Chapter Text
“You’ve been portal-chopped!” Leo laughed in victory as the Technodrome was sliced in half. It was a beautiful sight. He could stare at it forever. A bright flash caused him to shut his eyes. The sound of an explosion reached him before the actual aftershock from it. He didn’t register what had happened until his shell crashed into a floating piece of rubble.
He did it! He actually did it! His plan worked and his brothers were safe. Everything worked perfectly. Leo was surprised that it had even worked. After all of his failed plans throughout the day proved to him that he wasn’t cut out to be the leader. This worked though!
“ YOU! ” Oh, right, that guy. “ YOU HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING!” The sound of metal hitting rock told Leo that the Kraang was walking up to him. “ And now, my wrath will be reserved for you alone. ” There was a twisted tone in his voice that Leo could barely process before pain erupted across his body. Brutal punches ricochet off of his shell as the Kraang pummeled him into the floating rock. “ You think you’ve won?! You wretched-” Punch. “ little-” Punch. “PEST!”
Air left Leo’s lungs as he was blasted through the debris. A sickening crack could be heard and he felt the agonizing pain of his shell cracking. Raph willingly let this happen to him to protect his brother.
Leo slowly lifted his hand, smiling when he saw the picture in his hand. He was going to miss them, but as long as their safe, it was alright. Right? Everything would be alright now. Leo wished he could believe those words.
Leo tried his best to blink away the tears, but one of the escaped much to his dismay. “ Wipe that grin off your face!” A strangled scream wretched from the Kraang as he punched Leo with both of his fists.
Leo curled in on himself, holding the photo close to his chest. He couldn’t catch his breath. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to be alive. Why wouldn’t the Kraang just get it over and done with? Just end it already. Please. Just stop.
Everything went quiet for a moment and Leo was just floating. He only felt pain and was cold and tired. He lost track of how long he had been floating. He could hear the sound of the Kraang going savage a ways away from him. How far had he floated? Leo closed his eyes and let himself drift, waiting for death to take him.
A noise from behind him caught his attention. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head. Light. Was he finally dying? The light grew brighter and wider than his brothers appeared. He gave a weak chuckle. “Took ya long enough.”
Leo reached out to them and Raph reached back, a holographic hand taking his flesh one. A sinister presence behind him caught Leo’s attention. Shivers crawled up his spine when he heard the clanking of metal. A cry escaped Leo when the Kraang grabbed his leg and pulled. An audible pop could barely be heard over Donnie creating a drill and hitting the Kraang square in the face. Raph pulled with all the remaining strength in his body and pulled Leo free.
Mikey smirked at the Kraang and sent him a wink before slamming the portal closed in his face. A moment later. He was rushing in front of Leo. “Leo?” Raph asked, carefully reaching for his brother. Leo gave a weak smile and looked around before his smile fell.
“Hi.” Cries of joy and laughter filled Leo’s ears before he was wrapped in a giant hug. Leo chuckled softly and finally allowed himself to relax. He glanced around as he tried to get his bearings. "Ew, are we in Staten Island?" Another series of laughs filled his ears. That and a loud ringing noise. He closed his eyes and let himself be surrounded by the warmth of his brothers.
A moment later he blinked his eyes open and confusion entered his body. He looked around, squinting at the bright lights. “Leo?! Leo, can you hear me?” His eyes followed the voice, seeing Raph standing next to him. He blinked.
“Yeah, I hear you.” It hurt to speak. He opened his eyes again and Raph was gone. The lights were off.
“Hear who- OHMIGOSH! Leo, you’re awake!” Leo grunted at the loud voice and turned his head. Mikey was laying in a bed next to him. He blinked again.
“Whas’ goin’ on?” His words slurred. When he opened his eyes again Mikey was gone and the lights were back on. What was happening?
“Leo?” Leo groaned as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Donnie was standing in front of him, shining a flashlight in his eyes. He winced and Donnie pulled the light away. “Leo, can you hear me?”
“Sadly.” Leo coughed. It hurt to speak. Why was his mouth so dry? What was happening? Weren't they just in Staten Island? Did he fall asleep? He must've. Damn, he was so thirsty.
