I happened to be born as one of the only Testudines species whose outer shell cannot protect.” Donnie remarked. “Casey, your mask.” His hand signaled.

“What about my mask?”

“I merely want to add something.”

Confused, he hopped off the chair and handed the mask over. “Hmm. As long as you don’t mess with the stripes, Uncle Don.”

“Who says I won’t?”

Casey kicked Donnie’s leg.

“‘Ow,’ I say sarcastically without feeling physical pain.”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms. “Why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Such as?”

“You say those action verbs, even when you’re already doing them.”

April snorted. “Just his thing, kid. Uncle Don’s got his special quirks.”

“Do you have a quirk?”

“Picking unnecessary fights for one,” Donnie commented.

“You only call them ‘unnecessary,’ because you never want to fix the problem.”

He rolled his eyes. “My solution would’ve been ten times more efficient if you had allowed my technology and I to do the work.”

Casey wondered. “Does your tech ever go haywire, Uncle Don?”

“No.”

“Oh man,” April began, “you should’ve been there for this one time. Your Uncle Don was building some kind of overprotective bed to keep your late Gramps from waking up from his beauty sleep.”

“Gramps likes to sleep?”

“You’d be surprised to hear that he sure does.”

“Then what happened?”

“Uncle Don asked your Dad, Uncle Mikey, and Uncle Raph to try punching, slicing, throwing whatever they could on the bed. They were attacking it like crazy!”

“And then?” 

“And the bed was even more insane, ‘cause there were actual missiles shooting out! They went straight for his brothers. At some point, it got overboard, so Uncle Don tried to command it to stop.”

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming.”

“But it malfunctioned and thought Uncle Don was the enemy!”

“However!” Donnie pointed his finger up, interrupting the story-telling. “It did not take long for my creation to recognize his master.”

“Still went haywire in my book,” April remarked. 

“Ignoring that.” His robotic hand tapped the edge of his workbench, grabbing Casey’s attention. “Come here, young man.” He slid back the mask, except in his hands, it felt as if the frame had thicken.

“It looks the same, but it doesn’t feel the same?”

“Try wearing it over your face.”

The boy did as told. All of a sudden, a bunch of green rectangles and words appeared in his vision. He gasped in awe. He spun around slowly, watching the rectangle focus on a figure through the wall.

“Yes yes, I know. I am well aware of how amazing I am.” Donnie huffed in pride. “I have opted to construct an interface with your mask. I cannot see why you shouldn’t have something to defend yourself with,” he reasoned. “I have other updates in mind later on. As of now, however, your mask will help you detect life forms across other rooms or through other objects.” 

“That’s so cool!” The boy hesitated though. “But I don’t want to break it or anything.”

“Hey.” April rested her hand on Casey’s shoulder, giving a firm squeeze. “Our resources are already scarce. Using then losing them is better than nothing. You better make the most of our tech. Understood, soldier?”

Casey grinned underneath his mask. He fixed his posture up and saluted. “Gotcha–! Understood, Commander!” 

He faced the inventor, whose hands were already back to being occupied with the “sphere.” “Thanks so much, Uncle Don!” Casey exclaimed, leaping towards the turtle to give a tight hug. “You’re the best!” 

Upon contact, Donnie stiffened up, but his lack of experience with physical touch did not prevent a smile forming on his face. He extended a robotic arm, patting Casey’s back. 

The boy then scanned around curiously with his mask. “Hey! Think I spot Uncle Mikey and Uncle Raph two floors down! They’re holding hands over a table or something. Why are so many people circling around them?”

April rolled her eyes. “Sounds like another arm-wrestling match between the our youngest and oldest brother.” 

Just like that, Casey booked it out of the laboratory so quickly, it reminded her of a certain red-eared slider. “What the–! Casey!” April groaned. “And here I thought we don’t have to deal with runaway kids. I better catch up to him.” 

“Would not worry about him too much,” Donnie commented. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Considering we will not always be alive to protect him... the sooner we leave him to himself, the easier it will be for him to survive alone.” 

“Hey. Come on now.” April walked to her best friend’s side. “Don’t you say things like that. We’re all going to survive this together–.”

“April.” Slight pain wavered in his voice. “You know as well as I do how our current reality is. It is only a matter of time before the Kraang finds everyone.” 

“Yet you’re still here trying.”

No response.

“It’s all because of the kid, isn’t it?” April affirmed. “He ain’t any genius prodigy you were expecting long ago. But he gave you a reason to try– he became someone worth fighting for.”

“I would not put it as simply as that.”

She shrugged. “That’s how I’d say it. You know you’re not the only one whose life changed because of Casey.”

Donnie paused his work, turning off the butane torch and finally pulling his goggles off his eyes again. “...Casey reminds me of when we were young, being rash and immature teenagers like any other. I hate admitting to such thing, but I was one too. And I hate admitting much more how much I missed those times.

The child has known nothing of the trouble we’ve experienced outside, April: when Cassandra was killed, when Draxum was torn apart, when Dad decided to sacrifice himself despite the slim odds.” His hands clenched into fists.

“Do not expect me to have any false hope for our future, but do not assume I would want Casey to feel the same way. For as long as he can, I want him to hold onto that false hope.”

“...” April had her arms crossed. Her eyes slowly came to linger on the workbench. “Is that ‘sphere’ his false hope?”

“..No. Not his.” Donnie traced his thumb over his contraption. “It’s for (Name).”

[snappedsky]

ROTTMNT: Retired Leo AU

Nothing like that first slice of pizza.

--

First Slice

Raph, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Casey poke their heads into the lair and take a quick look around. The TV is playing and Leonardo is stretched out across the chair with Splinter curled up on his stomach. Both of them are fast asleep.

The boys share a nod and dash through the room, silent as ninja. They arrive to the kitchen where they put a large, flat box on the table. They open it, their eyes widening in awe at their prize- an extra large deluxe pizza with extra cheese.

Unbeknownst to them, opening the box released its infatuating aroma, which has drifted out through the living room and into Leonardo’s nostrils.

“Okay,” Raph whispers, “I pulled the longest straw, which means I get the first slice.”

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry,” Leo demands impatiently, “before the old men wake up.”

“I swear, he cheats,” Donnie insists.

Raph licks his drooling chops as he carefully picks a slice to remove from the pie. But as he starts to reach for it, there’s a brief flash of blue sparks, and the piece is gone.

“What!” Raph gasps. The boys all groan and glare at the other end of the room, where Leonardo is standing, munching on the pizza slice.

“Thanks for the ‘za, kiddos,” he chirps.

“Man, you always get the first slice,” Mikey groans.

“Guess you guys just ain’t fast enough,” Leonardo shrugs, walking across the room. As he passes by, the boys see Splinter sitting on his shell, nibbling the second slice, and they sigh with annoyance.

[acewithapaintbrush]

I'm in love with @ashwii Celestial AU. I wanted to write something poetic and beautiful but instead it turned into silly shenanigans between astronaut April and the Disaster Twins. I hope you get a good chuckle out of it at least.

*****************************

"Wait! Hold on! Rewind! Humans do what?" 

April grins and adjusts her grip on the outer hull. She briefly gestures with the screwdriver before plunging it back into the innards of the space station she is going to call her home for the next few years. 

No matter how much she'd trained for and anticipated this mission, the idea of spending years alone on a space station to research the effects of long term exposure to low gravity had been as exciting as it had been scary. All that scientific and psychological mumbo jumbo aside, she'd been convinced that 'going space crazy' would be a given and had noted it down in her mission log on the very first day (something Ground Control hadn't found very funny, weirdly enough). 

She thought the loneliness might kill her before any asteroid or technical failure could. But now here she is, floating in her super advanced space suit in the vast nothingness of space and talking to a floating humanoid turtle who is also apparently an embodiment of all the stars in all the galaxies and who is named like a renaissance painter even though April had to explain what a renaissance painter even is and… 

Maybe she has gone space crazy after all? 

Leonardo proves that he is not merely a figment of her imagination by tapping one of his fingers against the face shield of her helmet, an action that had scared the crap out of her the first time he'd done it. Not anymore though. Her new friends won't let anything happen to her. 

"Hello? Stars to April!" 

"Yes Leo, I heard you." She can hear him loud and clear. She wonders if he can too or if her voice sounds muffled to him through the helmet. "Don't know what to tell you, dude. It's just a silly thing humans do. There are websites where you can buy a star and give it a name and then give it away as a gift." 

"A gift?" Leo clutches at his chest like an old lady might clutch at her pearls. He floats backwards a few feet. The trails of his mask flare and tiny stars follow his movement, surrounding him and sparking briefly like small explosions before fading away again. 

Oh, how April wishes she could touch them. Would they be cold or hot? Would they pass right through her or settle on her skin like a thousand little fireflies?

They don't know if Leo and his brothers can enter the station without harm to them or the ship and April knows that they are too wary to try. Yet. 

Which, yeah. Fair enough. Maybe one day. 

"A gift!" he repeats. His voice cracks and he looks genuinely distressed. April would feel bad for him if she wasn't trying so hard not to laugh. "How dare you humans sell pieces of me as a gift!" 

"Hey hey, calm down. It's not real. No one can really buy a star. It's just… make believe." 

"That's besides the point!" 

In that moment Donatello joins them, alerted by his brother's shouting and gesticulating. He's been keeping an eye on the two of them from a distance. The moon turtle is the slowest to warm up to April, although her willingness to show and explain to him the various uses of her NASA approved equipment has gone a long way. April is determined to win the celestial being over with her charm and wit, just like she did with his brothers. 

"What's all this racket about?" Don looks and sounds tired. It's a waning moon and his arms are already more black than green, his eyes vaguely distant. The black mass traveling up and down his arms like the insides of a lava lamp should look creepy but it's actually quite mesmerizing. April could watch the dance of darkness and light for hours, but Donnie gets testy when he catches her staring so she refrains. Barely. 

"Donnieeeee!" Leo wails and throws his arms around his brother's neck. Immediately the stars on his skin brighten. It's fascinating: The darker Donnie is, the brighter Leo shines. The closer they are to a full moon, the more subdued Leo's glow becomes. Neither state seems to affect the other negatively. Rather, they seem to gravitate towards each other even more frequently during full and new moons. 

Donnie smiles softly in the face of his brother's antics and April catches herself thinking that it's probably a good thing both of them don't shine at the same time. That might just blind her. 

The moon turtle catches her staring and just like a switch being flipped his smile turns into a scowl and he pushes his brother away. 

April smirks. So predictable. 

"Nardo! What is it?" 

Leonardo waves his arms around. Streaks of light paint waves into the space between them. "April just told me that humans buy stars as gifts!" He shudders and hugs himself. "I feel so violated." 

Okay, that is so not fair. Now April feels really bad. And it's got nothing to do with the glare Don sends her. 

"Hey man!", she says and gently bumps her fist lightly against Leo's shoulder. It feels just like any other shoulder. Corporal and squishy. She wonders if it would feel different without the glove in the way. "They only do that because stars are beautiful. You buy a star for your loved ones, to show them how important they are to you and because you want to give them something unique and lovely. Gifting someone a star is like, the most wonderful thing you can do on earth, y'know?"

She is mostly talking out of her ass right now. April never got the whole 'gifting a star' business. To her it's mostly a scam, just a very expensive piece of paper. No one owns stars so no one can sell them either. But she does acknowledge that it's a cute idea at least and that lots of people are really digging it. 

