Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So... You're telling me you want to open a portal to another dimension to meet... us?"

"That is the basic gist, yes."

Leo was currently sitting on Donnie's bed, legs crossed and honestly, really confused. He massaged his eyes and Donnie tapped his fingers together, watching Leo expectantly. For what it was worth, opening a portal to a dimension that a version of them lived sounded so cool- but it came at the cost of his katanas and Mikey. Leo was all for using his katanas, he was. But Mikey? His little sunshine brother who still had scars from saving him from the Prison Dimension? It was a risk. And was it really worth it if Mikey got hurt? Or worse...

"I promise I won't let anything happen to Mikey," Donnie said quickly, waving his hands around. He had always been good at reading Leo's thoughts. Twin telepathy, maybe. That, or Leo was just very expressive when thinking.

"Look, Dee, meeting another version of us would be uber cool- like, finding out we have Lou Jitsu's DNA cool. But I don't want to risk Mikey getting hurt. I can't do that to him."

"But it's inter-dimensional travel! Imagine if these other versions were experienced! They could help us!" Donnie argued. It was pleading at this point. And Leo would be lying if he said he wasn't considering it. He bit his lip and tapped his finger on his knee, thinking. Donnie looked down and fiddled with his thumbs. "I already built the portal..."

"What." He hadn't meant for it to sound like a statement, but, well. He rubbed his temples. "Okay. Okay, fine. I think we should consult everyone about this. I'm fine with using my swords, but if Mikey isn't on board, it's a no-go. We got a deal?"

"Yes! Yes! Leo, I promise this won't be a mistake- this could help us bigtime. I mean, if these guys already are heroes and experienced way beyond us- this could change everything." He jumped up from his chair. "I'll call April and Casey. You assemble everyone else."

"Aye aye, captain."

So that was how Leo got into this mess. He collected everyone to join in the living room. He would've asked to be in the dojo with the portal, but dad was already in his chair and refusing to move. Leo sat in front of the screen, back to the wall. Mikey was seated to his left, knee-to-knee, and Raph was on his right, leaving a space between them for Casey. 

Donnie finally walked in, April and Casey hot on his heels. April stood next to Splinter, leaving her elbow on the back of his chair. Casey took his seat right next to Leo. After the whole being-trapped-in-the-Prison-Dimension thing, Casey had been attached to him at the hip, refusing to leave his side unless it was necessary. He had gotten better, but he was still definitely clingy.

Donnie cleared his throat and stood in the empty space in the circle.

"I built a portal that I think will cross to another dimension with another version of us," he announced. The room was deathly silent. "The only catch being I need Leo's swords and Mikey's mystic hands to get it to work. Leo's already agreed, but we wanted to consult all of you about this- especially you, Mikey."

"A dimension... with more us's?" Raph asked.

"Yes."

And then the room erupted in chaos.

"YOU BUILT A PORTAL WITHOUT TELLING US?!"

"YOU MEAN WE COULD'VE HAD MORE BROTHERS THIS WHOLE TIME?!"

"I CAN USE MY MYSTIC HANDS AGAIN!"

The last comment in particular stuck out to Leo. He grabbed Mikey's hand, squeezing his fingers. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Are you kidding?!" Mikey exclaimed, "I get to help Donnie and open a portal again! That's the epitome of cool!"

Leo smiled and patted his head. So Mikey was on board.

"How about everyone else?" He yelled over the chaos.

"If Mikey's cool with it, so am I," Raph said.

"Another April O'Neill? Who wouldn't want that?"

"I'm taking a vacation to the Hidden City," Splinter sighed. "But maybe you kids need more interaction."

Leo tapped Casey's shoulder. "Case? You okay with this?"

"Another Sensei," he whispered. "I am so okay with this. You'll still be my favorite, though."

Leo snorted. "Yeah, I better be."

"So, if everyone's one board, can we open the portal?" Donnie shifted from foot-to-foot.

Leo stood up, everyone else following his lead. "Yeah, Dee, we're opening the portal." Cheers ran through the room. "Tomorrow." Groans replaced the cheering.

"Dad needs to pack for his trip and it's late. Do you we really want to bother the other us's?"

"No..." Everyone mumbled.

Leo clapped his hands together, grinning. "Excellent! Now, to bed, children."

They all shuffled out of the living room, April hugging them all goodnight as she left. Splinter walked away to his room to pack. Casey hugged Leo before he left. He had been staying with Cass these past few weeks. Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Raph all left for Raph's room.

The second they entered the room they started assembling Raph's pillows, blankets and stuffed animals into a nest. Mikey threw a pillow at Leo and he threw it back. Donnie hit Raph over the head with a stuffed bear, and Raph responded by tackling him. Leo cackled and dove into the nest, his limbs instantly relaxing on the soft materials.

After wrestling with Donnie, Raph climbed in behind Leo, his plastron against his back. Mikey snaked his way into Leo's arms and snuggled against him. Donnie curled into a ball below them, close enough to feel comfortable, and far enough as to not touch.

Leo sighed and allowed himself to fall asleep to the breathing of his brothers.

____________________

"Leoooo. Leo. Wake up. It's portal time." A finger poked him in his face, and he tried to untangle himself from the blankets. He was alone, meaning that everyone else was awake. He groaned.

"Donnie, it’s-"

"Nine a.m., thirty minutes and twenty-two seconds in the morning."

"I was going to say 'way too early for this'," he snapped. Donnie rolled his eyes.

"Everyone else is awake. I was gonna wake you up earlier too, but Raph said you would've tried to eat me if I did."

"I still might."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Can we activate the portal now? Please?" He intertwined his hands and gave him puppy-dog eyes. Leo shoved his face away and sat up.

"I'll get my swords."

"Oh, I already got them hooked up. Just wanted you to witness the portal in all its glory."

Leo snatched Donnie by his shoulders. "YOU TOUCHED BETTY AND VERONICA WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?!"

"Well you were still asleep and I- you named your swords Betty and Veronica?"

"Yes!" Leo released his brother to throw up his arms. "They're my girls! The dynamic duo! They're inseparable."

"Okay, well, Betty and Veronica are waiting for you so we can activate my portal. Please?"

"Fine, fine, I'm up." He threw all the blankets and pillows off of him to stand up.

Donnie dragged him into the dojo. Everyone else was there, save for April and Splinter. 

“Shouldn’t we wait for dad, Case and April?”

”Papa is already out. Draxum kidnapped him to the Hidden City. Casey and April have school. It’s Wednesday, remember? April said to just do it without them.”

”If you say so.”

The portal itself wasn’t very stylish, a mess of metal and wires. It was a circle-like shape, wires of every color twisted around it. It stood at about eight feet tall, towering over all of them. Leo’s katanas were embedded in the top, only the hilts visible. Mikey had his fingers attached to the wires connected to the portal. Donnie stood next to it, tapping at a computer attached to the side.

”Raph and Leo, hold onto Mikey. Just in case.”

They did as they were told. Raph grabbed hold of Mikey’s left arm, Leo on his right. Mikey just beamed excitedly.

”Alright gentlemen, let’s do this.” Donnie flicked the on switch.

A blue flash was first, the blinding color crackling with energy. Mikey’s yellow color seeped in, turning the color into a cool orange. So far, so good.

Mikey didn’t seem to be in any pain, and Leo couldn’t feel anything wrong. Yellow cracks spread up his arm from Mikey’s, but brought no feeling with them.

They waited for about five minutes until something- or someone- fell through, hitting the dojo floor with a thud. The newcomer had a red bandana, large and powerful, his shell covered in duct tape. 

“Donnie! It worked!” Mikey cried. Three more turtles fell through, landing on top of each other in a heap.

Then another group fell through.

Not good. Very not good.

”Turn it off!”

Donnie was furiously tapping away at his computer. “I’m trying!”

Leo released Mikey to grab hold of one of his swords to yank it out. More turtles. 

“Donnie, shut it off!”

”IT’S NOT WORKING!” Donnie screeched.

Leo freed one sword and desperately tried to free the other one. He was frantic. Another group of turtles.

”DONNIE!”

”I KNOW, I KNOW!” Donnie started unplugging the wires, tearing some of them apart. 

Eventually Raph let go of Mikey to punch at the metal. The sheer force jostled Leo off of it, and he hit the floor harshly. Raph started beating the portal as Leo made a beeline for Mikey. Red was starting to appear under the yellow cracks and Leo ripped the wires of his fingers roughly. A sharp sting ran through his arms whenever his scales met Mikey's, and he grimaced. He grabbed hold of his baby brother's hands as the mystic energy died down.

A loud crash echoed through the dojo as the portal was finally destroyed. Raph was breathing heavily, Donnie holding onto his shoulder. His knuckles were bleeding. Leo quickly assessed the room.

A broken portal, two bleeding brothers, and one extremely shaken brother.

Oh, and the four groups of turtles draped on top of each other into a heap. Wonderful.

___________________

After the new turtles untangled from each other and screamed, things eventually died down. Mikey's hands had been haphazardly bandaged, and Leo was currently dabbing alcohol on Raph's beaten knuckles as Donnie apologized to the new turtles.

There were sixteen of them, all different from Leo's own team. The first group that had fallen through were large, all of them at least Raph's height or taller. They wore clothes, which was definitely new. From what he'd been able to find out, they were the only ones who hadn't experienced inter-dimensional travel. They stuck to themselves, all huddled together without leaving any room between them.

The second group kinda freaked him out, honestly. They were all muscle, tense and hardened from years of fighting. And their eyes were pure white. Totally weird. They all seemed to be around the same size and stature, the only difference being their bandanas and the color of their scales. White-eyed Leo kept staring at him, and he adverted his gaze.