“Here. Drink it slowly.” With how Donnie seemed to read his mind, Leo wondered if he still thought their twin telepathy wasn't real. Leo parted his lips and let Donnie hold a bottle up to his mouth. Leo took small sips of water before he leaned back again.
“Where am I?”
Donnie set down the water bottle before he sat down next to the bed Leo was in. “The medbay.” Leo gave a small hum as he allowed himself to take in his surroundings. “How are you feeling?” How was he feeling?
“Shitty.” Donnie made a noise. It sounded something like an amused snort but with an annoyed tone. “What time is it?”
Donnie hesitated to answer. “Roughly six pm…” Leo gave a low whistle and smiled.
“Wow, almost a whole day of sleep for your local insomniac huh?” Leo glanced at Donnie who stared down at his feet. “Donnie?”
“Leo… It’s been a week. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for a week.” Leo blinked, this time fearing that he would fall asleep again. He took in the sight of Donnie. His dark circles were so much worse than he had ever seen. Leo could see bandages peeking out from underneath... a pillow tied around his shell?. He was littered with ugly bruises and scrapes.
Leo glanced around the room, slowly starting to piece things back together. He realized that when he spoke to Raph and Mikey, they were taking turns keeping watch over him. “Where’s Raph and Mikey?”
“Eating… I’ll go get them-”
“No. Let them eat.” Donnie chortled and typed away on his wrist tablet. “Donnie-”
“They told me to tell them if they woke up.” Barely a moment later, it sounded like a stampede heading toward the medbay. Leo couldn’t stop his smile from spreading when he saw his family rushing through the door. “Be careful, he’s loopy still-”
“LEO!” Mikey cried before he pounced on Leo. Leo laughed weakly and hugged Mikey back. “I- We were so scared! We didn’t know when you would wake up!” Raph wasn’t far behind as he hugged his brothers tightly.
“Sorry for scaring you. I won’t do it again.” Leo felt a warm hand on his cheek that caused him to look over. His breath caught in his throat when he saw his dad staring at him with teary eyes.
“No, you will not! I forbid it! That goes for all of you!” Splinter exclaimed. Leo blinked away his tears and rubbed his cheek against Splinter’s hand. Splinter gave a shaky sigh as he rubbed his thumb against Leo’s cheekbone. “My son, how are you feeling?”
Leo hummed and shrugged. “He’s on some pretty intense painkillers so he isn’t feeling much of anything right now.” Donnie’s voice was almost monotone as he continued to type away on his wrist tablet. “His shell is cracked in multiple places, his right knee was dislocated, he has a severe concussion and a broken cheekbone, he has three broken ribs and-”
“Donnie.” Raph cut him off. Donnie looked up from his tablet, seeing that Leo had fallen asleep. Donnie let his arms fall back to his sides before he relaxed back into his seat. Mikey buried his face into the crook of Leo’s neck, refusing to let go of his brother. Raph gave both of them one last squeeze before he stood up fully.
“Purple, why not get some rest? I’ll keep an eye on him for a while.” Donnie opened his mouth to object but a hand on his shoulder from Raph told him that he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Raph led Donnie out of the room, leaving Mikey. He knew that Mikey needed physical contact to make him feel better.
Splinter used his other hand to rub small circles on the back of Mikey’s shell. He took the moment to assess Mikey’s injuries. Aside from his arms, there wasn’t much wrong with him. He had a minor concussion and was covered with his own scrapes and bruises. Splinter was mainly worried about his hands though. They shook every time Mikey tried to use them and were in constant pain. The bleeding stopped a while ago but the scabs that were left were disgusting. They were having a difficult time healing correctly. Donnie was already researching physical therapy techniques to help him relearn his fine motor skills.
Splinter wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that. Not that he cared, of course. He would do anything to make sure that his boys were safe. He secretly hated himself for not training them. If he had trained them properly, they probably wouldn’t have to do what they did. Raph wouldn’t have gotten taken. Donnie wouldn’t have been ripped from a spaceship. Leo wouldn’t have been locked in a prison dimension. Mikey wouldn’t have had to rip a hole through space and time.