Leo stares at her with, excuse the pun, stars in his eyes. "Really?" His attitude does a complete 180. He twirls in a circle, throws his glowing mask trails around and blows his brother an exaggerated kiss. "You hear that, Dee? I'm the most wonderful gift, ever. Humans pay lots of money for a piece of me. You all get my company for free, be thankful." 

Donatello rolls his eyes. "Oh, joy. Though I  wish I had paid some money. At least then I'd have a receipt and could return you for something cooler." 

Leo only laughs good-naturedly, but April mentally rubs her hands like a villain. 

She really shouldn't aggravate the guy. She does want him to like her, after all. But Donnie just offered her the perfect opportunity for some light teasing. And she did promise to teach the boys everything she knows about earth and human customs. She's got a duty to fulfill, doesn't she? 

Ah, well. They can become best friends later. After all, she'll be around them for many years to come. 

"Oh Donnie!" she drawls and floats closer to him. He eyes her with the usual distrust and she smirks in anticipation. "Did I ever tell you about this thing humans do, where they buy land on the moon?" 

[imagionationstation]

You know what haunts me late at night?

This shot. Right here.

No— it's not because of the context behind the picture (though that's another thing), but the fact that Donnie is the only one who stood behind Master Splinter.

Sometimes, I interpreted it as a correlation for him having his robot body— a sentient, yet almost immortal being.

Like, his brothers are bound to die soon; the Mutant Apocalypse took place after like, what, 30 years after the Mutagen Bomb went off; meaning that they are old.

But Donnie? He doesn't age— meaning that at one point, he'll roam the Earth alone. L

I swear, my brain translated the “L” as the meaning for loser, and I stared at it for a moment like, “Bro, harsh.”

I mean, I wouldn’t call 48 (or so) years, yk, old, but I can pick up what you’re putting down. The immortal aspect of being robo Donnie is something that I dwell on a concerning amount, but in all honesty, I don’t think Donnie would wander the earth until his body is either destroyed or gives out on him. (Maybe this isn’t what you’re saying but it’s the rumors that I hear.)

Maybe I’m just morbidly optimistic, but….

In every fanfiction that I’ve read, Donnie sticks around for his brothers. He goes into Metalhead 2.0 because he fears his brothers’ fate, or he fears leaving Raphael alone. He forces himself to keep living without life for the sake of his family. It’s simply a truth the entire fandom seems to agree on.

So, when the last of his family is gone, Donnie really has no reason to keep going.

And, come on, he’s a genius. He knows that his body could technically go on forever if well-maintained. What makes you think he won’t create a self destruct switch for himself?

What makes you think, that after the last heartbeat has stopped and a last exhale has left their lungs, Donnie won’t flip a switch and join them? He won’t even feeling the pain of doing so. It would be as simple as shutting down a tablet or computer.

There’s a lot that haunts me late at night about this series.

This… Isn’t a part of it. Not necessarily.

I like to think that the fact that Donnie is in that picture at all is proof that he really did have a spirit intact under all that metal and hardware. That he really was clinging so tightly to the mortal plain that he forced himself into his own prison, but one day, managed to get released. Likely, he released himself.

Because what would be the point of a life without his brothers?

How can he cling to his semblance of life when the ones that know it’s spark have left him behind?

What is there to live for when his reason to fight abandons him?

There’s nothing left for him there. So he simply does the next logical step. The one that requires the last anguish possible.

And I love the proof that he returns to his family.

Does his stance behind Splinter mean more than him simply leaving room up front for his short brothers?

Maybe. But, I’m just glad that he’s there at all.

[s1eep-o]

Hey! Hope your having a good day!! I was wondering if you could do something with a Dave Grohl (early foo fighters) x sunshine fem reader who’s also the lead singer of a band? Like they meet and she doesn’t realize who his is but he’s freaking out inside? Just some cute fluff. Sorry if that’s too much!!

-🔮

AHHH I LOVE THIS IDEA *smooches your head*

A/N: OMG i am so sorry this came out so late! i have been so lazy and i didn't know what i should write, but hopefully this checks your boxes on you list!

warnings: cursing, smoking (brief mention), and drinking (brief mention). inform me if there are more.

pairing: earlyff!dave grohl x leadsinger!sunshine!fem!reader. ( i don’t rlly like the y/n thing so i gave her a name if ya don’t mind)

It was 1998 and the Foo Fighters were attending a music festival to promote their newest album, The Colour and the Shape. All the bands and their tour buses have just arrived at the festival grounds and a young Dave Grohl was exploring the place when he saw her, “Oh my god..” but before he could get a chance to say hi, you were gone. He practically ran back to the bus, “Oh my god, T. You will not believe who I just saw.” Taylor was lounging on the couch, “Huh?” He answered groggily, “Aurora fucking Sparks, the lead singer from Velvet Ecstasy!” He was basically jumping up and down like a little child.

Taylor jumped from his spot on the couch, “You’re fucking joking Dave.” Taylor said in disbelief, “T you gotta believe me, man. Let’s go look for her dude!” He grabbed Taylor’s shoulders and started shaking him. “Who knows, maybe you could even get her number. I heard they’re rehearsing right now.” Taylor smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at his friend while they exited the bus.

“Okay good work, I think we should just turn up Donny’s mic up a little and it’ll be perfect.” Aurora said to the band, she looked off to the side looking for a stage tech but instead saw a brunette and a blonde watching the band. She walked over to the pair and noticed how they were completely starstruck, “Hey, I’m Aurora. Are you guys the stage techs?” She asked with a soft smile. “No we’re uhm actually in a band.. we just came to watch- we’re huge fans.” Dave said nervously, basically stumbling over all his words. “Oh! Well thank you, what’s your band name?” Dave was so shocked about having a conversation with her that he was silent so Taylor had so speak up, “What he’s trying to say is that we’re in a band called Foo Fighters, we’re actually promoting our second album!” Taylor told her enthusiastically, “Wow, Foo Fighters? I think you guys are actually opening for us!” She replied.

Later that night.

“Calm down Dave, we’ve done this a bunch of times.” Pat told him, putting a hand on his shoulder as an attempt to calm his nerves. "It's not his performance that's making him nervous," Chris piped up "It's who's watching." This earned a laugh from the rest of the boys except for Dave. "You guys are up." A stage tech came by and informed the group, they all got up and came together in a small circle and all mumbled a little goodluck prayer.

"We are Foo Fighters and this is a song from our new album!" All the nerves Dave previously had dissipated, being on the stage made him feel amazing. Little did he know he also had that same effect on those who watched. From the side of the stage Aurora watched in awe, "Rory, what are ya doin man- we're doing our pre-concert ritual!" Her bandmate, Hannah yelled at her over the music. "Sorry Han, I got a little distracted. I'll be right there!."

"Hey guys!" Aurora said, out of breath standing in the doorway of the green room. "Look who decided to show up!" Donny said from the leather couch, "Someone was a little distracted by the opening band, eh?" Ricky chuckled. "To be fair, they are really good! I'm surprised I've never heard of them before.." Aurora said as she picked up her guitar and plopped down onto the couch. Strumming some chords on the guitar as the band was having a normal conversation, "So Aurora, you and Grohl, huh?" Ricky asked, "Me and Grohl? What do ya mean Ricky?” Aurora asked curiously, “Oh cmon Rory, I saw how you were ogling him just now!” Hannah exasperated. “Hey man, if ya ever get close you should hook me up with one of his bandmates.” she joked as she got close to Auroras face, “No way man!” Aurora replied, sticking her tongue out.

“Hey you guys are up.” said one of the stage directors. The band all stood in a small circle and put their hands into the center of the circle, letting out a little holler before leaving the room. Everyone was on stage, Aurora began to walk up the steps to join them, but someone grabbed her arm. "Uh- hey Rory, is that okay if I call you Rory?" Dave stammered out, Aurora just smiled sweetly and gave him a curt nod. "Well, Rory- good luch out there! You probably don't need it but, yeah." He replied, trying to seem as chill as possible. "Thank you, Dave!" Rory shouted out over the cheers and made her way up the stairs to join the band.

"That was hil-ar-i-ous, dude!" Taylor said to Dave the second he walked back over to the band, "Man. I never seen you like that with a girl before." he continued, playfully slapping Daves shoulder. "Shut up, Hawkins." Dave muttered, plopping down onto a nearby couch. "Alright dude," Taylor said, raising his hands in mock surrender, "All I'm gonna say is that you should so ask her out tonight." he said plopping down next to Dave.

"Thank you so much everyone, it was amazing to perform for you all. Till next time, see ya!" Aurora shouted through the mic and began to walk off the stage, followed by the rest of the band, heading straight to the snack bar. "Hell yeah, they made us sandwiches!" Hannah pumped her fist in the air and went to grab a sandwich from the table. "Pace yourself Han, don't want a stomach ache tonight." Donny joked, also grabbing a sandwich. Rory just grabbed a water bottle and some chips, heading to the seating area with Ricky.

"Hey Aurora, over here!" someone shouts her name and she turns to look towards the voice to see the Foos sitting at a couch and drinking, "I'm gonna go head over there, you think you can goback to the snack bar and bring the rest of the band over here, please?" She turned back to her side and asked her bandmate Ricky, who gave her a quick thumbs up before turning back to the snack bar.

"Howdy guys!" Rory walked over to the couches and plopped down to sit next to Dave, "Hey Dave!" she says, smiling at the nervous boy. "Hi Rory. You did really great up there, you looked very pretty, too." He said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at his shoes. Pat snickered from where he stood with Taylor, "Aw, thank you Dave. I really appreciate it, and if we're throwing out compliments.. you looked very handsome earlier." Dave immediately began to burn up, "Thank you.." He replied, finally looking into her eyes, "I've been meaning to ask-" he quickly gets cut off by Donny, "Heyo! The party has officially arrived lame-os!." He shouted, putting his arm around Nates shoudler. Ricky and Hannah came from behind him, arm in arm, "Let's bounce ya'll, we're hitting up the karaoke bar!"

A bunch of shots later, at the karaoke bar

Taylor and Donny we're screaming out the lyrics of the song Don't Stop Believin very drunkinly, causing the both the bands to double over in laughter. Rory grabbed her drink and finished off what little remained, "Hey Dave?" she called out to him who sat at the other end of the table of her, "You wanna go for a smoke with me?" She asked, her dreamy smile and glimmering eyes catching the tipsy Dave off guard, almost sobering him up completely. "Sure!" he replied, getting up from his end of the table and walking over to the still sitting Aurora. Standing up from her seat she linked her arms with Dave, resting her head on his shoulder and slowly walking outside. The loud singing coming from Donny and Taylor dying down as the pair walked out into the crisp air.

Quickly unlinking their arms to grab a smoke and a lighter, Rory lights it and looks at a mesmerized Dave, smiling sweetly at him when the two make eye contact. "You were asking me something earlier?" she questioned him, "before Donny cut you off." she added, giggling lightly. "Oh! Yeah.. well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out tonight, but seeing as we all ended up at a karaoke bar, I don't think that's possible anymore.." he replied quietly. Rory was a little taken aback, her face dropping, but she quickly smiled again and walked over to Dave, throwing her cigarette to the ground. "Who says we can't ditch these losers and go on our own date?" she suggests, grabbing his hand and holding it in hers.