The third group were tiny and actually really cute. They were half the size of the clothed turtles, all soft edges and wide eyes. They all looked the same, bummer. But Leo liked them. There was no unnecessary staring at him, no huddling in the corner, and no loudly talking to Donnie.

If the white-eyed turtles freaked him out the most, then the last group annoyed him the most.  They were shaped kinda like Leo and Donnie, save for their legs, which widened down their feet. They reminded him of the show Mikey watched sometimes. What did they call that one character's legs? Damien? Diaphragm?  Daikon. That was it. The daikon group was chatting with Donnie, except for the Mikey, who was excitedly chattering away with Leo's Mikey.

Leo started to bandage Raph's knuckles. "Maybe don't get into a fight with a portal next time, bud."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Leo snorted and finished bandaging him up. He tapped at his wrists with a grin. Raph smiled back, tapping his palm. "Thanks."

"Anytime, big brother."

They stood next to Donnie now, who was finished with his explanation and apology. He sighed in exhaustion and leaned against Leo, forehead hitting his shoulder.

"So inter-dimensional travel, huh?" Clothed Raph asked. "If I hadn't pinched myself already I would've thought I was dreaming." He yelped.

"Mikey! I just said I already pinched myself!"

"Oops, my bad!" Clothed Mikey stuck out his tongue and their Leo sighed.

"And it'll be a while before you can fix the portal? How long do you think it'll take?"

"A few weeks, at least," Donnie answered, typing something into his arm gadget. "Since someone smashed it to pieces."

"Sorry," Raph mumbled. Leo patted his arm.

"I think me and the other Donnies could help," Daikon Donnie offered. "Now there's multiple geniuses in this room."

"Oh mi gosh, I'm not alone anymore!" Donnie leapt forward at his counterpart and tackled him onto the ground.

"Donnie found a new twin," Leo cried dramatically, putting his hand over his forehead and leaning backwards. "Now I'll be alone for the rest of time."

Raph rolled his eyes and put him upright. "Drama queen."

"Guilty as charged, baby."

Raph flicked his beak.

"What do we do now?" White-eyed Leo asked.

"I asked April and Casey to bring pizza. A lot of it. They should be on their way. For now though, we should probably make sleeping arrangements," Donnie said as he raised himself off the ground.

"My room's the biggest, so me and my little brothers can sleep there. Donnie, Mikey, Leo- you guys okay with giving up your rooms?"

"Sure!" Mikey said.

"Absolutely not!" Donnie and Leo hissed at the same time.

"My beloved comics and action figures!"

"My inventions!"

Raph sighed and face palmed. "So Mikey's room is free. It's smaller, so you guys can have it." He pointed at the soft group.

"You callin us small?" Soft Raph asked, hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean any-"

"It's fine," Soft Leo interrupted. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"He's so polite," Raph teased, poking at Leo's side. "Why can't you be like that?"

Leo stuck his tongue out and his brother laughed at him.

"We can take the dojo," Clothed Leo offered.

"You sure you'll be comfortable?" Raph asked.

"We can make due."

"Alright. Works for me." Raph stroked his chin, thinking. "So the guest room and living room are up for grabs."

"We can take the living room," White-eyed Leo said, raising his arm.

"So we'll take the guest room," Daikon Leo finished.

Hearing all the Leos' voices made his head spin. All so different, yet so familiar. It made his brain hurt.

"Now that that's all settled, it's pizza time."

As if on que, Casey and April arrived, each holding at least eight pizzas in each hand.

"Care to explain why you had us order-" April stopped mid-sentence, her jaw practically dropping to the floor.

"Leo?" Casey asked. "Why am I seeing double?"

Leo sighed. This was going to be a long few weeks.

____________________

After explaining what happened to Casey and April, they learned that the other versions' own Aprils and Caseys had not come through with them. There had been momentary panic until the Donnies did their sciencey explanation, all as excited as the other as they chattered over each other. Nerds, what could you do about them?

"The most likely scenario was that since only you four managed the portal, only versions of you were dragged in," White-eyed Donnie said.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you are here," Donnie sighed.

"Ditto, man."

So the Donnies got along just fine. The Raphs seemed to have calmed down and were chatting quietly, and eventually Leo's own Raph abandoned him to join his counterparts. The Mikeys had already hit it off, and they told each other jokes and all their crazy missions. That left the Leos.

While Leo had April and Casey with him, all of his counterparts sat quietly, staying close to their brothers and eating their pizzas. April nudged him and jerked her head at the scattered blue turtles. Leo rolled his eyes and stood up to sit by Soft Leo. He was the least intimidating, sitting with his knees to his chest and holding his slice with two hands. Leo waved awkwardly.

"Hey."

"Hello," Soft Leo replied through a mouth full of pizza.

Leo sat down next to him, crossing his legs.

"Thank you for letting us stay here," Soft Leo said finally. "And for the pizza."

"It really wasn't any trouble," Leo assured. "It's kinda cool to have counterparts, y'know?"

His other self nodded and took another bite of pizza. Leo smiled. This Leo was definitely his favorite, but he also hadn't really talked with the other ones, so.

"I'm guessing they don't like social interactions?" Leo guessed.

Soft Leo shrugged. "I think they're just taking everything in. It was certainly a shock coming here, let me tell you." He laughed.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Eh, nothing that hasn't happened before. There's been weirder."

He was about to ask before Clothed Leo made his way over to sit next to them. He made a thud as he sat, leaning his arm on his bent knee.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Inter-dimensional travel is weird. How are you guys not, I don't know, freaking out?"

"Too tired," Leo said.

"Already seen it," Soft Leo said.

"Seen weirder," a new voice said.

Leo looked up to meet White-eyed Leo. A chill went through him. He was creepy, right? He was so... defined. He sat right next to Leo.

"Sorry for being anti-social," he said. "I get nervous talking to people sometimes."

"Nah, I get it," Leo assured. Maybe White-eyed Leo wasn't so bad.

Daikon Leo eventually got sick of being alone, and made his way towards them. He sat between Clothed Leo and Soft Leo. He was still quiet, looking down at the floor. Leo frowned as he watched him.

"Do you guys wanna watch a movie?" He asked. Movies usually cheered he and his brothers up.

Daikon Leo glanced up at that slightly. "What kind of movie?"

"Why, only the greatest movie of all time: Jupiter Jim!"

"What's that?" White-eyed Leo asked.

"Dudes, you don't know what Jupiter Jim is?" All four heads shook. Leo sighed dramatically. "You poor souls. I shall tell you the tale of the greatest man there ever was-"

And he did what his brothers called "the Leo thing" where he droned on and on about something. He went on about the lore, the characters, the plot, and ended up spoiling it. Oops. Luckily none of his counterparts minded, if anything they seemed to get excited as he talked.

"So it's like Space Heroes," Daikon Leo said. He had the biggest grin on his face and Leo silently patted himself on the back.

"Space Heroes? Is that your Jupiter Jim? What's it about?"

This spurred on a chorus of "the Leo thing", all of them talking about their favorite shows and books. It was nice to see that "the Leo thing" was very much a Leo thing. it was kinda fun to see these stoic leader weirdos all waving their hands around and tapping their feet excitedly. Leo zoned out a few times, but forcefully pulled himself back. He liked this. He liked knowing that this wasn't just a him thing.

Maybe the next few weeks wouldn't be so bad.

Chapter Text

The second day of having sixteen new guests arrived, Leo only awoken by Raph walking into the living room and turning off the projector with a click. Leo was in a pile with his counterparts, who were still fast asleep. They were all bundled under blankets, although Leo had gotten a bit restless and only half way under his blanket. He was propped against White-eyed Leo's chest, who slept sitting straight up with his arms crossed. Leo rubbed his eyes and lifted his head up.

"G'morning, bro..."

"Morning. I see you had movie night?"

Leo yawned. "I think Daikon Leo needed some cheering up. Guess we lost track of time."

"Daikon Leo?" Raph asked with a snort. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"What am I going to call him then?"

Raph put a finger to his chin as he thought. "Good question, actually. It's confusing to have so many turtles around."

Leo shot up, jostling his poor white-eyed counterpart awake. "That's it! It's name time, dudes!"

White-eyed Leo jumped and cocked his head. "I'm sorry?"

"We need, like, codenames for each other. That would be sick!"

"Did I miss something?" Soft Leo asked, rubbing his eyes with a yawn.

"We're giving codenames to each other. I can't keep calling you 'Soft Leo'."

Said turtle blinked a few times in confusion. "...'soft'...?"

"Yeah, like I said, you need a new name. What about-"

Raph grabbed him by his arm and yanked him up. "We'll decide during lunch," he mumbled.

"Aw, really?"

"Yes. Shouldn't we wait for everyone else?"

Leo pouted and followed his big brother out of the living room. "Yeah, you're right." He waved goodbye to his counterparts. "See you guys later!" They waved back.

As he caught up to his brother, he noticed the dark bags under his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

Raph groaned and dragged his hands down his face. "No!" he cried, exasperated. "Donnie was talking with his new friends all night about tech and all the Mikeys decided to skateboard until two in the morning."

Leo snorted. "What about your new friends?"

"They went to bed early. I don't know how they slept through everything."

"Maybe they're used to it."

"I don't know, maybe."

They made it to the kitchen, which was still messy from Mikey's cooking a few days ago. Raph started to clean the dishes and Leo sat at the barstools, leaning his chin on his hand.

"So why'd you drag me away?"