Stomping through the hall caused Splinter’s ear to twitch. He looked to the door just as Casey and April appeared. “He’s awake?!” Splinter hushed April and turned his attention back to his boys. She walked over and frowned when she saw Leo and Mikey. “He woke up?”
“Yes, for a few minutes. He was answering questions and speaking properly.” April sighed in relief. She reached forward and rubbed a thumb against Leo’s forehead. “Do not worry… He will wake up soon.”
Casey walked up and took the seat that Donnie was previously sitting in. He had never seen his Leo look so… defeated. Master Leonardo was always strong and capable. He took down whatever problem was in his way. He was the last person to back down and the last person to rest. But this wasn’t Master Leonardo. This was Leo, the face man. He wasn’t a hardened warrior he was… He was a kid, like Casey. All of them were. Commander O’Neil was just April, the college student. Master Michelangelo was Mikey, Doctor Delicate Touch, or Doctor Feelings. Master Donatello was Donnie, the tech guy, Master Raphael was just Raph, their older brother. They weren’t the people he knows- knew.
“Case? You good, kid?” Casey looked up at April and smiled weakly.
“Yeah. Just processing some things… Sorry, I’m not used to… well I’m not used to any of this.” April walked around the bed to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I know. We will help you through it. Right, Splints?” Splinter returned a soft smile and nodded.
“Of course, future boy. You are family here.” It was Casey’s turn to blink away his tears. He laughed wetly as he nodded in agreement. Future boy was a nickname he was going to have to get used to.
The next day, Leo was awake and cognizant. He was answering questions and speaking with everyone. He wasn’t entirely there, however. He struggled to stay awake fully and almost passed out as April fed him some soup. If he didn’t look like complete shit it might’ve been adorable.
Donnie had considered waning Leo off of his painkillers to try to get him awake to eat more, but he decided against it. The painkillers were probably what was keeping Leo sane. He knew they were keeping him sane at least with his shell having chunks of it ripped out from the spaceship.
The past week had been hard on the family. Between the stress from watching over Leo, everyone was trying to do their best to heal themselves. Mikey’s arms still bled whenever he overworked his hands and never stopped shaking. He hadn’t even tried to use his mystic powers again, too afraid of what would happen the next time he did. Raph was struggling to see out of his infected eye and his shell had a few bad cracks in it.
Donnie tried his best not to think about the spaceship. About the feeling of the tendrils coating his body, pulling him deeper and deeper. About the sound that came from him when he was ripped from the ship. About any of it. His shell was too damaged to wear his battle shell, thus they reverted to their old ways. A pillow tied tightly around him.
With Leo awake now, tensions eased up. Everyone felt it was okay to breathe a sigh of relief. That somehow things were going to be okay again. It had only been a couple of months since Shredder was gone and after Karai died. Yes, they didn’t know her for long, but she was their family. The only other family they had met. They loved and mourned her. They were finally starting to heal and get back to normal when the Kraang appeared.
The only “good” thing that had come of the invasion was that their typical nemesis had taken a break. Donnie had kept an ear out on the police scanners but they hadn’t found anything about the Foot. It was weird that they had just… disappeared. Donnie wondered if it was because of the Kraang, but he couldn’t find anything.
The next few days were filled with waning Leo off of his painkillers, making sure that his pain was tolerable. They tried to get him to talk about what happened but he kept his lips sealed. They respected it.
Mikey had taken the back seat on cooking. He taught Raph and Splinter the best things to cook and oversaw everything so they wouldn’t mess anything up. They mainly just ate soup since it was the only thing they were able to stomach for the time being.
As time went on, Leo was let off of bed rest. He had trouble walking around since his knee was still sore but he knew that he needed to use it a bit to get it feeling better. The brothers never let each other out of their sight. When Donnie was working in his lab, Mikey was sitting at the desk that Donnie had set up for him. When Mikey was in the kitchen, Raph was right there alongside him to help out. When Raph was cleaning up around the lair, Leo was on the couch, making needless conversation. When Leo had to rest in the medbay, Donnie was making sure he was resting properly.