The pair ended up on the swings of an old playground, talking about everything and nothing. Rory was rambling on about something, when she noticed she wasn't recieving any quips from Dave she turned to look at him, noticing how he was admiring her in the pale moonlight. "S-sorry.. you just look so beautiful." he says quietly, glancing down to her lips, "Can I?" he whispers, Rory nods and leans just a bit closer to Dave, he reciprocates her actions and slowly he closes the gap and kisses her softly, holding her face. Kissing him back, Rory places her hand on the back of his neck, the kiss is quickly broken when there is a loud snap of a twig. "Damn it, Donny!" Taylor shouts at him and smacks him, "Ow! What the heck, Tay!" Donny shouts back, the pair ended up on the ground wrestling each other. Rory and Dave just look at each other and burst out in laughter.

A/N: hey ya'll i tried to get this out as quickly as i could so there may be a few mistakes, or a lot.. anyways!!

[tmntxthings]

∑一 A New Obsession 。・゜・

author’s note: I highly recommend listening to Smoke Sprite by So!YoON! & RM this song was the sudden inspiration for this little drabble

warnings: yandere tendencies, body worship, mentions of stalking, insanity, unstable mind, unedited

—————————————————————————

Now Donatello did not hold the title of the family artisan. That was held securely by Michelangelo. And yet Donnie could not deny himself the precision it took to create that titanium bust of a terribly handsome scientist. So, sure maybe he was an artist, a sculptor. He didn’t really get the spark to create something similar after that. What had fueled the mini sculpture of himself was more geared towards narcissism anyways. But mostly it was a private joke on the internal awareness of said enlarged ego. Among other excuses like he had the spare titanium, and he had needed a break from the intricacies of his inventions.

He hadn’t thought he would ever sculpt again. Actually he didn’t even realize he had started to until the piece was finished. Now as he backed away from the final result, it was not just a bust but a life size replica of someone. Someone he had never met. Unless you counted the fact that he had passed them today in the throngs of the New York night-life crowd. Have you ever been walking, minding your own business, and totally blending in with the crowd with a masterful human disguise? He had headphones on, and a song had just ended, switching to something new. He heard the beat, the guitar. Then suddenly as if his name was called, he looked up from his ever-present phone screen.

His eyes widening marginally as his gaze locked onto the person walking towards him. Not truly to him, but in his direction. People were everywhere, going in all sorts of different directions. Colors beamed from the nonstop advertisements. Flashing brilliant lights on this person, as if life had given them their own personal spotlight. The realization that he had completely stopped walking barely crossed his mind. He was in the middle of the crosswalk too. In favor of directing all his attention to the ethereal being heading his way. Donnie had never experienced anything like this. For a moment he was acutely aware of everything about this person. From their confident walk, to their regal clothes, down to the minute details of them slipping their phone into a jacket pocket. Their hands, their frame hidden behind their clothes, their face. Their eyes coming up to look at their destination, and as they passed him, their eyes met for only a split second.

His heart felt like it stopped. Underneath their captivating gaze the turtle froze even more, his breath catching in his throat. The music practically faded into the background, he could hardly focus on anything other than you passing him by. It all happened so quickly, as they passed like nothing had happened. Donnie guessed nothing really had for them. But he was left with a completely opposite feeling. He fought the urge to turn around. To follow them. His heart restarted, his breathing felt labored, his feet stumbled along the white lines. He barely made it to the other side before the traffic resumed its flow. He whipped around then, eyes searching for the person who had just bewitched him so! Only they were gone, and he felt such crushing disappointment. It was insane. Donnie chided himself as he turned back to his original destination.

He had rushed back to the lair, ripping off the layers of clothing once he entered his lab. And like a madman he went into a creative frenzy. He only came to once he had recreated the person, his person in their entirety. He felt better now that he could see them again. Even if it was just a carbon copy. They were shorter than he was. He analyzed further, wishing he had used color somehow. The grey of the titanium didn’t do them justice. He went down on his knees. Kneeling before his person. This would have to do for now. The odds were slim but he had to find them again. “Who are you?” He murmured curiously. Why had he reacted so strongly? Was he losing his mind? Was he just that lonely? No, he’d been in a crowd before. Met eyes with strangers before. This was different. They were different.

Though it was his hand that had created this sculpture, it shook now as he dared to touch now. It felt sinful. Now that it looked like an actual being. The tips of his fingers grazed the statue’s. “I’ll find you,” he promised aloud. And then he would make them his. Mine. The word rang out in his head like a mantra as he finally stood. It would be difficult, but if Donatello could be described it would be determined. And maybe obsessed but that sarcastic thought didn’t cling to him as he started hacking into street cameras..

[wingedcupcaketimemachine]

Scattered Remains (TMNT 2012 and Rise! Crossover)

Summary: After April’s enhanced psychic powers destroy Donnie, she attempts to bring him back to life. But, the purple turtle she finds is not her own

Warnings: Spoilers for TMNT 2012 Season 4, Episode 22

A/N: I’m finally done with the first chapter! If this does well, I might create a comic based off of it on my art account!

Fic starts below cut

TMNT 2012 Masterlist

Rise of the TMNT Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Red, is that really you?” Casey asks, as he cautiously approaches April.

“I think so. But Donnie,” she says with teary eyes, “What have I done.”

The group stands still for a moment before Leonardo breaks the tense silence.

“It’s not your fault April. You had no control,” he says.

“But it is!” she gasps, looking up at him through her tears, “It was all me in a way. If only-”

She pauses for a moment, focusing on the broken crystal shards.

“Donnie’s not gone! He wasn’t really destroyed, just molecularly scattered,” she says as she faces the turtles and Casey, “I can bring him back.”

The boys watch in anticipation as April’s powers hone in on Donnie’s energy. If she can bring him back, she can make her family whole again.

She has to bring him back.

The turtles and Casey watch as blue sparks fly through the air, forming the silhouette of a body.

The turtles watch, full of anticipation. Their brother wasn’t gone. He was coming back!

Their excitement quickly turns to horror as they realize the figure in front of them is not Donatello.

Though not their missing brother, April still managed to bring another mutant turtle to the place where Donnie had been vaporized minutes before.

This turtle seemed younger, maybe by a year or so.

Raphael breaks the stunned silence as he holds a sai against the neck of the unfamiliar turtle.

“Who the hell are you? And where’s my brother?”

“Woah, Raph! Chill out dude!” says Michelangelo, pushing his brother out of the way, “He’s just a kid. And he’s scared.”

Michelangelo was right. The mystery turtle was still pale and shaking even as Raphael released him from the ground.

“It's ok mystery dude! We’re not gonna hurt you…anymore,” says Michelangelo, glaring pointedly at his hotheaded brother.

Raph rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“What are you doing Mikey? This is some random mutant that April brought here with her freaky crystal powers. We have no idea what it’s capable of.”

“Mikey’s right,” says Leo after a long stretch of silence, “This turtle is just a lost kid. He was brought here with April’s powers, which means he’s our responsibility. We have to take him back to the lair.”

“Are you crazy Leo? We have to focus on finding Donnie. Our brother is lost somewhere and you're focused on a random mutant we found on the street!”

Before another argument could break out, the mystery turtle interjected.

“Your brother’s name is Donatello?”

The group of teenagers looked over in shock. Michelangelo was the first one to respond.

“Yeah, dude. He disappeared when April got possessed by a freaky alien crystal.”

“The same crystal that brought you here,” says April in shock, “I was trying to find Donnie, but it brought you instead.”

“So that means…you’re Donnie?” asks Casey.

“Yes,” says the other turtle, “Just not your Donnie..”

“We have to get back to the lair and talk to Master Splinter. We’ll come up with a plan to find our Donnie and get this Donnie back home.”

“Seriously Leo?” Says Raph, “You’re gonna believe him just like that? Even if he is a Donnie he’s not our brother. We can’t just take him to the lair.”

“Think about it Raph,” says Casey, “If April accidentally brought the other Donnie here, our Donnie is probably stuck wherever he came from. Trustingthe other Donnie is our best bet.”

Raph huffs, but doesn’t argue any further.

“That’s it then. We’re headed back to the lair,” said Leo, “April, you should probably come with us. Maybe you can help Donnie replicate the research that you and Donnie did on the crystal.”

April and other Donnie both nod in agreement.

“I might be able to use other me’s research to try to replicate a similar

kind of technology that could get me home,” said the alternate Donnie, “If all goes well we should be able to find your brother too.”

The group looks to Raphael, gauging his reaction.

“Fine,” he said after a beat of silence, “But that doesn’t mean we trust you. All we need you for is to get Donnie back.”

The group sits in tense silence as Raphael stalks off towards the Shellraiser.

“Don’t worry about Raph little dude!” says Michelangelo with a small smile,

“He’s just worried about Donnie. He’ll come around.

“Mikey’s right. It’s nothing personal…probably,” says Leo before looking over to the Shellraiser, “We need to get back to the lair and tell Master Splinter what happened.”

“It’s late, I should probably get home,” Casey finally speaks up, “Let me know if you come up with any ideas on finding Donnie.”

The group watches as his figure retreats into the night before following

Leo into the Shellraiser.

[another-melomanie-blorbo]