Raph sighed and started drying one of the plates. "Just needed a break from all the chaos," he admitted, putting the plate into the rack to dry and cleaning another one. "And... I miss dad. I'm glad he's having a vacation and trying to get along with Draxum, I am. I just... miss him is all."

Leo stood up to stand by Raph's side to dry the dishes. "Yeah, I get it. It's weird not having him here. We can call him to get back early-"

"No. No, he needs this. It's only a few days anyway." He handed Leo a bowl to dry.

"I know you're doing you're whole 'no it's fine but it's really stressing me out' shtick, but don't you think dad should at least know about the sixteen new turtles when he gets back?" He stashed the bowl into the rack and started to dry one of the pans. "Plus I think Draxum would want to know about it too. It wouldn't be bothering them."

Leo heard a shuffling noise near the entrance and glanced at it, only to be met with an empty space. So either someone had been eavesdropping, or he'd been imagining things. Raph didn't seem to notice, though, so he kept quiet.

"I know," Raph mumbled, handing him a plate. "I'd just feel bad for interrupting his trip. He needs it. After the whole, y'know..."

"Yeah, I know." It had been half a year since the "incident", yet the wounds were still healing. The metaphorical ones, anyway. And Leo's jaw still hurt sometimes, but that was it. Maybe they all should've gone on vacation. He reached for another plate, and Raph tapped his fingers against the back of his hand. Leo turned it over so Raph could rest his palm over his. He felt so small compared to his brother sometimes. Which he was anyway, so.

Raph gave a gentle squeeze to his hand, like he was making sure he was physically there before scrubbing at the last few plates. "Sorry for dragging you off. I just wanted someone to talk to."

"Hey, it's okay. Feel free to drag me off anytime, okay?" He smiled and Raph gave a small one back.

"Okay. Thanks."

They finished up the dishes and put up the rags to dry as well before leaving.

"So, fifty more pizzas?"

"We're gonna be banned sooner or later," Raph said with a chuckle.

"Nah, we'll just be very hungry customers," Leo replied, putting in the order on his phone. "Oh! And then we can come up with names too. I think I should be The Supreme Leader, what do you think?"

"How about The Supreme Dumbass?"

Leo gaped at his brother, and put a hand over his chest, mimicking a hurt expression. "I can't believe that's how you perceive me. I'm hurt."

Raph playfully shoved his shoulder and he stuck his tongue out. They elbowed each other all the way back to the living room, where all of the Leos were cleaning up the blankets they used. Soft Leo waved at them as he rolled up a blanket.

"Good morning, slightly less handsome versions of me," Leo announced. "Case and April are going to pick up more pizza for lunch, and we're going to discuss some names because I'm giving myself a headache with so many of us. So we're getting first pick, because you guys are my favorites. You're welcome."

Clothed Leo smiled awkwardly and cocked his head. "Thanks? I think?"

"My brothers and I don't have nicknames for each other," Soft Leo laughed nervously. "So we can just go by our full nam-"

"Leonardo." All the heads turned in confusion to the turtle intensely focused on folding his blanket. Daikon Leo's eyes were glassy, and he had an expression that none of them could quite place. "I want to be Leonardo."

"That's cool!" Soft Leo said, waving his hands. "I'll just be Leo then."

Leonardo nodded and went back to folding his blanket.

"My bros already call me Leon anyway, so makes it that much easier I guess," Leo Leon said before plopping into Splinter's chair. He pointed at Clothed Leo and White-eyed Leo. "What about you guys?"

Clothed Leo shrugged. "I don't really have any nicknames. Bad guys call me the blue one sometimes."

"Blue, I like it," Leon said, snapping his fingers. "My pops calls me that. So it might be a little confusing." He didn't ignore the way Leonardo stiffened, his hands freezing and his face going blank. Leon frowned. He turned to the last one left. "What about you, dude?"

He laughed anxiously and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kinda lame. Raph calls me 'fearless leader' sometimes."

"Fearless! That's so sick!" Leon jumped on the chair, whipping around to glare at Raph still situated against the entrance threshold. "Why don't you call me that?"

Raph rolled his eyes with a grin. "It would go to your already big ego."

"Rude."

He leaned back up. "If you guys are already decided, I'll go talk to the others, cool?"

"So cool."

Leon watched his brother leave before turning back to his counterparts. "Alright, we all good with names?"

"Yeah, I think we're all good." Fearless walked over and sat on the chair arm. He leaned in to whisper. "Hey, I saw Raph grab and drag you away. You okay?"

Leon arched a brow and whispered back. "What do you mean?"

"He didn't, um, hurt you or anything?"

He stared in horror. "What?" He asked a little bit louder. "No. No, he just needed someone to talk to."

Fearless relaxed a little. "Oh, okay. I'm sorry. He grabbed you and I assumed-"

"Is that a thing in your dimension?" Leon choked out. "Does your Raph... hurt you?"

He felt ill. Fearless immediately started waving his hands. "No! He doesn't hurt me! We just got in some fights when we were your age is all. And your Raph seemed kinda peeved and he's so big here so I just-"

"Whoa, dude, it's okay. Really," Leon said, gently laying a hand on his counterpart's shoulder. "Thank you for the concern, but Raph would never hurt me." Not if he was in his own mind, anyway.

Fearless took a few breaths. "That's- that's good. I'm sorry, truly."

"All good, brother. No problemo."

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"You didn't," Leon said, a little too quickly. "I get your concern, and I appreciate it, but there's nothing to worry about."

Fearless nodded and slid off the chair arm. "Alright, so we ready for pizza?"

____________________

Leon and all his counterparts were the last ones to come to lunch, everyone already sat and eating their pizzas. He sat down between Casey and Raph, the latter handing him a plate with three slices of pizza. He smiled appreciatively.

"Did you guys come up with names?" He asked, taking a bite.

Raph rubbed the back of his neck. "Sort of. They're all pretty lame, honestly. Can't make a lot of nicknames out of 'Raphael'."

"Yeah, guess that'd be hard. What's your name."

"You'll laugh at me."

"I'd never."

He mumbled something and Leon cocked his head. "What?"

Raph sighed. "It's Rover."

Leon cackled. "Awe, you're like a big ol dog!"

"Huh?"

"Rover is a dog name. Kinda suits your golden retriever vibe. I like it. What's everyone else?"

"I'm Raphael," Soft Raph said.

"Raph." Clothed Raph.

"Red." White-eyed Raph.

"Crimson." Daikon Raph.

"Aren't those the same colors?" Leon asked.

"No," Crimson said casually, taking a bite of pizza. "Crimson is a variety of red, but it's darker."

"Cool."

"Ooh, are we sharing names?" Mikey asked excitedly. "We got ours all picked out."

"Yeah? Well, don't keep us in the dark," Leon teased.

"I'm Michael," he said, pointing at himself with his thumb.

"DJ Mikey in the house," Clothed Mikey quipped, mimicking the action.

"Michelangelo, dude," Soft Mikey said, eating two pizzas at a time.

"Lucky enough to just be Mikey," Daikon Mikey said.

"Mikey without the 'y'," White-eyed Mikey finished.

"Nice!" Leon gave them a thumbs up. "What about you and your peeps, Dee?"

"Hey, that's me!" Clothed Donnie said, raising his hand.

"I've been dubbed as Donald," Donnie said, patting Michael's head.

"Donatello," Soft Donnie said proudly.

"Just Donnie," Daikon Donnie said.

"Just Don," White-eyed Donnie said. Donnie arched a brow at him for a second.

"What about you guys?" April asked.

"Leon, the one and only."

"Blue." His brothers muffled their laughs at that one and Blue glared at them.

"Fearless."

"Seriously?" Red asked. "Of all the nicknames?"

"I think it sounds cool," he defended back.

"I'm Leo," Leo said, interrupting his counterpart and his brother.

"Leonardo." Crimson frowned. Was there something wrong with the name?

Casey scooted closer to Leon, and leaned his head on his shoulder. "Yeah. You're still my favorite."

Leon laughed and leaned his head on Casey's. "Good. Better stay that way."

They all talked for the rest of lunch, although Leon swore all of the Raphs kept glancing at he and Casey in confusion. Did they not get along in other dimensions? Leon felt like he was so different from them. All of his counterparts were calm, cool, collected. They seemed to know everything and how to respond to it. Was he supposed to be like that? Was something wrong with him? He was faulty? He pushed those thoughts away. He didn't need them right now.

April was talking to the Donnies now, and she seemed to fit right in with them. They all seemed to like her, which was good. They were talking about how to fix the portal, or something. Leon was pretty sure he heard 'portal' in there somewhere, at least.

The Mikeys had left to go graffiti and skateboard. He could hear the rotation of wheels and laughter from them and smiled.

The Raphs made their own group, talking quietly amongst themselves. Rover looked surprised at something and looked over at him. Leon raised a brow and Rover mouthed, "Later."

Which meant it was probably something important. Should Leon tell him that Fearless had worried that he hurt him? Or would that be useless information? He felt like he needed to tell someone about it.

No, he couldn't tell Rover. He would be terrified and treat him like glass. Again. And then he would have to wear a scarf all the time because merely glancing at his neck would send Rover into a panic and he didn't want to do that again, it wasn't fair-

"Sensei. You okay?" Casey's voice shook him out of his downward spiral.

"Yeah. Sorry. Just starting thinking about the...incident."

"Oh." Casey frowned and grabbed his hand. "You can talk about it, y'know? You're allowed to still be scared."

"I'm not scared." Traumatized? Probably. "I don't need to talk about it. What's done is done." He sighed.

"How about you? How are you doing?"

