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.