Master Post

~~~~~~~~~~~

A Shady Past AU

Chapter One

Chapter Two

~~~~~~~~~~~

Spark Gone AU

Introduction

~~~~~~~~~~~

More will be added this is just the start…

>>>>>>>>>>>

tags for my stuff ^^

#spark gone!au - anything related to this au

#a shady past!au - anything related to this au

>>>>>>>>>>>

And i can't believe i have to put this,

TC3$T, PR0$H!P, ETC ETC YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE. >:P

STAY THE FREAK AWAYYYYYYY

[misteria247]

Imagine it's a mission.

The 12 kids and Rise kids are fighting against some mutants, and it's getting pretty bad. So much so that Rise Raph's thinking about just grabbing his brothers and just high tailing it out of there. He can see that 12 Leo and Rise Leo seem to be thinking the same thing as him, when suddenly they hear Rise Mikey let out a terrified shout and then 12 Raph's pained yelp. Several heads snap into their direction to see 12 Raph shielding Rise Mikey, his arm red from claws that had dug into his scaly skin. Rise Mikey's screaming at the older red turtle to move, to get out of the way or he'll get hurt worse and 12 Raph he refuses cuz it's Rise Mikey, the baby of the clan, his friend and practical second orange clad little brother. 12 Leo, 12 Donnie and 12 Mikey let out horrified shouts towards the two and Rise Leo and Rise Donnie freak out, all five of them horrified and furious at the mutant who attacked two of their clan members. But Rise Raph.......

He's frozen, his eyes zoning in on the welling up blood on his shorter counterpart's arm, on Rise Mikey's fearful and panicked face as he tries to move his friend out of harm's way. His blood rushing in his ears, and his vision tunneling as it lands on the mutant who's gone for another attack at the duo, with 12 Raph clinging Rise Mikey to him with his shell facing the threat to be a barrier. That's all it takes and Rise Raph sees red. It happens incredibly fast, the usual peaceful, gentle six foot snapper suddenly becoming a livid powerhouse as he charges at the mutant completely deaf to the several startled shouts of his name. Rise Raph doesn't hesitate, his fist pulling itself back and sparking up with his mystical powers, doubling his strength by ten fold as one thought rings loudly in his head:

'They hurt them. They hurt my family, they hurt my brothers-'

With flashes of 12 Raph's blood and Rise Mikey's face accompanying his singular thought. Rise Raph's fist flies out, putting every ounce of his strength and desperate fury filled protectiveness into his punch. The mutant doesn't stand a chance as soon as it lands, its body literally flying straight into a nearby building and straight through its brick wall. A large hole now in its side with an unconscious mutant laying inside it. The other mutants are definitely spooked, all their fight dying out from them as the large snapping turtle's gaze lands on them. There's no mercy in those blank eyes, just a hardened, righteous fury that's waiting to be unleashed onto the next fool that tries to come at him or his family. They don't stick around after that, running away like the Devil is on their heels. Once the threats gone Rise Raph is instantly relaxing before going towards the duo who are now somewhat surrounded by the others, all of them watching Rise Raph in surprised shock. However it's instantly gone when all of them are suddenly engulfed by Rise Raph's large arms, the snapper being careful not to injure 12 Raph more, before he's pulling them all close to him and he just instantly goes into his full on dad panic. Questions firing at all of them, as he scans his brothers for anymore injuries. The beast that had been released earlier was gone, and back in its place was the same, lovable gentle giant they all knew and loved. Rise Raph's panicked questioning sets 12 Leo off with his own questioning, his mom mode being activated by Rise Raph's dad mode.

After several reassurances that they were fine, Rise Leo and 12 Donnie are instantly on 12 Raph, looking at his arm and then looking over Rise Mikey for any injuries to which he brushes the medic duo off, insisting that he was completely fine. That 12 Raph was the one who needed them the most. Rise Donnie stands by with 12 Mikey, the two looking spooked and ready to defend the group should the mutants decide to take their chances. Rise Raph watches over all of them silently, still slightly on edge after everything as well as feeling a bit guilty for losing his temper. It wasn't often that he lost it and glancing at the hole in the building he can't help but whence slightly, imagining just how much worse things could have been if he hadn't gotten himself back under control. As his thoughts race around his head a sudden familiar, gentle tap on his arm draws his attention downwards. Dark green eyes meet dark blue ones that are full of gratitude and relief. 12 Leo gives Rise Raph's arm a small pat and with a gentle smile he speaks in his raspy voice:

"Thank you, for protecting my brother."

And Rise Raph he can't help but feel his guilt ease up a bit as he realizes that by losing his temper he'd inevitably saved 12 Raph's skin. And the snapper gives his fellow eldest son a small, snaggletooth smile and replies:

"It's not a problem. It's what family does, we keep each other safe."

Perhaps losing his temper wasn't as terrible as he originally thought. If it meant keeping the ones he loved save from harm than Rise Raph could make an exception.

[averagetmntfan]

Portals gone wrong!

(“The 4 servants Au” & “time beats a dead man Au” ((collab w/ @mikey-rottmnt)) Crossover fic!)

1/???

tbadm universe, 11:38 am.

“Well, shit. We’re screwed.” Bendy slumped, watching koi pace back and fourth in the tent.

“I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT! I SWEAR I WROTE IT ON MY PHONE!!” Koi panicked, running his hand through his fluffy hair.

“well I mean, shouldn’t you know this kind of stuff? Since ur Mugs boyfri-“

“SHSHSH!!” He put a firm grip on bendys shoulders.

“Keep your voice down, dude!”

“Ok, ok! Jeez! js let go of me, please.”

Koi Immediately retracted his hands away. his face looked strained, as his body shook ever so slightly. He had no idea what to get his partner for his birthday. Which was today.

clearly, he wasn’t great at hiding it either. Because as soon as bendy got a look at him, he knew immediately.

“Look, if you’re so worried on what to get him. Why not ask cup?”

Bendy suggested

“HE’LL JUST LAUGH AT ME! OR GET MAD AT ME!!” Sweat was pouring down his face, making him look like he just got out of a pool.

“Okay, okay!! Fine!! just, chill. I’ll ask him for ya-“ He hopped of the cot, walking out of the tent. As koi watched in horror, he lays on his sleeping bag, getting lost in his thoughts.

As he stared as the ceiling of the tent. He saw an orange spark. Immediately, he blinked. And the spark was gone.

‘I must me imagining things.’

———————————————————————

T4S Universe, 11:38 am.

Mikey groans, laying flat on the couch. His whole head pounding with pain.

His mouth throbbed, his teeth hurt, and his tongue was sore. All because of those stupid braces.

he couldn’t even eat anything! That’s how bad his mouth hurt. He still didn’t understand why he needed braces in the first place. His teeth looked okay to him, anyway.

He wanted to just..scream and cry. But his eyes were dry, and his voice was weak. He had no idea how to even feel right now.

“you okay, Angie?” Leo asked, slowly leaning on his baby brother.

..riiiight, his brothers came home early to “comfort him”

“No, my mouth hurts like shit.”

He said, slumping even further in his sweater.

“Leo, ur not making it better.” Donnie commented, smirking ever so slightly at his phone.

Leo gave him an annoyed glare, before turning his attention back to Mikey.

they all go silent, js watching another Jupiter Jim movie. When suddenly..

“Mikey..W-Why’re you glowing?”

Raph jolts up, looking at his lightbulb of a brother.

The twins turn their attention to their little brother. Leo stares at Mikey in disbelief. Sure, it wasn’t an impossible event, but he never expected it from his own brother!!

Suddenly, a glowing orange spark awoken from the floor. Soon getting bigger, and bigger. And within seconds..

The portal had swallowed them whole.

_________________________________________

Tbadm universe, 12:30 pm.

ah yes, the sound of a peaceful brunch. The birds chirped, the sun shined. It was almost perfect!!! “GIVE IT BACK!!!”

“NO!! I FOUND IT FIRST!!!! I WANNA EXAMINE IT!!”

“YOU’RE GONNA HURT IT!!”

..almost, perfect. The chipmunks siblings were fighting again. Typical siblings, battling over what seemed to be a rare species of caterpillar? Interesting. But one thing was for sure…

This was giving vins a serious question about her life choices. Are her and cup doing the right thing? should they..not? What would everyone think? As if on que, a thump had hit the ground. Actually, it was Multiple thumps. Repeatedly!! Mugs was the first to react. Well, if u call screaming and jumping to Koi’s arms a reaction…

“ughhhh..” The strange creature groaned, starling nearly everyone.

“WHAT ARE THOSE?!?” Mugs yelped, holding onto koi tightly.

“Excuse you, teakettle!! We are turtles, clearly.” One of the other creatures said. As raph was getting himself up, he was shown down by a tall figure. Taller them him, that’s for sure. “Alright, buddy. Start explainin’, who you, and your little goons are.” Cup demanded, Looking dead serious. (As usual, I guess-)

“Look uh..sir? We don’t want any trouble-“

“YES WE DO!! FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!!” Mikey shouted, raising a fist in the air

The crew awkwardly stare at the littlest one. Bendy snickers ever so slightly. I think these 2 would get along just fine!!..if Boris let him get closer then 18 feet away.

“wait- soo, how’d you all get here?? No one rlly just..comes to the middle of the forest..” koi gently placed his love down, now resting a hand on his hip.

the brothers proceed to look at eachother, then all their eyes fall upon mikey.

“great question, why don’t we ask the damn lightbulb, eh mike?” Leo stood up, crossing his arms in disappointment and blame. Starring daggers at his lil bro.

“OH, SO ITS MY FAULT I MAGICALLY STARTED GLOWING?!” Mikey shouted, making this nearly more awkward for our beloved crew of cartoons. “Ok, how about we all just..calm down, okay?” Vinnie suggested, standing between the 2 turtles.

“whaaaaat is even happening right now??” Donnie whispered, moving ever so slightly to his older bro.

“honestly? I have no idea, don.” He whispered back. This one definitely in top 5 weirdest shit any Of them have ever been in. And ohoho boy, was it just gonna get weirder and weirder from here…

MASTERPOST NEXT

You have no idea how long this took to make..

I was gonna put drawings in here too, but I couldn’t draw one thing and then another, then…I ran out of motivation.

But maybe eventually, I’ll go back and add drawings :]

[belleyellsaboutturtles]

Sparky - pt 2

<< prev || next >>

"-and honestly I didn't know you could make origami out of salami, but hey! The more you know! I won't if you could do it with prosciutto? ...Nah, too thin. Doesn't have enough structure."

They'd gotten home from fighting the paper thieves a few hours ago. They'd ridden the high of their victory for awhile, before it got so late even Donnie was hiding yawns. Mikey should be sleeping, but he wasn't tired yet. He had so many thoughts in his brain about everything that had happened today! His brothers had all gone to their rooms for the night though, so Mikey hadn't had anyone to talk to. So after making himself comfortable on his hammock, he'd started talking to himself and doodling in a notebook. At some point, mindless doodles and talking to himself had turned into drawing and talking to his mystic weapon.

He lightly scribbled down a few more lines to highlight the flames around the kusari fundo. "Also, one of the guys heads was on fire. Which you saw, obviously - you were there. Or did you?" Mikey paused his drawing to thoughtfully look at the weapon. "I mean, you have a face. I've seen it a few times now. I wonder if you can see? Or maybe you're blind. I could also just be imagining all of this - my brothers say I have an active imagination."

No response. It continued to hang idly on the wall.

Mikey twirled his pencil between his fingers. "Maybe it's like how if you look at a car long enough it has a face," he contemplated. Fire wasn't usually that consistent though. Hm. Oh! He snapped his fingers as a thought occurred to him. "Hey, people name cars! Maybe they name them because they have faces! Which means you need a name, because you definitely have a face."

Mikey tapped his chin and hummed in thought. "It's gotta be something that fits. And of course it has to have some pizazz!"

Hmm... well, the chain could shrink and grow as needed. It was orange. It could light on fire. Maybe something like Firework? Nah, doesn't fit the vibe. Orange? No, that was already one of his own nicknames. Blaze? Almost. He was getting warmer, he could feel it. He was missing something. Let's see, what else was unique to his weapon? Well, he was the first to discover its mystic properties. Once he did, it sparked a chain of events leading to Raph discovering his power smash jitsu and Leo's new portaling ability. It also lead to Draxum's lab exploding-