"Managing. I miss Master Leonardo sometimes. I know that you're him, but..."

"It's different," Leon finished. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "It's okay, man. I get it. He was like a father, right? Sorry, I'm not really father material."

"Would I be a bad person if I said that I prefer you?" Casey whispered.

"No. You wouldn't be a bad person. Besides, I'm technically him. Or going to become him. I don't know. Time is weird."

Casey laughed softly and buried his face in his shoulder. "Tell me about it. Remember when we all thought I was going to fizzle away back to my own time?"

"Man, I think I cried," Leon joked. "I need someone to feed my ego."

"Don't tell Raph I do that," Casey said with a soft chuckle. "He'll tell me to stop."

"Can't have that, can we?"

"No, I guess not."

A few moments passed in silence, the two of them enjoying each other's company. Leon caught Fearless smiling at him from the Leo circle. None of them attempting to interrupt him, and left him be. It was starting to get dark, and April went to leave. She hugged all the Donnies, Leon, Micheal and Rover goodbye. "Take care of each other, 'kay? See you guys later."

They all waved goodbye. A hand wrapped around Leon's wrist and he flinched, whipping around to meet his assailant. Casey was staring at the ground nervously.

"Case? You good?"

"Can I stay with you? Just for tonight?"

Leon smiled. He shifted his hand so he could rub his thumb over the back of Casey's hand. "Of course."

Rover led Casey to their room, leaving Leon to say goodnight to his counterparts.

"Sorry we can't have movie night, dudes. We can do it tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Fearless rested his hand on his shoulder. "'Night, Leon."

"'Night," he said as Fearless went to follow his brothers.

"Goodnight," Blue said, giving him a fistbump. "Thanks for letting us stay here."

"We're glad to have you guys," he responded, returning the fistbump.

"Goodnight," Leo said with a yawn. He gave a sleepy hug. Leon giggled and hugged him back.

"'Night, dude."

"Goodnight," Leonardo said. His face was still blank, eyes glazed over.

"Hey, are you okay? You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. 'M fine. Just tired."

Leon frowned. "If you say so. If you're feeling sick I can help."

Leonardo nodded. "Okay. Thanks." He left, trailing far behind his brothers. Leon watched him go before leaving to Rover's room.

The nest from two nights ago was still there, all plush pillows and blankets. His brothers and Casey were all huddled together, Donald less so, still keeping his spot below the heap. Michael shuffled back from Casey to make room for Leon. He shimmied his way between them, Micheal nuzzling into his collarbone and Casey awkwardly wrapping his arms around his middle. Rover was already snoring.

Leon sighed in contentment, petting the back of Micheal's head.

He allowed himself to fall asleep. Hopefully the nightmares stayed away tonight.

Chapter Text

The thing that woke Mikey that morning was the impact of his own hand hitting his face. He screeched and jumped out of place, bumping into Donnie's shell. Then Donnie squawked at him, yelling something about "how he was just about to kiss April" and Crimson told them to shut up. Mikey grumbled and untangled himself from the blankets. Leonardo had his own area in the corner, away from his brothers. He spared a glance at Mikey, face blank and uninterested.

"Good morning."

"Mornin', Leo. How'd you sleep?" He asked, sitting next to his brother.

Leonardo shrugged. "I slept fine. You?"

"Other than two grumps"- He glared at Crimson and Donnie-"I slept like a baby."

"That's good." Leonardo curled in further to his blanket. Mikey bit his tongue, considering if his brother wanted a hug or not. He settled on laying a hand on his shoulder, and immediately lifted it once Leonardo tensed slightly.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's fine. Just surprised me." He had that faraway look in his eyes, the one that made Mikey's stomach twist.

"Are you okay?"

"Why is everyone asking me that?" Leonardo spat. "I'm fine. Just tired."

Mikey, contrary to popular belief, was not stupid. Tired Leo was groggy, kinda smiley and loopy. Sad Leo was, well, sad. He collapsed in on himself, glaring at nothing. Mikey had been seeing more of the latter lately. He wanted to push harder, he wanted to know because he was Mikey and Mikey had to know. He decided to just nod his head with a whispered, "okay," because the last thing he wanted was to make his brother any more upset.

He hated when his brothers were upset. They all had their own ways of showing it. Raph was easy, he yelled or threw something and eventually calmed down. Donnie was more or less the same, he made frustrated noises and stomped off somewhere before calming down. Leo was hard. He glared and refused to talk, and sometimes it took weeks before he calmed down.

Mikey didn't want that right now.

So he left, Leonardo watching him with that glassy look. He could still hear Crimson's snoring. He yawned as he walked away, looking around at the new lair. Sparkly. Exciting. Comfy.

Home.

Mikey missed his old lair. He wanted to go home. It wasn't like he hated it here- on the contrary, he loved it- he just felt extremely homesick. He missed his room. He missed his TV shows, his comic books, his action figures. He missed Ice Cream Kitty.

He missed Splinter.

He couldn't sense his master's presence here. He couldn't feel the faint ghostly warmth, the soft invisible teachings. It was blank.

Because Splinter didn't exist in this universe. Well- he did, but he wasn't Mikey's Splinter. He hadn't even met this world's Splinter yet.

As he grabbed his skateboard, he started to think. Was this world's Splinter kind and fatherly like Mikey's was? Was he elegant and poised, graceful as a swan?

Mikey bit his tongue and climbed up the skating ramp. Stop thinking. You don't think when you board. That was why he was the best one at skateboarding. His brothers thought too much, instead of living in the moment and letting the board take control. He stomped on the back of his skateboard, taking a deep breath before landing his other foot near the front. He immediately went down, the wheels roaring on the wood below him. He did a spin after launching off the other ramp, cheering and bumping his fist in the air.

He went down again, the wheels landing on the ramp with a thud. He made another spin, going for the third, but his brain wouldn’t shut up. It was like rapid fire, all the thoughts cascading in his head and pounding at his skull. He was distracted as he tried for the third spin.

Do you really miss him? Or is it just because your brothers do?

He didn’t make it. He lost his momentum, his board escaping from underneath him. His shell met the hard surface of the skate ramp, his board landing somewhere to his right. He laúd there, staring blankly at the ceiling and breathing heavily.

”Sheesh, that was quite the fall. You alright?” 

The voice was deep and somewhat soothing. Mikey turned his head to look at the newcomer. Oh. It was that big, scary Raph. The one with a scar over his mouth and duck tape over the cracks in his shell.

He hadn’t answered his question. He still laid on his back.

”Yeah,” he said finally. “Lost my groove.”

Raph offered a hand to help him up. Mikey shakily accepted it, the behemoth yanking him to his feet with a grunt. Be didn’t seem to notice how Mikey immediately put some distance between them.

”I get that. Hate losing my grip when I skate.”

”It’s lame,” Mikey agreed.

”Super lame,” Raph said awkwardly.

Bad at conversation. Very Raph-like. 

He started to leave. And the alarm bells went off. Mikey’s brain wouldn’t shut up unless he had someone to distract him. Just ‘cause this Raph was scary and awkward didn’t mean he could just leave Mikey alone with his thoughts.

He collected his skateboard and grabbed at Raph’s arm, who turned to him, seeming a bit startled. 

“Wait,” Mikey said, “Can you help me? Y’know, like tips and stuff?”

Raph scratched the back of his neck with. a slight grimace. “Aren’t you Mikeys the skateboarding masters or somethin’?”

”Considering how I landed flat on my back just a second ago, I doubt it.”

”Fair enough.”

He grabbed the largest skateboard leaning on the wall, the one that belonged to this world's Raph. He climbed up the ramp, holding the board under him with his left foot. He signaled for Mikey to follow. He scrambled up the ramp, board held under his arm. He balanced the board on the edge under his foot and gave a thumbs up to Raph, who gave one back.

"Okay, you ready?" He braced his arms out for balance.

Mikey followed suit, balancing his arms. "Born ready."

Raph grinned. "Cool." Then he descended down the ramp, Mikey trailing behind.

____________________

He stretched his arm across his chest, pulling his aching shoulder. Raph was putting his skateboard against the wall, his back to Mikey. He studied the ducktape on his shell, most likely covering cracks. He wasn't originally planning on asking but it seemed his filter wasn't working today.

"What's with the ducktape?"

Raph looked at him over his shoulder. "Huh? Oh, it's for the cracks on my shell."

"Well, duh. But why ducktape and not like, turtle wax or something?"

Raph snorted and walked back to him. "Does turtle wax even work?"

"It does for the little dudes." He put his hand next to his cheek, marking the height of other-Mikey.

"Huh. Guess we'll have to try that. I'll let Donnie know."

"Do all of you have cracks?"

Raph shrugged and swayed his hand side-to-side. "More or less. I think me an' Leo have the most."

"How'd you get 'em?"

Raph froze, and Mikey thought he made a misjudgement somewhere, until the larger turtle turned around. He pointed to the largest section of tape. "This one in the middle is from this guy called the Shredder. He was a real piece of work, that one."

Mikey felt all the blood drain from his face as Raph pointed to another crack on the top left of his shell. "I got this one from trainin' with my brothers. We got a little reckless." He tried to point to the crack near the bottom of his shell. "And this one is from... actually, I don't remember."

He laughed nervously as he turned around and took in Mikey's expression. "Hey, you okay man? I didn't mean to upset ya."

"The Shredder exists in your world, too?" He would be stupid to hope for a universe without him. He followed them quite literally through time and space.

Raph frowned. "Yeah. He's kinda the worst."

Mikey laughed and sat down. "Tell me about it."