After a few more days and when Leo could properly walk on his own, he had taken to doing a full examination of everyone's injuries. Donnie had done an excellent job patching him and his brothers up, but he was worried about his twin. It turns out he had every right to be worried.
His shell only had some basic care done for it. The bit and pieces missing were only covered with some gauze and antiseptic cream along with numbing cream. They looked like they had barely been cleaned as well. Not to mention that his arm, along with Raph’s, had suffered the same injuries as Mikey’s only on a much smaller scale. Leo had gotten to work on cleaning all of his wounds and properly covering them.
Leo suggested he leave the pillow off but the idea was quickly discarded when Donnie screamed at him. Leo made sure that the pillow was on extra tight. After that night, Leo had April bring Donnie a weighted blanket.
Raph and April had taken to seeing that Casey was getting used to their world. With them being the least injured, it just made sense that they take him to the surface more. They taught him about the way life is and why they have to stick to the shadows. The reasons why people wouldn’t understand them in this timeline. Casey hated that. After the Hidden City collapsed, people didn’t care about being yokai, mutants, or humans. They just cared about being alive. Mystic magic had kept him alive on more than one account.
Within the next week, everyone was able to care for themselves. Everyone aside from Mikey. Even with the compression gloves he had, he was still struggling to use his hands properly. His cut had healed, thanks to their advanced healing, but his nerves were almost beyond help. They were fried beyond healing and could barely feel anything in his fingers. They called Draxum for help.
He said that he knew a way to help but it would be painful. He would have to rebuild his nerves using ooze and they would be too sensitive to use properly for a while. Mikey had agreed. Draxum wasn’t lying when he said it would be painful, but this was… indescribable. Being reinjected with ooze was painful enough, but as the feeling slowly returned to his hands, the pain from his wounds was unbearable. Donnie had to put him on the rest of Leo’s painkillers to help.
Another week later, the shaking had entirely stopped and he was able to manage the pain with some Tylenol and ibuprofen. At that time, Donnie’s shell had healed up and he was able to use his battle shell again. Raph was going to forever be missing a piece of his shell, but he just claimed that it made him look more intimidating. Leo, on the other hand, was still healing his shell. The cracks were a lot smaller, but it seemed like the damage was underneath his shell as well and it would take a lot longer for him to heal. Luckily, he was also able to manage the pain on some mild painkillers.
The past month flew by quickly. Between healing up and getting Casey adjusted to their world, it was hard to have time to think about what happened. Everyone slowly started to settle back into their basic routines. Patrols started to happen more regularly. Training picked up again although it was mainly physical therapy for Mikey and Leo. Casey joined in, learning more about how people he once considered allies were in fact evil. It took Casey some time to come to that understanding. He couldn't understand how the people who helped raise him were actually the bad guys. Guys that had hurt his family before. He was never told.
The biggest surprise was Warren and Hypno. His uncles were evil? The two that babysat him before Hypno died? He still remembered how broken Warren was from it. How he hated himself because it was hard for him to die with his healing factor. He took his own life not too long after. He followed the example of so many before him.
Casey had decided against telling his family that. He didn't tell them a lot. They knew that they all died in the future, but that was it. They didn't know how. He didn't want to tell them how. He didn't want to remember.
But he wasn't the only one who wasn't telling the others how he truly felt. Raph refused to tell them what happened when the Kraang kidnapped him. Donnie had a sensory overload every time he even thought about being attached to the spaceship. Leo simply shut down at the mention of the Prison Dimension.
Mikey grew worried. He tried to hold a family meeting, but he was outnumbered. It was three versus one. He considered getting Splinter involved, but he started to shut down more like when they were kids. Now that everyone was healing physically, he wasn't needed as much. It was only whenever one of them had a bad flare-up that he got involved. Mikey knew that it wasn't his fault. His dad had gone through a lot in his life and it never got better. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't completely there.
Mikey also considered getting help from April and Casey but they were busy working with Casey- er, Cassandra, to get Casey a fake identity. Casey had been staying with them in the lair, but he spends most of his days with April getting integrated with society.
Thus, Mikey had to handle this alone. He just hoped that they had the time to heal properly.