"That's it!" Mikey exclaimed. With a grin, he wrote his weapon's new name next to the sketch he'd drawn of its fiery face.

With a flourish, he proudly turned the page around to face the kusari fundo. "Sparky! It's perfect! It goes with your fire and spitfire personality!"

No response, but that was okay. This was mainly for Mikey's own enjoyment anyway.

He dated the sketch, then yawned. The night had finally caught up to him. He flipped his sketchbook closed and tossed it and his pencil onto the floor. He'd put them away properly tomorrow.

"Well, guess that's it for me. Thanks for listening, Sparky! See ya tomorrow!"

The box turtle burrowed into his blankets and closed his eyes for the night. On the wall, Sparky glowed.

<< prev || next >>

[minumi-chan]

A Twin Thing - Finale - 16 years old

Due to formatting, this chap is best read on A03 Rated: G Summary: How much do you know? His twin’s brow furrows deep, and Donnie looks tired, so tired when he finally whispers. “Everything.” Leo’s face pales. His eyes sting again at the corners. “E-Everything?” Everything.

A/N: This chapter is a sort of reversed mirror to the last one and intersects, if you skipped chap 6, the story will make sense but it will lose some clarity. If you elect to reread the pain train, I'm sorry in advance but also you're welcome for how this slots into place.

::CH1::CH2::CH3::CH4::CH5::CH6::

I also recommend a little bit of background ambiance music to help bring the feels home. Set this playlist to loop on your spotify (or wherever you like your jammy jams) and read: Home and Reunion -- Alkis Livathinos (From Hue OST)

~~ 16 years old ~ Finale ~~

“Mikey, it’s over,” Raph urges him gently. 

Donatello releases a shuddering breath, not yet willing to face his youngest brother’s grief when he is still choking on his own. But Mikey’s voice rings clear and determined across the empty parking lot. 

“Leo never gave up on us. I’m not giving up on him!”  

The air around them sparks to life with electric golden light as Mikey groans with effort. Turning in surprise, Donnie feels a stir deep within himself the moment that the air before his little brother splits into a golden seam. He inhales sharply, several more tears escaping as his eyes widen. 

“Mikey?! Whatever you’re doing-- don’t stop!!” Raph instructs as he rushes forward. 

Donnie follows hot on his heels towards the inexplicable pull of what lies beyond that spark of mystic power. It pulses with an energy that tickles at the edges of the void throbbing in his chest. As he grasps his little brother’s shoulder tightly, he never takes his eyes off the glowing golden light ripping open space before them. 

“We’re here, Mikey. Together!” 

Mystic energy disseminates through the three of them and crackles their skin with Mikey’s golden light. The doorway opens into a dim lifeless space, filled with decaying frozen remnants of destroyed ships and krang carcasses. 

With every inch the portal grows, Donatello feels the cold emptiness inside him shrink and fill with a presence he had not realized belonged there until this moment. A tiny mote of fury, a splash of humor, a blaze of passion, a wave of loyalty, and the warmth of a love he took for granted every second of every day of his life because Donnie has never once had to go without it until now. A presence he never wants to feel the lack of ever again.

Golden light illuminates Leo’s bruised face, and the dum dum has the gumption to smile as he reaches towards them, “Heh... took you guys long enough!” 

Raph projects his arm through the portal without hesitation to pull their brother out of the darkness, but the menacing glint of a scarlet eye rears its ugly head behind Leonardo. The tears that still leak from Donnie’s eyes spark into seething streaks of violet mystic energy as he growls with unbridled rage at the Krang. Shaping his fury into a massive drill, he aims straight and true for the monster who nearly ripped his twin from him, buying just enough time for Raph to get Leo through the portal and into their waiting arms as Mikey closes it behind them. 

The ringing he had heard is gone. As is the icy void in his chest, the aching emptiness he had felt when the krang portal snapped closed. Falling to his knees, Donnie studies Leo’s bruised and broken body in silent horror, words having left him as his head fills with a faint buzz of pain from... well everywhere.

“Leo?” Raph asks nervously beside him. 

“Hey,” Leo answers tiredly after a brief moment, finding the strength somehow to offer them a smile. His gaze travels over each of his brothers’ faces, reaching Donnie last and pausing. The swollen skin around his eye twitches and his brow wrinkles slightly with concern as he eyes Don’s unusually obvious distress. 

Donatello’s eyes water again as he feels the question that goes unspoken between them. 

You good?

Pressing his lips into a tightline, Don minutely twitches his head in a nod and releases a shuddering breath when words cannot form on his tongue. Leo understands, because of course he always has, and moves his gaze elsewhere taking in their surroundings. 

“ Ewww! Are we in Staten Island?” 

Raphael pulls all his brothers into a hug full of relieved teary laughter as they cling to each other, shaking from the adrenaline and emotions still running high between them. He feels the way Leo winces through his laughter, an echo of a sharp sting in his own chest follows. Slowly, carefully, he reaches for Leonardo’s hand, the one that isn’t trembling and squeezes. Leo finds his gaze again with wide eyes, searching his face as if seeing something new, before squeezing back. Don feels his face grow damp again, and doesn’t bother to stem the fresh flow of tears this time. 

He doesn’t let go of Leo’s hand. Not while they wait huddled together for April, Casey and Papa to get to their location. Not as they all pile into the ‘acquired’ van that will get them back to safety. Not for a moment during the long ride to get back into the city through the chaos and wreckage the invasion had caused. Not as his body temperature slowly drops, despite being surrounded on all sides by his brothers. Not when his eyes droop closed in spite of everything racing through his mind telling him to stay awake.

Voices murmur around him, but he’s reached the stage where he can’t understand them. It’s all just radio static. No one presses him for words he can’t find. He sits quietly, breathing slow and shallow through the pain, hand still locked with Leo’s where his twin sits propped up against Raph’s chest. Mikey is pressed close beside him, arms folded carefully in his lap unmoving when normally he’d be playing with his phone. 

His little brother is in pain, Donnie realizes. It radiates off of Raphael as well, in the tenseness of his muscles, and the way he grinds his jaw. Leo is like a beacon of it, pulsing with hurt and yet still finding it in himself to keep smiling, making soft voiced jokes probably to soothe all of their nerves and to keep himself awake. They should all stay awake...

Donnie should be planning their next move, should be assessing each family member's damage to know what they’ll need when they arrive home. With Leo out of commission, he’s going to need help. Did his brothers shred the manuals for all of the medical devices in the medbay like they did for the Turtle tank? Maybe he should just send the digital backups straight to their phones for ease of access... Do they even have enough supplies for how injured they all are? He tries to move through a checklist of what he knows is stocked in their small, about to be proven inadequate medbay... only to find his thoughts moving like a spoon through a thick lumpy soup. Nevermind that he cannot recall exactly what is in stock at home, they definitely are going to need more of everything , and should make a pit stop before reaching the lair. 

He tries to say as much, only his tongue clicks in his mouth and no words leave him. Trying again results only in another series of clicks, ending with a very soft chirp.

Leo catches the small noises immediately, looking at him with increasing concern. The distortion of unintelligible words continues around him and Don blinks slow, almost doesn’t open his eyes again. His tongue clicks again trying to form words, except it gets stuck in a long strangled sound that nearly makes him gag this time. 

“Donnie, you okay buddy?” 

Raph is speaking now, and it takes real effort to drag his eyes up to his eldest brother. The larger turtle moves his hands tiredly, there’s something wrong with his right arm. Donnie can tell by how stiffly he moves and the sloppiness of his hand shapes.

 [[ Sign? ]]

Don swallows thickly, clicking again. The fingers of his free hand lift and twitch through the pain, but the signs won’t come, locked in his mind. 

“Hey Dee, you with me?” 

Donnie shifts his gaze to his twin who’s right eye has nearly swollen shut, Leo squeezes their still laced fingers and it hurts . Everything hurts .

The edges of Don's vision are as dark as the bruises ripening along all of their bodies. In lieu of answering, his eyes fall shut as a violent shiver runs through him and he whimpers. Gravity does something funny, and Donnie hears what might be his name frantic on Mikey's tongue. 

Only then does his grip on Leo’s hand finally loosen, and all fades to unforgiving black. 

The anxiety, fear, and pain they have all been suppressing throughout their hard won fight bubbles up the moment Donatello keels over like a limp noodle. For several minutes, the back of the van is pure chaos, raised voices, worried cries, upset tears and distressed movement, before Leo can finally wrangle everyone’s attention and energy into effective triage. Not a single one of them is whole, but they do their best to follow his shaky instructions. 

Everything in his body aches like a raw nerve, so much so that Leo could hardly feel the steady undercurrent of his twin’s echoing pain beneath his own. He can’t know everything that his little brothers endured when he separated from them inside the technodrome, but even just the blow that broke through Donnie’s shield at the top... Leo intimately knows the power behind those blows. He should have known -- should have realized sooner that Don could not have remained unscathed after such a direct hit. He should have been paying attention to everyone's condition...

Leo fights back the pure panic that washes through him when darkness starts to edge at his own vision. He can’t pass out on them too, they need direction and with Donnie out cold, there’s no one else with enough medical knowledge to walk them through dressing the wounds they’ve suffered, or using the equipment in the medbay. It takes Leo a moment to realize the scared whimpers he’s hearing distantly are his own. He’s waited too long, and now there is no telling who will konk out next, and whether or not they’d even wake up again. 

“Easy, Leo. Just one step at a time. We’ll get through this together, like we always do, okay?” Raph assures him with a gentle squeeze to this shoulder. 

He must be speaking out loud, but he can no longer hear himself above the ringing in his ears. He’s floating as the room gets dimmer. No, no, no, he doesn’t want to be alone in the dark again. 

“My son,” Splinter’s voice is the gentlest he has ever heard it as his pink hand brushes over his brow, “We’re here, you’re here with us, you're safe now.” 

Casey nervously pipes up, but he’s so very far away to Leo, “Isn’t there a medical facility we could go to?” 

“T-There aren’t any that would be non-human friendly yet, Casey,” Even April sounds shaky. 

“Barry-- we should call Barry, omigosh-- do we even know if he’s okay?? April could you, o-ow eheh...” Mikey’s weak laugh is a poor cover for his obvious pain as he pulls out his phone and nearly drops it when handing it over to her. His hands are shaking too much to work it. Leo tries not to think about nerve damage and how little he can do to reverse that...

“Nice thinking, Mikey...” Leo offers weakly and shivers as his eyes droop against his will, “Could-- could someone... turn on the l-lights...please?”

Several frightened voices call his name as he sinks deeper into the darkness, feeling small and terrified . Alone. Again. 

The Krang’s laughter echoes ominous around him and Leo feels his breath start to freeze in his lungs as--

Familiar warmth fills his chest, easing the chill, calming his breaths, sharing the pain . Leo wants to cry when he feels the presence somehow standing with him.  

I’m here. 

Relief battles against the agonizing memory of that cold dark void, trapped, terrified, alone-- 

Please-- please don’t leave me alone--

I won't.

Leo believes in those words, and finally lets go of conscious thought. 

.

.

.

The next several hours are a haze of agony and severe anxiety every time he wakes up dazed and unaware of where he is. Pain is always the first sensation, followed by dread, and cold. The endless cold vastness of dead space, alone --

I’m here. 

Leo clings to the comfort of those words and fades out again.

.

.

. 

Splinter and Draxum argue quietly when next he wakes up. He can’t really understand what they’re saying through the fog of hurt. It takes them a moment to even realize he’s staring dully between them as if following a ping pong match. 

“You shouldn’t be alive ,” the yokai sounds oddly fond as he injects something into Leo’s IV bag that makes the world go soft around the edges. There’s a thump followed by a grunt from Draxum.