Raph sat down as well. "He destroyed our lair and tried to kill my dad before kidnapping my brothers to create a poison."

Mikey smiled weakly. "He hunted us down for months before putting Leo in a coma."

"He tried to bring down a building on us."

"He killed Splinter."

Raph's eyes widened and his hands clenched into fists. "Oh. Mikey, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how that feels."

"It happened a while ago."

"Doesn't make it any better. I'm so sorry, truly. Is there...?"

"No," Mikey said, shaking his head. "He died physically, but his spirit stayed with us. It was almost like he was still alive, in a way. But he's not here. I can't sense him."

"Because he never existed here."

"Yeah."

He could see the gears turn in Raph's head, and he regretted telling him. He shouldn't have said anything. not without asking his brothers if it was okay. Splinter was their master, not just his.

"When Shredder hurt dad, I thought he killed him. He was on the medical bed, dying, and he told me to go save my brothers and leave him behind. And I listened." He twirled his thumbs in a circle around each other. "I didn't want to lose anyone else. When I got there, he was draining all of my brothers' blood. They were dying. And Shredder kicked my ass before I could save them."

"How did they escape?" Mikey asked. Vulnerability. Perhaps both of them needed a talk like this.

"April and Vernon gave them adrenaline. They broke out on their own and helped me. When all was said and done, we gave dad mutagen to heal. We all healed from the experience, eventually. But the fear I felt from almost losing my family- not so easy to jump back from. I could've lost them forever. And that's scary. I don't think I could handle if I actually lost them."

Mikey took a deep breath. "Shredder and Splinter had a history. Shredder killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter. He found us and adopted us after we were mutated. When Shredder found us, it was like this sudden- realization that we all could die. He almost killed us when we first went up against him. We beat him ever since then until..."

"Until Splinter?"

Mikey shook his head. "We had this invasion thing. Leo separated from us. And Shredder got to him before Splinter did. I think that was the first time I really, truly found out we weren't invincible. Because Leo didn't bounce back. He was in a coma for months. I don't think he's ever been the same after that. I don't think we've ever been the same after that."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine now. It gave us time to sort out our issues. Turned out that we really, really needed that break."

"Did you take a break after Splinter?"

"Yeah. That was the hardest thing, I think. We still haven't fully recovered. I don't know if we ever will."

"Healing takes time. You can't rush recovery."

Mikey snorted and wiped his nose with his arm. "You sound like Donnie."

Raph smiled and held out his fist. "I learned everything from him. He's kind of our emotions guy."

Mikey bumped his fist. "I think everyone needs a guy like that."

"Yeah. I think so too."

____________________

The odd pair walked together for lunch, ordered by this world's April. She high-fived him as he walked past, tossing him a pizza box. He winked at her and she laughed.

"Thanks for, y'know, talking with me," Mikey said as he went for his brothers.

Raph waved his hand. "Anytime, little man." They parted ways.

Mikey sat next to Crimson, who was already scarfing down his pizza. He waved at Mikey, who waved back. "Sorry for bein' a jerk this morning."

"All good, bro." Mikey stacked three pieces of pizza on each other and opened his mouth.

"What were you doing after this morning anyway, Mikey?" Donnie asked.

"Skateboarding with Raph. Uh, big Raph."

"There's two big Raphs."

Oh. Right. This world's Raph. He still hadn't apologized for eavesdropping on him and Leon yesterday. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.

"The one wearing clothes."

"Ah, gotcha. How'd that go?"

"Really good, actually," Mikey said, finally biting into his pizza. "He's a master of skateboarding."

"Not better than me though, right?" Crimson asked, playfully hitting his shoulder.

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Please. A cockroach is better than you at skateboarding," he teased.

Crimson held him in a headlock and gave him a noogie until he cried uncle. Donnie watched in amusement as he ate his pizza, and Leonardo sat silently, just watching everything go down. Raph released Mikey after lunch, keeping an arm around his shoulders.

"Wanna spar with me?" He asked.

"Sorry, dude, it's a boarding day today."

Crimson let him go with a chuckle.

"What about you, Donnie?"

"Trying to repair the portal, remember?"

"Oh, right. Leo?"

"Promised Leon we'd watch movies with him. Sorry."

"Eh, snooze you lose. See you guys at dinner."

"See ya, loser," Mikey said.

They all went their separate ways, Mikey practically skipping over to Raph. "Hey, you wanna skateboard some more?"

"Sure, little man. Is it okay with the other Mikeys, though?"

"Eh, they won't mind."

"Yeah we won't mind," DJ said as he jumped up and flicked Raph's forehead. "Last one to the skateboard ramp is a rotten turtle egg!"

He took off in a mad dash, Mikey running to keep up and Raph looking surprised before trailing after them. "That doesn't even make sense!"

"Yeah, it does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

They went back and forth before disappearing around the corner, leaving Dee and Blue in their wake. They looked at each other.

"Movie?"

"Yep. Portal?"

"Yep. You gonna talk to the little sad Leo?"

"Yep. You gonna find out what happened here?"

"Yep. See you at dinner?"

"Yep."

They gave each other a fist bump and a smile.

"Love you, Dee."

"Love you too, Leo."

They went opposite of each other, Blue heading over to the living room and Dee following his counterparts to the lab. They were really good at breaking things, but just once, they'd like to help fix something instead.

____________________

"Craziest thing you ever fought, go." It was Mike who offered the game, everyone else having a good time. Laughter was the best medicine, or something.

"We fought these weird space dinosaurs who tried to take over earth," Mikey said.

Mike cackled. "Oh man, we did too! They were nasty li'l buggers."

"There was this bunny puppet that came to life and grew more powerful from our screams!" Micheal said.

Michelangelo laughed, "Shred-head mutated these baby animals who called him 'mama'!"

"We went back in time to fight the Shredder- who was actually an utrom- and we blew him up!" Mike said, cackling.

"As you should, dawg," Mikey said, giving him a high-five.

"Man, why do you guys get all the cool stuff?" DJ said woefully, collapsing on his brother. "We just fought these rhino and warthog dudes."

"Crazy villains are something I'm glad are not on our list," Raph snorted, propping DJ back up.

"Absolutely bonkers," Mike snorted. "I've seen things, man."

"For real," Mikey agreed. "And we were allowed up top like, two years ago? Maybe?"

"Damn, we've been at it for seven years. You need a vacation," Mike said, taking a drink of his soda.

"That's why we're here, dude."

"You're not here by choice," Raph pointed out.

"Says who? I planned all of this, actually."

"Little dude's a wizard," Michelangelo giggled.

"I wish I were a wizard," Micheal sighed.

"Aren't you technically a wizard? Y'know with like your portally hands?"

"Yeah, but Draxum won't let me use 'em."

"Bogus," Michelangelo said. Mike agreed by raising his soda and taking another chug of it.

"Dude, when he gets back you should totally ask for him to train you," DJ said.

"I should! He can't tell me I can't use my powers!"

"True dat," Mikey said.

They continued chatting until dinner, then parted ways to sit with their respective brothers.

"How's the portal coming, Donnie?" Crimson asked, holding out a piece of pizza at him.

"Taking longer than we expected. There was substantial damage to the mainframe and the structure itself. Rover packs a punch."

"Tell me about it. Guy's intense."

"Have you fought him?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, but he holds back like, a lot."

"You seen the size of him? I'd want him to go easy on me."

"He's not even that scary, Mike," Donnie said. "He seems kinda... mellow, actually."

"A mellow Raph, huh? You should start taking pointers."

"C'mon, I've been way better and you know it."

Mikey shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. We'll see when the Mikeys and I prank you."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh nothing, nothing..."

They said their goodbyes to their counterparts, Mikey giving the best squeeze he could to all of them, and giving Raph a fist bump. "'Night, other mes."

"'Night, li'l dude."

He yawned as he stepped into his temporary room, Leonardo huddled into his corner, looking at something in his hands. Crimson and Donnie got into their sleeping bags, leaving a spot in between them for Mikey.

"Whatcha got there, Leo?" He asked.

"Just something Leon gave me. It's an action figure." He handed it to him, and Mikey gasped. The detail on it was fantastic. He didn't know who this guy was, but his figure probably cost a pretty penny. Or a very sneaky steal.

"Awe, that's so cute that he gives you things." he handed it back.

Leonardo smiled, just a bit. Which Mikey considered a win. "Yeah. Guess it is. Goodnight, Mikey. Love you."

"Love you too, bro," Mikey said with a yawn. He collapsed on his sleeping bag, eyelids heavy. He felt someone move his blanket on him.

He dreamed of dinosaurs on skateboards fighting wizards.

Chapter Text

Dee whined as he woke up, slapping his hand to his left side as he hunted for his glasses. He grumbled to himself as his glasses seemingly disappeared. He kept searching until someone handed them to him. "Thanks," he mumbled, putting them on and sitting up.

Blue was already awake, jumping into his pants. "Morning," he said. Dee hummed in response.

DJ and Raph were still sound asleep in their futons, wrapped in large fuzzy blankets. DJ was sprawled on his back, limbs randomly spasming and talking to himself incoherently. Raph had his back to them, snoring loudly. Blue grabbed a nearby glove and tossed it at his head, making him yelp with surprise.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Blue said, sliding on his gloves. "It's time for breakfast."

"Pizza again?" Donnie asked with a yawn. Raph hoisted himself up and hunted for his pants.

"No, actually," Blue said. "Micheal's making french toast and eggs I think."

"By himself?"

"Nah, his brothers are helping."

"I'm not so sure I trust a Mikey with breakfast," Raph said.