“What I mean is. I am. Glad. That you. Are not extinguished,” he finishes awkwardly. 

“I still h’ven f’got you... you threw m’off a buildin’,” Leo slurs, barely able to keep his eyes open from the heavy combination of drugs keeping his pain and stress levels manageable.  

“And he still has not apologized for it,” Splinter gruffs, smoothing a hand over his brow. Leo closes his eyes and drifts away again before he can make out Draxum’s haughty laughing rebuttal.

Another laugh echoes sinister around him in the dark and he tenses. 

I’m here. 

He relaxes . 

.

.

.

The next time he wakes up, it’s with the dissociative numbness that only comes from a very strong cocktail of painkillers. He’s on his side... man he hates sleeping on his side, leaves such a bad crick in the neck... The dull pulsing throb in his shell even through the haze of medication tells him why it must be so. Bit by bit he registers his surroundings. 

Mikey is curled up carefully beside him. His little brother’s head is wrapped, and he can see a line of butterfly stitches peeking under the gauze. His mind moves like molasses through the fight, recalling the hit that separated them. How Leo had cracked his shell for the first time (but not the last) against the concrete slabs surrounding them, but Mikey-- Michelangelo had smacked head first into one. Mikey's hands are also bandaged up from fingertips to the elbows... and from what his blurred vision reveals, Leo has even more bandages all over his own body along with a few casted limbs. Mikey’s bandaged palm is on his plastron, just over where his heart beats. He’s so unnervingly quiet and still in his repose, so unlike the vibrant Michelangelo he knows, that it makes Leo’s heart speed up in fear . The machine he’s connected to beeps in tandem with his rising heart rate, betraying his conscious state. 

“Hey, Leon~” he can hear the smile in Mikey’s tired voice before he drags his eyes back to his little brother’s face. The skin under his eyes is bruised and puffy, no doubt from long hours of too many tears and not enough sleep. 

He croaks what is supposed to be Mikey’s name. His eyes blink closed for a long moment, and he jerks to fight it, feeling several injuries protesting at the violent movement. Groaning at the residual throb now thrumming throughout his battered limbs and shell, he shifts his gaze around the room desperately until it lands on another brother. 

Raphael is squished into a chair that’s just barely big enough for him, one arm in a sling, an eye hidden under bandages, and his cheek smushed where it rests against his less injured shoulder. He will definitely have a crick in his neck later... Raph’s good hand is curled protectively over the crown of his Donnie’s head where he lays with his back to Leo in the bed opposite him. 

His single eye that isn’t swollen shut widens in horror at the sight of the bloodied bandages all over his twin’s back. The heart monitor picks up the pace again. 

“Hey, hey--” Mikey shushes him softly, patting his plastron gently.

“Whas--”

“It’s okay, Leo--”

“H-happen--” his breath stutters as his chest aches from the pressure of his quickening breaths against his broken ribs. 

“Leo please, take it easy,” Mikey’s cracking voice finally makes him tear his sight away from twin’s unmoving form to his little brother now openly crying before him. “He’s gonna be o-okay. You’re both gonna be okay.”

“Mikesh, whappen--”

“I can’t talk about it right now, kay? M-Maybe later?” Mikey takes a shaky breath and wipes his cheek with a bandaged arm before hissing in pain.

“O-Okay, Migs,” Leo slurs, his eyes are drooping, but he forces his only good hand-- were they all just a band of one armed, no-armed ninjas now or what -- and clasps the hand Michael still had against his heart. “Wer gon be good, yeah?”

Michelangelo gives him a watery smile and nods, “Yeah.”

Leo’s eyes shut against his will. As the darkness surrounds him, he shudders. The glare of a red eye falls upon him. No, not again--

I’m here. 

Leo holds tight to that like a shield. 

.

.

.

Raph’s chair is now between their beds when consciousness finds him again. His big brother is asleep once more, but someone has found him a neck pillow to brace under his chin. The result is him snoring like a chainsaw. Leo’s eyes are gritty and he wants to rub them but moving is so hard so he just blinks several times. 

Donnie’s back is still to him in the next bed over, but his bandages are only tinted pink this time. He shivers at the memory of the blood and his heart monitor skips a beat. Raph snorts and stirs in his chair, his one good eye peeking open. He starts when he notices Leon awake. 

“Leo!” He winces, realizing how loud his excitement is, and looks over at the other bed, “Sorry Mikey just fell asleep, so we gotta be quiet.”

Leon squints at the other bed and sees a slip of orange bandana over the curve of Donnie’s bruised shoulder. Distracted, he traces all the visible injuries on his twin that he can see from his limited vantage point. 

“Why’s Don give’m a run fer my mummy?” he mutters, brow furrowed as he drags his eyes up to Raph and slowly lifts one corner of his mouth in a smile. 

Raphael watches him wide-eyed before rubbing a hand over his maskless face with a quiet groan, “You did not just say that on purpose. It’s the drugs. I’ma chalk it up to the drugs--” 

Leo tries to shift to get a better look at the other bed’s occupant only to end up whimpering as pain stabs through him. When it’s over, his eyes are watering and Raph has gotten up from his chair to reach for him. 

“Why’s Donnie lie that? Wha’ happened?” he wheezes out. 

“Easy, did ya want to move a bit? Raph can help, tell big bro what ya need.”

“Raphie, don’t-- yer putin’ t’much stress on yer injuries, I just know ish,” Leo grunts as he tries to wriggle away from Raphael’s touch, breaths quickening and the damn monitor broadcasting his agitation .

“Okay, okay, look I’m sitting, witness me sit. There, ya happy?” Raphael doesn’t quite manage to hide a grunt of discomfort as he settles down. “Don’t say I told you so, I will get a sandal, don’t try me.” 

Leo manages a true giggle at that, breathing becoming easier before pinning his older brother with a knowing look, “Yer dodgin’ my ques’... ques’.. Jus’ answer.” 

Raphael sighs but offers a lopsided smile, “I guess you an’ Donnie wanna compete even in this, huh? You guys keep waking up out of sync. Very un-twinlike of ya. Demanding answers about everybody, without ever thinking about yourselves.” 

He trails off, swallowing thickly and looking over at the other bed where their little brothers rest. 

“Whas happen, Raph?” Leo insists again, “Tell me?”

“It’s been a long three days, bro.”

Leo gapes, “T-Three days ?” 

“Yea, lemme fill ya in,” Raph’s eye is shining with unshed tears even as he smiles at Leo and reaches out again to rub a large thumb across his brow back and forth. Leo’s too honest when drugged to pretend he hates it, so he chirps softly instead and half closes his eyes as he leans into the petting. 

“Barry actually came in clutch, probably woulda lost my eye if he hadn’t been here... When the bandages come off, we’ll see how my vision is. Arm’s broken, shell’s busted, some burns from... from that stuff,” Raph pauses with a shaky breath, going silent for a long minute and just breathing. 

Leo blinks his eyes open, he can finally open both of them again, though his right one still feels sore. His big brother is looking into the middle distance, never stopping his gentle touch over Leon’s brow. 

“Raph?” Leonardo says barely above a whisper, wrapping his good hand around Raph’s wrist, “S’okay, ya dun hafta if--” 

"Mikey's got a lot of bruising and one hell of a concussion. He’s still getting around on his own the best out of all of us though. Donnie--" Raph interrupts his attempt to offer an out of the conversation, looking over at the other bed, and pride rolls off him like the single silent tear that rolls down his cheek, his voice is slightly thicker when he continues, "Mikey said that blow at the top wasn't the only one Donnie took for him that day. Dee did a good job being The Big Bro while we were both uhh... occupied . Kept Mikey safe . But his arms, Mikey’s arms haven’t stopped shaking, so Casey's been doing most of the cooking. It's been an experience learning that Casey knows next to nothing about spices. But well, Mikey, Dad and me take turns showing him what to add in. You gotta watch the kid drink some cinnamon cocoa, you’d swear it was the nectar of the gods...” 

Leo huffs a laugh, and feels relieved when it brings a smile back to Raph’s face.  

“That’s been helping keep Mikey distracted too. He's... not doing so good with being separated from anybody for too long right now."

Leo thinks back to waking up with Mikey curled up beside him. Looking back at his twin's bed and seeing him tucked against Donnie, clinging in much the same way he had to Leo at that time.

"He's taking turns," Raph explains, following his gaze, "Sometimes he sleeps with you, sometimes me, right now it's Dee..."

"Whas happen to Don? Why’s he s’hurt?"

"Donnie... he-- he got ripped out of the control console. Dee's not very talkative right now but Mike was there. To control the ship he said Donnie had to..."  Raphael shudders, closing his eye briefly, "Said he had to integrate with it through his shell... Then that hit from that asshole... He keeps waking up looking for you, like he thinks yer still in... in that place. I’m guessing concussion stuff? Won’t calm down ‘till he can see ya. Haven't seen you two so keen on each other since we were little. It'd be cute, if everything else wasn’t so..."

"F'dged?" 

"Did you censor yourself on purpose?"

"Nuh...fud. Fug... Fudgeh...f'rget it..."

Raph actually laughs, and Leo feels a million pounds of stress dissipate at the sound, chest aching with not a small amount of pride to have inspired even a little bit of humor in Raph. Things can't be so horrible, if he can still make Raphael laugh.

"Wer... gon'be okay, right Raphie?"

"Yea, little bro. We're gonna be okay," Raph's voice trembles but he's smiling as he says it, thumb never pausing its soothing motion across his forehead. 

It's too soon when sleep tries to claim him again, blurring Raph’s words and making them almost unintelligible in the fog creeping back over his mind. He whines and shifts trying to fight it. 

“Shh, Leo, rest. Raph’ll be here when you wake up,” Raphael promises. 

He has no doubts that Raphael will keep that promise, but he isn’t afraid of being alone while awake . 

What he fears is being alone and cold in the dark. Alone and floating in the vastness of space. Alone under the beam of a red eye . Alone--

I’m here. 

Leo weeps, but it’s from relief .

.

.

.

The next time he blinks into quasi-awareness the pain has somehow doubled, like two conflicting songs being played in the background, low enough to not compete with each other, but loud enough to make out the lyrics of both if you chose to focus. Whatever drugs were in his system must be running low if Leo can feel his twin’s agony alongside his own... Or maybe it’s Donnie’s morphine that has run its course and his twin is in enough suffering that even he can feel it. Has he been projecting on Donnie this whole time too? The thought curdles his stomach with worry . 

His movement is sluggish as he shifts to look for his twin. He’s still in the bed across the way, however this time facing towards him. With his mask off, it’s easy to see the harrowed creases of Donnie’s forehead. Sweat beads on Donnie’s brow, and there’s an ugly bruise discoloring the whole right side of his face, cheek puffy with swelling still. His arms are curled in front of him carefully, one is casted to below the elbow, the other has a stiff wrist brace, a phone still cradled loosely in his better hand. Leo frowns, knowing his dum dum brother has probably been trying to work on whatever nerdisms he can while barely being able to use his damn phone. The steady beeping of the heart monitors they are connected to is somehow nerve wracking and soothing all at once. It at least lets him know his twin is stable, and there are no immediate concerns.

Mikey sighs in his sleep nearby and Leo’s gaze jumps to his little brother, curled up asleep in the chair between their beds that Raph usually occupies. There’s a teddy tucked in his bandaged arms, one of Raphael’s, and he’s smushed into the large pillow draped over the arm of the chair. Though Mikey is small, it still can’t be comfortable to sleep there. 

“He won’t sleep outside the medbay. Hasn’t since we got back,” a warm human hand brushes over the back of his neck and he jumps before the slow soothing motions make him recognize the touch,  “Hey, it’s April, you’re alright... You said that out loud by the way.” 

“Why I kep doin’ that--” 

“The drugs I’m sure, or the concussion, or both probably. Either way, you’ve been a wealth of entertainment, especially when you’re extra out of it,” April chuckles, and something cool and soothing is being applied to his shell. 

“Fugg, nooo-- What I say?” Leo whines, hissing when shifting pulls a wave of fire through the cracks in his shell. April shushes him quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder to squeeze gently, thumb tracing over one of the yellow stripes on his skin. 