"Hey! I'm a great chef!" DJ, seemingly awake now, defended himself.

"Yeah, sure, Remember when you cooked dinner for April for the first time?"

Dee laughed loudly as he pushed himself up. "She was sick for a week!"

"It was my first time!" DJ whined, finally getting up from his futon.

"It was a salad, Mikey. How do you ruin a salad?"

Raph started to leave the dojo, everyone following in his wake.

"The cookbook was complicated!" DJ said.

"A salad."

"I just wanted to make dinner for my girlfriend! How was I supposed to know how to cook? I don't cook! I board!"

"Again, a salad. It could not possibly be that complicated," Dee said.

DJ whined again and Blue pat his shoulder sympathetically. "It's okay, bud. You tried your best." He bit his lip, like he was trying not to smile. "But seriously, how do you ruin a salad-"

"Fine!" DJ wailed. "I forgot to cook the chicken and the cheese was moldy and the ranch was expired and the croutons were stale and I just wanted a nice dinner with my girlfriend!"

"That would do it," Blue said as Dee cringed.

"Not your girlfriend," Raph said. "She's literally engaged to Casey. Let it go, man."

"Is it really so hard to imagine me with a hot, sexy, sweet human girlfriend?"

"Yes," they all said in unison.

DJ pouted as they all entered the kitchen, Michael cooking the eggs on a griddle, Rover flipping the french toast on a pan and Leon mixing batter in a bowl. Donald sat at the barstools, scrolling on his phone.

Blue walked over to Leon and pat his head softly with a smile. Dee sat next to Donald. “How’s breakfast going?” He asked.

“Well, we’re making french toast and eggs,” Rover answered.

“Donnie’s our moral support!” Michael quipped.

“I’m not allowed around fires,” Donald said.

“Is there anything we can help with?” DJ asked excitedly.

“Absolutely not,” his brothers said in unison.

“Actually, can you get everyone else here for breakfast?” Micheal asked.

“Sure!” DJ practically skipped out of the kitchen. Raph massaged his temples with a groan.

“I’ll be back.” He started leaving after DJ. “MIKEY! We do not jump off other people’s railings!” DJ blowing his tongue at Raph could faintly be heard.

Dee rolled his eyes and turned to his smaller counterpart. “So, any plans for today?”

“Just the portal, mostly,” Donald replied, still scrolling on his phone. 

“I’ve been thinking, actually,” Dee said, “hypothetically of course, what if we took a break from the portal? Just for today.”

Donald looked up from his phone. “Don’t you want to go home?”

“Well, yeah, but I think a cheat day might be fun, y’know?”

“I’m down,” Donald said, looking back at his phone. “But we also need to ask everyone else.”

“Take a break, Dee,” Rover said, grabbing the french toast with his bare hands and putting it on a plate. Dee cringed. That probably burnt like hell.

“Yeah, you guys are always work, work, work all the time,” Leon said, mimicking a talking action with his hand. “Besides, I think we’re all bonding pretty well, I think.”

“Yeah!” Michael agreed. “You guys have been working so much. You’re allowed to have fun like the rest of us.”

“Well, the council has spoken,” Donald said with a smile. Dee giggled. They all continued to chat until the rest of the turtles came in, all yawning and rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

Michael, Rover and Leon started to hand out breakfast, and everyone thanked them as they got their breakfast. Donald leaned over to whisper in Leon’s ear, who whispered back. Donald made an understanding face and grabbed his plate from Rover. “Thanks, bro.”

Rover answered with a finger gun and gave DJ his plate. 

Dee and Donald met with their counterparts, who were all busy scarfing down their breakfast. Donatello waved at them as they sat down, and they waved back.

“So me and Donald were thinking,” Dee said, taking a bite of his eggs. They were cooked perfectly and he immediately ate another mouthful. “What if we have a break from the portal today?”

Don choked on his french toast and hit his chest with his fist. Donatello and Donnie had similar reactions, Donatello pausing with a look of shock and Donnie freezing midway into biting his eggs.

“A break?” Don asked with a cough. “We can do that?”

“I don’t see why we can’t,” Dee said.

“‘Breaks’ and ‘Donnie’ sound weird in a sentence together,” Donatello agreed.

“We’ll work doubletime tomorrow. Besides that, I’m sure Donald has some very cool inventions to show off. Right, Donald?”

Said turtle looked at him in confusion before nodding rapidly. “Oh, for sure. Yep. Mhm.”

“You have more inventions?” Don asked excitedly.

“A room full.”

“Can you tell us how they work?” Donatello asked, his leg bouncing beneath the table.

“I mean, sure?”

“Wicked!” Don said at the same time Donatello said, “Tubular!” 

Dee turned to Donnie. “What do you think?”

“I mean- shouldn’t we finish the portal?” Donnie asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s the first priority, I think.”

“Well of course it's a priority, but don’t you just want a day off?”

“Of course I do. It’s just-”

“Then no arguments,” Dee interrupted. “Donald has so many inventions to show off. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Donnie sighed in defeat. “You’re right. A single day off can’t hurt too bad.”

A symphony of cheers sounded through the room, and Donnie rolled his eyes with a slight smile. Donald led them back to his lab, where they’d been in for the last few days working. Donnie’s hands twitched, like he was going to break down and start fixing the portal any second. Donald tapped some buttons on his wrist and the wall adjacent to his desk opened up, revealing a hallway filled with incomplete inventions.

Dee gasped in awe and walked into the hallway. It was purple, obviously, with purple lights shining above the inventions in their cubicles. There were a multitude of different inventions, stemming from what looked like a little frog robot to a larger turtle-like robot at the head of the hallway.

The group of turtles huddled inside, all finding their own little interest. They knew better than to touch. They knew how aggravating it was to have an annoying little turtle touching your inventions with his greasy hands. Donatello was looking at a scrap heap of metal, bending down to get a better look. Don was wandering around, never staying at one invention for too long. Dee found a broken test tube like object and cocked his head.

“What’s this?”

“Oh,” Donald laughed nervously. “That’s from when I turned my brothers into geniuses. It- ahem- didn’t go very well.”

Interesting. Dee continued examining it, looking at the faint blue shade of the glass.

“How did you find the time to make all of this? Are these parts for a robot or something else? They look familiar,” Donatello mused, leaning on his bo staff.

“I stay up late, usually,” Donald answered. “That, or they take a lot of time. And those parts aren’t exactly mine. I’m trying to find out what to do with them.”

“Neat.”

Don was still wandering the hallway, eyes wide in astonishment. “I need to get a hallway like this someday…”

Dee snorted, just a bit. Donnie was at the end, staring at the turtle-like robot. It was covered in holes and its limbs barely hanging on by a few wires. Almost as if it had been attacked. Donnie asked, “Is this your Metalhead?”

Donald frowned and cocked an eyebrow. “His name is Shelldon. I’m… repairing him.”

“What happened to him?” Don asked.

“Long story.”

“Well, we have time to listen,” Donatello said, standing up.

“He was destroyed. That’s what happened. I’m fixing him.”

Donnie opened his mouth to say something before a voice interrupted him. “Hey, Donnie? Can I talk with you for a sec?” Mikey was standing at the doorway, biting his lip. “I need help with something.”

Donnie’s mouth flattened into a line before he went up to his brother. “I’ll be back.”

They all waved goodbye and turned back to Donald. He was staring at Shelldon with a look of pride and guilt. It was a strange expression, to say the least. 

“You wanna talk about what happened?” Donatello asked.

“No. Not really. At least, not right now.”

“Okay. We’re here if you need it.”

“Thanks.” Donald smiled appreciatively. “It sounds weird, but he was like, a son in a way? I’m still not sure. I don’t think I’ll get him right again.”

“I’ll help you,” Dee offered. “I might not be very good at fixing him, but I can try.”

Donald brightened a bit, and Dee felt his chest swell with pride.

While Donald was focused on Dee, Don put his hand on his shoulder from behind. “We all can help if you need us to.”

Dee watched as Donald froze. It was subtle, the way his muscles tensed and his mouth closed into a slim line. Don noticed as well and backed up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine,” Donald said. “Just don’t like people sneaking behind me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Thank you.”

Don nodded and traced his fingers along a test tube attached to the wall. There was a bubbling green liquid inside. “What’s this for?”

“Well, I was trying to clone myself. Hasn’t been working out, though.”

“I can help with that!” Donnie piped up, poking his head into the room.

Dee arched a brow. “You’ve… cloned yourself before?”

“No. But I’d like to.”

“Hard to argue with that,” Donald said, snapping his fingers. “Let’s do it.”

Donnie was practically vibrating with excitement as Donald pulled out a blank sheet of paper. Donatello peeked over his counterpart’s shoulder, standing up on his toes. Dee and Don joined them, both making sure to stay in Donald’s line of vision. It was subtle, but Dee swore he saw a relieved smile. It was the little wins, honestly.

The five purple turtles talked for hours, ignoring the calls for dinner. They pointed out the flaws in each other’s plans, all snatching the single marker shared between them to scribble on new ideas. They traced the sketches, deciding on how best to make the clone’s DNA. They all eventually agreed to splice their DNA and make an “Ultimate Donnie”. It was a long shot and probably wouldn’t come to fruition, but it was… fun.

They were having fun. It was lighthearted, soft and full of playful teasing and laughter. Just a moment shared between the same yet different turtles. Dee’s brothers never shared the same interests as him, sometimes even mocking him. But here, right now, he was understood by the few who would understand. And his heart ached that he eventually would have to leave.