“Ask Donnie to show you later, he records everything,” She answers bemused, before continuing her work at his shell, “Raph’s gone to take a shower, I promised him I’d change your shell dressing and stay ‘til he was back so Mikey didn’t get anxious. You doing okay? Need anything?” 

He cranes his neck to give her a tired smile, “Not f’me... Dee, Dee’s in pain tho. Needs mo’meds.”  

April looks at him silently for a long moment, before turning to look at Donnie, seeing the discomfort now broadcasting on his sleeping face. When she looks back at Leo she raises a brow over the rim of her red glasses. 

“Is this one of your freaky twin things?”

Leo grins though it makes half his face ache. 

April shakes her head with a small laugh, “Well, thing is Donnie asked for us to back off his painkillers. Makes his mind too fuzzy to work. Yes, I know he shouldn’t be, but--” 

She trails off avoiding his gaze. 

“Whas it? Whas wrong?” When she doesn’t respond right away, Leo’s heart monitor picks up in rhythm, he prompts her again, “April, tell me...” 

“Donnie’s been remotely upgrading the Lair security. Said it was serious, that it couldn’t wait. We still have the key-- and we’re in no shape to defend it if anyone tries to take it right now. He won’t--” she hesitates again, before steeling herself with a slow breath, “He won’t say what exactly, but he saw something when he took over the ship.” 

Leo’s mind is spinning in a million directions. The technodrome-- he asked him to hijack it. Raph told him, Donnie integrated into the ship-- it’s what caused such terrible injuries to his shell. Guilt twists his guts as he stares at his twin. 

“He was adamant we let him work, and after everything, well... we agreed as a family. Sorry Leo, you were asleep for that meeting, and something tells me it was for the best,” April finishes with a sigh, rubbing his arm soothingly as his heart monitor beeps in warning. 

“No, no--” Leo’s brow furrows, eyes never leaving his brother, “I trus’ Don. If ‘e says it needs t’happen, then, it neesh to... Hey, Big Sis?” 

April squeezes his shoulder again and he can hear the smile in her voice, “What’s up little bro?”

“Could you...” 

Leo’s fading again. He hates being this tired all the time, being unable to hold more than a three minute conversation before the darkness claims him again. When he shivers at the memory, April must mistake it for cold because she pulls the blankets tighter around him. 

“Ask Raphie t’put... put our besh togesh peas?”

“You got it, that’s an O’Neil promise.”

He tries to thank her but the shadows take over his vision. This time, he doesn’t simply wait in the void of his memory's making. He’s pushing through the terror and reaching, pushing out of the darkness, towards the familiar warm light he can always feel inside him, until he hit the barrier his twin has always kept around himself to buffer their connection. But something doesn’t feel right, something is different, off about the arrangement this time. He isn’t being kept out, rather something is being kept in . He pushes further, bumping along the edges, with a little more pressure, a little more insistence each time until he finds a soft spot, until something gives, until he can slip into a crack past his brother’s defenses and--

Leonardo nearly shrinks back at the inescapable tangle of horror .  

Everything feels slimy.

And slippery. 

And slithering.

I’m here!

Flashes of translucent pink-violet tentacles surround him and Leo is consumed with a dread and disgust so violent he chokes down the urge to vomit. His head is full of images, most flashing faster than he can process, and he’s thankful because those that he can glimpse are nothing but death and annihilation, but he pushes through the pulsing and the writhing terror of it all until--

I’m here, Dee! 

Another wall, the dam behind which Donatello has always withheld his emotion. Pink fleshy tendrils encase it like a tomb, only a sliver of violet light peeping through here and there. It nauseates him, but Leo pulls and tears against the tumorous growths, ripping them away from his brother’s essence, reaching for the light. 

Let me be here for you too!

The horrifying images stutter like a film projector getting tangled in the feed and the pictures start to burn away. He pushes harder , reaches deeper into the nest of awful sensory nightmare .

I won’t leave you alone with this!

The tendrils slowly slide away from the cracked walls in near shambles but somehow still standing, and in their place he is wrapped with a distant echo of gratitude . 

.

.

.

In the place between memory and dream, he floats...

You-- You’ve ruined everything!

Every ache in his body makes itself known. So much so that he cannot tell if he is recovering from the worst beat down of his life or still enduring it. In the distance, something beeps rhythmically and fast... too fast. 

And now... my wrath will be reserved for you alone . 

He floats. In a blanket of darkness, with carcasses of decaying krang amalgamations, of fragmented ships and wreckage. The cold seeps into every pore of his being, choking the warmth out of his skin. 

You think you’ve won?

I’m here!

No, he chokes on the blood pooling in his mouth, and in his lungs from the impact of each hit. 

You wretched

I’m here!

His chest aches for the sweet lightness of air, but instead there are claws beating him down.

Little

I’m here!

Down, down, down, down, under the glare of a red eye... 

PEST!

Leo~!

Deep into the crushing weight of his own terror.

Wipe that grin off your face!  I’M HERE~!

He whimpers breathless, tensing, waiting for the blow that will break him. The swing comes down and he feels--

FURY whirling around him like a hurricane, violently dispelling the memory of the blow that broke nearly all of his ribs. Melting the breath frozen in his lungs and he gasps for air, mind spinning and dizzy with foreign emotion. Burning away the beam of scarlet in the darkness until it shifts into the soft hazy LED white of the overhead can lights Donnie had installed in the medbay last year.

Two sets of heart monitors are screeching with elevated heart rates in the distance. Distance? Leo blinks and the tears flow over his face leaving uncomfortable trails of moisture, but he can’t move. Fingertips lightly pat his plastron with a repetitive motion. He struggles to focus his doubled vision to the casted arm moving frantic in front of him, back and forth, back and forth in a familiar sign, over another’s chest. It repeats again and again, along with a careful tapping on his bandaged plastron. 

His mind finally registers the sign for breathe and Leonardo gasps around a broken sob, closing his eyes and shaking apart. With the release of all the tension in his body comes the pain of every injury he stressed during his panic. Another sob tears from his throat and he curls up as much as his injured body will allow. The din of half a dozen voices begins to filter through his frazzled mind. Whimpering a pathetic broken sound, he wishes only to hide from everyone, yet he doesn’t want to be alone . 

Protectiveness washes over him in a soothing wave, gradually quieting his broken sobs into soft whines of discomfort. He reaches for Donnie’s hand and holds it carefully, wary of causing any pain to his damaged wrist. Don folds a hand around his in a firm grip and squeezes. It takes several moments, but soon the room falls silent save for the calmed beeping of their heart monitors and Leo’s hitching breaths as he winds down slowly. 

“Where’d everybody go?” Leo pretends his voice isn’t so wobbly several minutes later as he finally uncurls to look around them.

Donnie releases his hand momentarily and signs more calmly now, but the motions are still made awkward between the cast and the brace.

[[ Asked them to leave us. ]]

The sound of quiet sniffles in front of him draws his eyes up to his brother’s face and Leo is startled to find Donnie’s eyes shining with held back tears as he glares at the bed covers between them. Leo studies his brother trying to understand the feelings Don cannot express with the same ease as himself and their brothers always have. He reaches out into the ephemeral space between them, spirit stretching in a motion made natural from years of practice, until he can brush up against his brother’s edges and--  

It is like walking up to an overburdened dam, the violet walls are meters thick, tall and imposing, and yet they groan and buckle with the immensity of what they hold back, spider cracks spreading like wildfire along the surface, leaking tiny jets of emotion that lap against his ankles in little waves. Just behind the immense barrier, an ocean of feeling that Leo has only ever caught glimpses of before, threatening to burst forth at any wrong move.

In front of him, Donnie continues chewing his bottom lip hard enough that he will be bleeding soon if he does not stop.

“Dee?” he whispers, and as soon as he has Don’s attention, motions to his own mouth, “Want something else to chew? Maybe the blanket?”

The furrows in Don’s brow deepen and he chews harder, almost spiteful.

“Donnie, stop-- please ,” Leo squeezes the hand he still holds hard enough to know it has to hurt, but it works as intended.

Donatello closes his eyes with a sigh, tears finally leaking from his eyes as he does, but stops chewing. He keeps his eyes closed, brow creased, silent save for his shaky breathing. In the space that only exists between their souls, Leo senses himself still wrapped up in a feeling not his own. He’s being guarded , he slowly realizes, from the tremor of fear still waiting in the back of his mind along with his horrid memories, from the festering wraiths still tugging at his twin’s edges.

For as long as Leo can remember, this has been his role, reaching out without hesitation whenever he sensed his twin needed. He cannot recall a time when their connection has been so free flowing. So... reciprocated, even with everything Donnie was still holding back . It almost feels like they don't need words. Leo is fascinated, and projects his curiosity through the open channel between their spirits. Donnie doesn’t withdraw for once, and the dam groans as the cracks spread. 

He looks at Leo with a knowing clarity, then shifts his gaze away with a shrug. 

For so long Leo has reached out, and while not exactly rejected, Donnie never reached back. His walls permanently affixed between them and growing thicker with every year they got older, with every year Donnie thought himself wiser to what he deemed Leo’s childish whim of their ‘twinhood.’ Leo thinks he senses shame and immediately responds with reassurance. 

Donnie scoffs aloud, and tries to pull his hand away, but Leo won’t let go, he laces their fingers together and holds tighter. 

"You kept being asleep whenever I'd wake up,” Leo whispers between them, slightly off balance from the new sensations and the extra set of emotions coursing through him, but still manages a shaky smile, “Hi.” 

The sudden fondness that spills over the top of the dam and waterfalls onto him makes his eyes mist up. 

“T-This is new...” his voice cracks on the whisper.  Guilt  follows heavily at the admission. 

“What’s wrong?” Leo asks gently. 

The feeling intensifies, until Donnie looks away, covering his face with his casted arm. Leo finally shakes their hands loose at this, and Donatello seems to take this as a bad sign because he whimpers and curls in on himself. 

With everything in his body stinging like a raw nerve, Leo drags himself closer, inch by agonizing inch until he can throw his own casted arm around Donatello’s trembling shoulder, careful of his injured shell. His twin releases a shuddering breath, chirping a confused little whine as he blinks up at him in surprise. 

Leo offers his own consoling chirp as he settles and meets Donatello’s gaze.

After a moment of silence, Don offers a lazy salute sign with his mostly good hand.

[[ Hi. ]]

"There you are," Leo half smiles.   

Donatello presses his mouth into a thin line, and Leo knows it’s to prevent himself from chewing on his already tattered lips again. His twin’s throat works, and his jaw moves but he only makes a few agitated clicks, no words finding their way to his tongue. With a deep breath, Donnie shapes several frustrated signs. 

[[ Why are you comforting me?? ]] His hands point between them with sharp jerky movements. 

Leo looks blankly at him, because isn’t it obvious? He’ll chalk it up to the major concussions they’re both still recovering from. 

“Because you’re having gross feels time... duh?”

[[ What about you? ]]

“W-What about me?” Leo stutters and tries to laugh but it’s weak.

“Leon,” Donnie croaks his name out loud, thick with frustration. 

“Not everything's a competition, Donald," Leon huffs with false bravado to hide the inadequacy that chokes him as he looks over his brother's battered form, “It’s not about me.” 

It’s what he comforted himself with, in the cold . In the dark . Through the pain . And the fear . When he was sure he would be dead . 

Donnie shivers before him staring intently, as if he can feel every thought in his mind. Donatello moves his hands, but aborts the signs too soon for Leo to catch his meaning. He waits through several false starts patiently before Donnie finally reveals his thoughts. 

[[ Mad at you. ]]

Leo chuckles, disheartened , "Yea, what else is new?"

He feels alarm bubble back at him. 

[[ NO. ]] 