He made eye contact with Donatello, who smiled softly, seemingly understanding his thoughts. He smiled back before focusing on the clone. The paper was messy, barely readable and the sketches organized and unfocused. It was perfect. There was something so strangely beautiful about five turtles clad in purple talking about making an ultimate clone of themselves.

They broke apart for bed, not until the late hours of the night. They all tip-toed back to their respective rooms and waved goodnight. They would work on the portal tomorrow, and Dee internally praised himself for proposing a cheat day.

He snuck into the dojo, all of his brothers sleeping peacefully. He let out a breath he hadn;t known he was holding and climbed into his futon. He eased into the soft blankets with a sigh.

“Had a fun day?”

He startled and met DJ’s bright eyes. “Yeah, I did. You?”

“Mhm.” DJ yawned. “G’night, Dee.”

“‘Night, Mikey.”

There was so much to do.

Chapter Text

It had now been five days. Five days since the portal and getting dropped onto his brothers flat on his face. Five days in this new, colorful, painfully bright new world. It was so familiar yet so different from his own.

Raphael was used to this, however. It hadn’t been the first time he’d been thrown into a new dimension, and he sincerely doubted it would be the last. Strange life he lived, really. He had already met one group of these turtles, and it was safe to say he didn’t like them much. All dark and serious, so close and yet so far with each other. A fractured team of sorts.

He was glad to see they had cleaned up their act from the last time he met them, though. They were more tight-knit now, and seemed to dislike themselves less, which was always a plus in Raphael’s book.

He still didn’t like them, though.

To be fair, he didn’t like a lot of people. Or mutants, really. He didn’t like Leo for a while, but he eventually got over it. He got over most things pretty easily, at least he liked to think so. There were a few exceptions, obviously, but he felt like he was pretty good at getting over things. Really.

Maybe.

He yawned and stretched, realizing he was the only one still asleep. He huffed a bit, a nagging feeling in his brain making him feel weirdly left out and isolated. He didn’t have a reason to feel that way, he knew that, but his brain often liked to do odd things that he could never quite understand.

He asked Donatello once, about the weird things his brain did, but he fell asleep about five minutes into the explanation. So apparently he didn’t even care as much as he thought he did. 

Raphael crawled to his feet with another yawn, rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes as he grabbed for his bandana. He put it on crooked, like always, and quickly fixed it, settling it comfortably over his face, the fabric soft on the top of his snout (muzzle? Nose? Beak? He was never quite sure what it was. Another ignored explanation from Donatello, most likely).

He stumbled his way out of his current living quarters, still yawning and rubbing his eyes. He was never a morning turtle, the sun insistent in its blinding ways in the morning. He walked by two Mikeys, who hooted and hollered as they whipped past him, skating on the railings. He rolled his eyes at them, continuing to walk.

To where? Good question. He didn’t know yet. Maybe to bully Donatello, or Leo. Maybe to get food. Maybe he was avoiding his own variants (one in particular). So many maybes in such little time. He never was good at avoidance, though, either through his subconscious or the cruel universe having a laugh, he couldn’t say.

One of the bigger Raphs, the one with a hole in his spiked shell and a scar over his eye, was the one he bumped into. Rover, if his memory served right (the nicknames were stupid, but he knew they were needed. Didn’t mean he had to like them, though). Rover greeted him with a sharp-toothed smile, waving at him.

Raphael didn’t mind him, but he certainly wasn’t a Raph. A typical one, at least. A gentle giant, of sorts, who seemed so in tune with his body, mind and emotions that made him seem aged well beyond his years. Though Raphael was the oldest of the Raphs, Rover seemed aged in “an older sibling way”, which confused him to no end. Most things did.

He gave a wave back, feeling small and awkward. “Morning.”

“Good morning,” Rover said. “How… How did you sleep?”

“Okay, all things considered. You?”

“Good. I slept good.”

“Good.”

That was the end of that. Raphael shimmied past the behemoth, that weird thing in his brain making him want that sweet, sweet isolation. He walked past a few more variants, luckily none of them his brothers (well, his brothers) nor the Raph-that-shall-not-be named. Even though Raph was his name. Whatever.

Logically, he knew that it was stupid to hold a grudge against a variant of himself, but he wasn’t logical, so. Besides, he’d get over it. Eventually. He just didn’t want to run into him, was all.

He ignored that his brothers had made up with their own variants and had become friendly with them. Raphael wasn’t friendly towards anyone, anyway, so it didn’t matter in the end. 

He roamed for a while, trying to stay away from places he knew he wasn’t supposed to be, stole a half-eaten biscuit from the fridge and tried to find somewhere isolated. He just needed to be alone, for a minute. Just a minute. Then he could rejoin society again. He just needed that isolation.

The lair was huge. Growing up, Raphael lived in the lair that had a dojo that also posed as the living space, kitchen, whatever else and the two off-sides of the sewers that posed as bedrooms. When he got older, he did finally get his own room with more space, and had been on cloud nine.

He tried not to feel bitter that these variants already had their own rooms so young. He wasn’t bitter, anyway. It would be childish, and he wasn’t a child anymore. He was older now, well beyond his teenage years, and he knew it was stupid to be hung up on how it used to be when he was young.

He still felt bitter. He often did, even towards those small stupid things that had never mattered anyway. He had it better than some of the other variants anyway. He vaguely remembered how Leonardo had once told him they weren’t allowed to go topside until they were fifteen. Now that was a reason to feel bitter. Neither Leonardo nor his brothers seemed to be bitter about it, though.

They made it look so easy to get over things.

Raphael began to gnaw on the inside of his cheek as he continued to explore, trying to find somewhere that wasn’t the lair. It seemed to go forever. Raphael felt like he was starting to grow grey scales when he finally found a part of the sewers that wasn’t connected to the lair. 

He walked further down, following the dirty water as he traversed. His feet slapped the concrete in a familiar way and the water dripping from the pipes was a welcome sound. He finally sat down against the wall with a sigh, able to relax. 

The dark and dreariness of the sewers was a solace he hadn’t known he needed. It felt so much more familiar and like home than the bright and colorful lair he had been in. He took deep breaths, his mind finally shutting up and letting him rest.

A rat scuttled near his feet, stopping to stare at him. It stood on its hind legs, holding its arms close to its little body, tail swishing as it looked at him with big black eyes. His heart beat, hard against his ribs as he stretched out his legs. The rat stayed put, its ears flicking curiously as it watched him.

“Hey,” Raphael greeted. The rat didn’t answer, but that was okay. He took out the rest of the biscuit he had stolen and tossed a sizable crumb near the rat’s feet. “You must be hungry.”

He’d always been hungry growing up, Splinter did his best, he did, but it was hard to find food, and he remembered when he had been maybe four years old, and Splinter’s bones were visible through his skin as he gave his own servings to the hungry turtles he had adopted.

It got easier, when Donatello had stolen and hooked up a phone, so they could order food. Splinter’s bones were no longer visible, and his fur had felt soft and full. Unfortunately, his new little rat friend had no means of stealing nor using a phone.

The rat jumped a bit, before cautiously taking the crumb. After realizing Raphael wasn’t intending harm, it ate the crumb gratefully. He tossed a few more crumbs until the rat eventually climbed onto his knee, curling into a ball with a small yawn, its belly full.

He pet the back of its neck with his forefinger, scratching behind its ears. “Must be scary down here, all alone,” Raphael said.

The rat didn’t answer, which was okay, but it did roll over so Raphael could scratch its belly. Raphael never had pets growing up. The fish had unfortunately never lived long, since he didn’t have access to clean water, good filters and a sizable tank. He found a rabbit once, but Splinter said the sewers was no place for a little rabbit. They took him back outside, and found his family.

Raphael missed his rabbit. Never got to name him, and he had been too uncreative when he had his fish friends.

He was older now, and he finally had access to things he didn't when he was a child. He had a goldfish back home named Goldy. He wondered how she was doing. Alright, hopefully. Splinter was good with pets, and Raphael knew he was cleaning her tank and keeping her fed. Raphael still missed her, though.

He turned his attention back to his new friend. Would it be weird, if he brought it back home? He doubted Splinter would care, but he did feel awkward wanting to take home what was essentially a tiny version of his father. He studied it, trying to find out its gender. He eventually gave up, as the rat was entirely smooth thanks to the animation style.

“I need a good name for you,” he told the rat. He kept scratching its belly. He was never creative when it came to names, though, so the best he could come up with was: “How about Pinky?”

Made sense enough, the rat’s tail was a baby pink color. The rat seemed to have no objections, so Pinky it was.

He stayed there for a while, petting Pinky as he let his mind slow down. Eventually, he decided to bite the bullet and head back. He gently scooped up Pinky, who climbed up his arm and settled on his shoulder, curling up in the junction of his neck. “Comfy?” He asked. Pinky didn’t answer, but it did squirm into a more comfortable position, which he took as a yes.

He went back to the lair with his new friend, occasionally feeding Pinky the last crumbs of his biscuit. Pinky accepted them gratefully, curling into a little ball on his shoulder. He could feel them breathing softly, their fur brushing against his neck.

When he got back to the lair, he shielded his neck as multiple turtles whizzed past him, the majority of them being Mikey variants, which he guessed made enough sense. He always envied the way Michelangelo could find optimism in any situation and make friends anywhere. Raphael never had many friends, even when he met more mutants as he grew up.

He missed Mona Lisa. He wished she was doing well, and he wondered if she missed him. He doubted it, but it was a nice thought that gave him some comfort, so he pretended. He was pretty good at that.

He kept walking, suddenly remembering why he needed to get away. It was so bright, and loud, and there were so many other turtles. He felt claustrophobic again and felt the need to run away back into the sewers and never look back. His headache came back full force, making his eyes burn and his skull throb. He just needed to get back to his own room and take a breather.

The universe, or perhaps the writer, had hated him, it seemed. Because of course he ended up face-to-face with the Raph-who-should-not-be-named. Despite Raph being his name. Whatever.

Red arched his brow at him, and Raphael felt small, like he was a child again and wondering why he couldn’t be like all the other kids. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, his instincts wild. Ready to snap, bolt, fight, whatever he needed to do.

But Red didn’t mock him, like he had before. He seemed apprehensive and nervous in a way that Raphael understood all too well.

”Can we talk?” Red asked. Raphael wanted to deny him, wanted to knee him in the stomach and run away back to where his mind was quiet and he didn’t feel like a joke.

But he didn’t do any of those things. Instead, he nodded and followed Red to an empty hallway. It wasn’t quiet and Raphael could hear the other turtles around, but the hallway was silent and empty enough, so.

Red leaned against the wall and folded his arms. Raphael mimicked him, leaning across from him. He lifted his hand to scratch underneath Pinky’s chin. Red watched him, or maybe he didn’t. It was hard to tell when his eyes were blanked out white. “Where’d you find the rat?” Red asked after a moment.

”In the sewers, aways down. They were hungry, so I gave them some food. Their name is Pinky.”

”They’re cute. I’ve never had a pet before. You gonna take ‘em home?”

“I think I might. I have a goldfish back home. I… I never had pets before, either.”

”No way to give them a good home,” Red said with a bitter smile. “Seems we all lived the same way.”

”Hard not to. We’re all about the same, I think.”

Red hummed, shifting his body weight. “Anyway, I asked you here ‘cause I wanted to apologize. I was a jerk to you guys when we first met. You didn’t deserve it. So, I’m sorry.”

Raphael blinked. That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. It was a nice apology, but something in his stomach stayed clenched for some reason. He didn’t quite know why. There wasn’t anything to feel anxious over, now.

”It’s cool,” he said instead. Because it was. He was over it, now. He was. 

Red sighed in what could only be described as relief. “Are you sure? I can make it up to you. I know I’d still be pissed if someone acted like that towards me, even with an apology.”

”No worries. It was a while ago. You’re good.” Two truths and one lie. Raphael’s stomach still hurt.

”Right.” Red got back up, and Raphael felt that instinct rise up again, his limbs tightening. Red seemed to notice, keeping his next movements slow. “I’m being for real. If there’s any way, let me know.”

”Sure. See you at dinner.”

Red huffed a goodbye, leaving Raphael alone in the hallway. Well, mostly alone. Pinky sat up, nuzzling against his cheek. He pet them again, behind their ears. He stood there for a good while, until his muscles relaxed and his stomach stopped hurting. He went back to his designated room, ignoring the loudness in the lair.

He flopped into the beanbag in the corner, lifting his knees up to his chest. He took out a comic book that Michael gave him. It was about a space action hero. Raphael didn’t understand much of what was going on, but it was a good way to keep his brain occupied.

Pinky read on his shoulder, occasionally nuzzling his cheek or tapping their paws on his scales. It was nice to have some company that didn’t require him to keep a conversation. He read the rest of the comic, not retaining anything from it. That way he could read it again without getting bored of it.

Eventually, Donatello came for him, putting a hand over his shoulder that Pinky wasn’t resting on. “Hey, Casey and April ordered some pizza.” He looked at Pinky. “You found a companion.”

”I did. Their name is Pinky.” He gently scooped them up and let Donatello pet them. “I think they like me.”

Donatello laughed. “Most animals seem to. They’re cute. Gonna take them to dinner?”

”Yeah, they’re probably starving by now.” As if on cue, Raphael’s stomach rumbled. “Me too, I guess.”

Donatello smiled and helped him up, leading him to the dining room. “Where were you today? We couldn’t find you anywhere.”

”Went into the sewers. Needed to get away from it all for a moment.”

”Makes sense. This place is wildly overstimulating. I don’t know how they can live here.”

”Me either. I can’t wait to get home.”

”We will,” Donatello said as they entered the dining room. “We’re just fixing things.”

Raphael hummed, sitting at the table he usually did. Michelangelo eventually bounced over, immediately cooing over Pinky. Pinky didn’t mind, letting him pet them before settling back into the junction of Raphael’s neck. Dinner went about the same as it had the last few days, little groups starting to form now.

He watched all of them for a moment, handing Pinky a pepperoni.  It was bustling as it usually was, the turtles around him making idle conversation and telling each other how the day went and what they had done the last few hours. Michelangelo let it slip that Raphael made a new friend, and he found himself getting bombarded by turtles wanting to greet Pinky.

He got easily overstimulated (new word from Donatello) from it, but everyone was luckily very gentle with Pinky and had left them both alone after a while. Raphael sighed in relief, eating the last of his pizza and handing a crumb to Pinky.

He was about to retreat when the Donnie who lived in this world stood up and called attention. “Gentleturtles, lady and Casey,” he announced. Raphael heard Casey snort somewhere to his left. “As you all know, our dad was away when you got here. He’s been on a trip with Draxum-“

”Our other dad!” Michael piped up. 

Donald sighed. “Yes, our other dad. Anyway, they should be back tomorrow, but we haven’t told them about you all.”

”We’ll all be on our best behavior,” Raph said. Raphael was able to see him, a giant behemoth at the side. He was in his own little group, but Raphael couldn’t see most of them. He could faintly make out Mikey at his side, rolling back and forth on his heels.

Sounds of agreement rolled through the room, but Raphael doubted that them all being on their “best behavior” would do much to lessen the inevitable freak out Splinter -and this mysterious “Draxum”- would have. 

Donald eventually sat back down, and everyone went back to their idle chatter. Raphael found an opening and slinked away, avoiding anyone he knew would bring attention. On his way back to his room, lo and behold, there he was. Red was leaned forward over a makeshift railing, looking down at the dojo below. 

He meant to turn the other way silently, but since the author seemed to despise him, he kicked a nearby skateboard left behind as he turned. He flinched, his body freezing in place and his face scrunched up. Red raised his head, his empty eyes widening a bit.

”Hey.”

”Hey yourself,” Raphael responded as he lowered his foot. “What are… What are you doing out here?”

”It was too loud,” Red said. “Givin’ me a headache. Came out here to get some fresh air. You?” His voice was nonchalant with an undertone of… something that Raphael couldn’t quite place.

”Same as you,” he said. “Got overstimulated.”

”Overstimulated. I like that word. Describes it pretty well.”

”Donatello has a good vocabulary.”

”That he does,” Red said with a chuckle. There was a momentary pause. “You ever feel so angry you can’t take it? And you don’t even know why? And it hurts the people around you?” He looked back over the railing, the blue moonlight starting to cast over his scarred scales.

Raphael took a few cautious steps towards him, leaning against the railing a foot or two away. “Yeah.”

”Does it stop? I’m trying to get better, I am, but-“ Red took a deep breath. “I’m just so angry. I hurt everyone around me, and I don’t even know why.”

”…It doesn’t really go away,” Raphael said quietly. “It calms down, but I don’t think we’ll ever really get rid of it.”

”It’s so cruel, isn’t it? How many steps we can take and stay in the same place? How many times we can fix it just for it to stay broken?”

”We’re not broken,” Raphael said, a bit louder. “Dented, maybe. But we’re not broken. We still have our brothers. We have Splinter. And Casey and April. We have the people we’ve helped. The mutants we’ve befriended. The people we’ve… loved. We’re not broken, Raph.”

Red laughed. “You sound like father.”

”He has good lessons.”

”He does.” Red fiddled with his hands. “I needed that. Thank you. You don’t have to be nice to me. I know I ain’t been very nice to you.”

”You were what, seventeen? I was even worse than you at that age. Besides, you seem better.”

”I don’t feel better.”

”No, I guess not.”

Raphael never thought he made progress. He was still confused, and so, so angry. He still wasn’t exactly fond of Red, but something about the way the younger turtle looked so deflated and sad hit him in the chest, his ribs tight around his lungs. He had been like that once, trying so hard and never able to get better.            

“Am I gonna be okay?” Red asked quietly.

”…Yeah, kid, you’ll be okay.”

Red looked over at him, his blank eyes shiny and wet. “Thank you.” He laughed. “I really am just a kid, ain’t I?” He wiped at his eyes.

”Nothing wrong with that. Your story isn’t over yet. You still have some growing up to do.”

Red chuckled again. “You ain’t that much older than me.”

”Still older,” Raphael said with a smirk. “I have a little bit of wisdom in this head of mine.”

”I appreciate it. And thank you, again. I kinda… really needed this talk.”

”Of course. I know that I needed a lot of support at your age. Still do, honestly.”

”I’m not the best to talk to, but if you ever need it, I’m here.”

Raphael laughed. “Thanks, kid. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The rest of their variants eventually left the dining area, starting to head to their respective rooms. Red smiled softly. “Guess it’s time to conk out. Goodnight. And thank you. Really.”

”Stop thanking me,” Raphael said, waving his hand. I didn’t do that much. Goodnight.” He patted his shoulder before heading the other way, scratching Pinky under their chin.

His brothers were already in their sleeping spots, excluding Michelangelo, who was probably skating with his variants. Raphael found a soft towel and laid it flat, placing Pinky onto it and folding it halfway to make a makeshift bed. Pinky yawned and curled into a ball, immediately falling asleep.

Raphael crawled into his sleeping bag, pulling it up and over his head.

It was nice to sleep with a quiet mind and a relaxed body.