Donnie stresses with a long click in his throat. 

[[ Not like that -- Not good at this . ]] 

His twin heaves a frustrated breath as he motions between them before curling his hands towards his plastron and scratching.

“Are you... trying to have a heart to heart with me, Donbon?” he can’t help but tease, it’s his default coping mechanism. 

[[ Stop! Being serious . Pay attention. ]] 

Donatello’s glare is scarier without his eyebrows on, and no one will convince him otherwise. 

“You have a captured audience, bro-- literally. I can't go anywhere,” Leon wiggles his casted limbs to emphasize.

“ Leo ,” Donnie speaks aloud again, his voice cracking on the name. And Leo quiets at his seriousness and watches his twin sign solemn. 

[[ You left us behind. ]]

“I’m not apologizing for that,” Leonardo growls around the knot in his throat, looking away stubbornly. “I did what had to be done.” 

[[ Could have worked together--]]

“You were miles away, Don! You got knocked out of the sky! After that hit, I didn’t even know if you were stable, or alive , or--” Leo cuts himself off when his voice cracks, clearing his throat, “There wasn’t another way. Either three of us walked out of there, or none of us did. The latter was not an option I was gonna entertain.”

Donnie is nearly seething, his hand movements twisted awkward between the cast and the rage bleeding from his spirit. 

[[ There always is another way-- ]] 

“We had one shot, and I took it. If I hadn’t --” 

Leo feels the aching darkness of the prison dimension in his mind and trembles, remembers the flashes of doom from his twin’s dreams and they both shiver in tandem. Taking a calming breath, he tries a different approach. 

“Don, if you’d been the last one up there, what would you have done?”

[[ Thought my way out!! ]]

“Yea well, I’ve never been as smart as you...” Leo grumbles, hunching in on himself. His chest pangs with the feeling of wrong wrong wrong . 

His brother tries to speak again, but the words die on his tongue as he smacks his lips together in annoyance. His fingers curl closed at his chest, wordless there as well. Leo feels the frustration building, the dam rumbling between their channel, and acts on instinct. 

Tell me this way?

Donatello’s eyes snap up to his in surprise. Doubt filters through to him. 

S’okay. Just try?  

Donnie stares at him in silence, until his eyes begin to take on a watery shine again.

Gone.

Leo shakes his head in confusion. 

You were gone.

He watches as Donnie taps the middle of his plastron absently. 

You were gone, from here.

Leon remembers the cold of the prison dimension. How it felt like it was not only surrounding him, but was coming from inside him, and wonders now how much of that had been their disconnection. Donnie shivers with him at the memory, closing his eyes with a stuttered breath. 

You can finally feel me? 

He can’t quite hide the longing, the years of loneliness he has endured in the question. 

Donnie stares at him in growing realization.   

Didn’t understand. So I just... 

Pushed me away... 

Remorse floods into him, and the strength of it chokes the air from his lungs. He pushes through the wave with ready forgiveness , wrapping his twin in it. 

The dam groans louder, like a wounded beast in its death throes.

Donnie curls in on himself as much as his injuries will allow, rubbing the uncomfortable dampness gathering once more in his eyes. He tries to pull away as usual, and it pains Leo to give up the flow of their connection even a little bit, after so often starving for it, after finally getting a taste of what it could be like. For so long, Leon has existed alone in this space, that he doesn't remember how open their channel now is. He doesn’t think about how any of his thoughts echo between them as Leo lets go, like he always does for his twin’s solace. 

His twin shakes as he tries to sign. 

[[ You took away our choice. ]]

“I’d do it again,” he holds firm to his self-sacrifice , and then--

The dam erupts .

Leo’s chest jams with a cacophony of feeling as the barrier crumbles, the full impact of all of his twin’s repressed emotions crashing over him, into him, through him all at once like a tsunami rushing ashore.

Grief. 

Despair. 

Loneliness. 

Loss. Loss. Loss. Loss. Loss. LOSS.

“Donnie--” Leo almost can’t breathe from the weight of the anguish flowing out of his twin. 

The intensity makes his skin pebble, and he shivers against the sensation of  too much too much!! The bleed through is so strong he can't tell if it's coming from his twin, or himself, or both . He makes to move his arm away, to give Donnie more breathing room, but when his twin chirps in utter distress, he aborts and stays put. Overwhelmed with sentiment, he moves closer on instinct until their foreheads knock together gently, closing his eyes against the tears streaming suddenly down both their faces. 

I’m here.

You’re back.

I’m here, Dee.

You’re back.

I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.  

You’re back. You’re back. You’re back.

Silence settles between them as Leo waits for the crunchiness of the air against their skin to die down, to stop buffeting them until they feel raw. Time crawls like molasses around them while the wave of emotion ebbs and recedes, and their breathing calms, and their eyes stop blurring with salt and water. His soul is dragged over three miles of prickly reef while churning through the waves and back, and still he reaches . 

I’m still here.

I’m here too.

Donatello nods, watching him like he can see every doubt in Leonardo’s mind now. It’s unnerving and yet Leo feels somehow... comforted . 

I won’t push you away anymore...

Leo grabs a corner of the blanket and uses it to wipe at Donnie’s tear soaked face. His twin protests with several annoyed clicks deep in his throat, but doesn’t actually try to stop him. Instead, he grasps another part of the blanket and returns the favor as Leo exhales a watery laugh smothered by cotton. 

Promise?

When he releases the blanket, Donnie stares at him solemnly as he places his pointer finger against his lips, then brings the hand down with the palm flat against his top of the thumb-side of his curled fist. 

Leo squeezes his eyes shut and bites his bottom lip so he doesn’t tear up again and nods. They rest quietly for several long minutes, comfortable with the silence in the room because of the welcome noise of their hearts beating in tandem. 

With a stealing breath, Leon braves a question, feeling as though he already has the answer.

How much do you know?  

His twin’s brow furrows deep, and Donnie looks tired, so tired when he finally whispers. 

“Everything.”

Leo’s face pales. His eyes sting again at the corners. 

“E-Everything?”

Everything.

The thought echoes between them as Leon’s breath quickens. As his memories treacherously turn back to the glare of a red eye in the dark. The desolate isolation of his torture under outraged claws--

I’m here, Leo.

And just like that, his mind’s eye turns gently away from the horror, and instead is swathed in violet light until he blinks it away. Fresh tears paint his face.

“C-Can you see it?” Leon whispers, trembling. 

“More like... feel it...” Donnie confesses into the quiet between them. He looks away with a shrug. “But, I record everything so... after your first dream, I pulled up the file.”

“What?” Leo’s voice pitches high with alarm. 

Did you watch??

Donatello looks back at him, calculating, and then nods. 

“Why-- why did you watch that, Don?” His chest heaves with something between annoyance and betrayal, and he tries to shrink back from his twin. “I didn't want you to know... I didn't want a-anyone to know--”

So you wouldn’t be alone.

“What?” 

With what happened.  

“I'll erase the file if you want. Delete it, shred it-- corrupt the file so it can never ever see the light again,” Donatello speaks with a clear concise wrath , purple scales flickering with furious mystic energy for a split second. “Just like that monster .” 

The angry response Leo was gearing up short circuits in his brain, and he stares. Donnie stares back, unblinking. 

I can’t do the same here... 

But whenever it comes back to you. 

I’ll feel it. 

And I’ll be here. 

You won’t be alone with this.

At the silent promise, Donnie won’t look at him. He’s too busy studying and picking at the little pills on the sheets between them. Leo gawks in awed silence for long enough that Donatello starts to squirm. Then he whispers.

“What about you , Dee?”

Leo remembers the sickening slithering horror crawling within his twin’s dream and a shiver runs up both their shells simultaneously. 

“You record everything right?” He gives him a tired, very small grin. Donnie glares at him and his silence is answer enough. Leon has the gall to laugh. 

“ Curse your deductive skills, Nardo...”

But then Donatello takes a shuddering breath, eyes distant.

What It showed me though... 

That’s only here.

Leo gets a flash of what he’s sure the future would be like if they had failed... if they yet fail. He begins to realize what has haunted his twin for days, what has urged him to struggle through the pain, and fatigue, and injury to reprogram miles of code, to bolster up defenses, to protect . He pushes past the dread sense of inescapable horror with the same defensive ferocity with which Don had dispelled his own bad visions. 

You won’t be alone with this either. 

Whenever It comes back...

I’ll be here too. 

Don watches him quietly with the same pensive stare he gets whenever he’s solving a puzzle. When he finally finds his voice again, he doesn’t ask a question, he offers a conclusion as he taps lightly over his plastron.

“You’ve always been here, haven’t you...” 

Leo’s heart skips a beat, and his heart monitor blips out of rhythm in protest. The answer gets caught in his throat, and he can barely breathe around the hope swarming around his heart. 

“So... how would you rate my ability to finally accept that you were right about us all along?” Donnie asks. 

“Huh?” 

“That we are, in fact, twins ... have been all this whole time,” Donnie blows out a long breath of defeated acceptance, looking flatly at Leo as he continues, “Very unsatisfying, very very unsatisfying, wish Donnie were less of a dum dum sooner --”

“Satisfying. The most satisfying ‘I told you so’ in all of existence,” Leo croaks, shuffling close again to bonk their heads together gently, “To the scale of infinity squared--”

“Technically ‘infinity’ constitutes all numbers, so you cannot multiply it or--”

“Shut up , Donnie, please let me have this...”

Donatello sticks his tongue out between his teeth and bites it with an irritated chirp, and that’s as much of a concession as he’s going to get from his twin.

Leonardo feels somewhere deep in his soul, like he has had this conversation before. In another place, in a forgotten time, but the pieces don’t line up quite the same, like the image shifted midway in the making somehow from despair to hope. All he can do is blink in confusion, and let the unexpected tears that have sprung forth fall. He is so over how much his tear ducts keep betraying him today. 

He grasps his twin’s hand once more, overwhelmed with the sense of déjà vu. When Donnie does not pull away, rather grasps back, he knows his twin feels it too. Leo allows Don to enjoy the peace they’ve found between their connection for exactly three minutes and eighteen seconds.

Wait... so are we mind melding?

No. This is strictly a Twin Thing, open parenthesis trademark close parenthesis. 

I’m pretty sure we’ve at least talked like this with Raph and Mikey during fights.

Well, I don’t feel their feelings, thank Hawking. And as for speaking, we could probably do it first . We just... never tried...

Leo grins slowly. 

Shut. Up. 

I haven’t said anything.  

You’re literally THINKING it. 

Am not.

Nardo, you’re ruining the moment! 

C’mon Donbon, you know it’s not a moment unless I do... 

And Leo laughs through his tears, squeezing his twin’s hand tightly, extending the warmth he feels inside to surround his twin, because despite everything he's not brave enough to say it aloud. And his twin-- 

Donnie squeezes his hand back just as tight, smiling small and lopsided as tears roll down his face too. Warmth surrounds Leo in return, and that tells him everything he needs to know.    

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: I have.... so much more in my brain that did not fit into the context of this fic. So I will continue with this universe via the other brothers’ stories. I have spent way too many hours crying over these turtle children to stop at this story alone. Please come along on the journey with me if you liked this story. Thank you to all the beautiful commenters and especially those who cried with me in the last chapter. Thank you for feeling these feels with me. Much love~💜💙💖🧡

Donnie and the bros using sign language inspo was derived from so many incredible artists, but my main influence was HappyFoxx-art's Aftermath comic. This also inspired my thought process on how severe the boys' injuries might actually have been and got a lot of my wheels turning on what recovery might look like for them. Shout out to all authors/artists juggling aftermath stories or arcs because holy bajeebus handling that many characters in one setting is challenging.

If anyone is interested in some cutting room floor talk, feel free to ask me questions here or on my tumblr. Thank you all!