Chapter Text
“Because Mikey’s about to send you back in time to the day that the key was stolen.”
Casey’s disbelief was clear in his incredulous expression. Really, Leo wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. The world was under siege from body-snatching aliens that had shown up through a mystic portal after being imprisoned for a thousand years in an alternate dimension, and he had a hard time wrapping his head around time travel?
“Wait,” Casey said, as bewilderment turned to contemplation turned to horrified understanding. “He’s gonna send me? What about you?”
“It’s not about me,” he said. He knew that, now. Maybe if he’d believed it earlier… well. Not the time or place for reminiscing. “The people who stole that key opened the door for the Krang. You have to find it before that happens. Understand? Find the key, stop the--”
“Sensei, I’m not leaving you here!”
When did he get so obstinate? He’d always been pretty content to follow Leo’s direction, much as he was as self-sufficient as the rest of them. More than that, he was a soldier, and he knew how to follow orders. Leo couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so adamant in his backtalk. To the point of interrupting Leo, of all things. “This isn’t up for debate. If you don’t do this, we lose. That’s it. We don’t have time to--”
He was gonna say they didn’t have time to argue, but as it turned out they barely had time to even finish a sentence. A harsh red glare and a roaring drone signaled the end of the line. And then, because they couldn’t catch a break, apparently, they were surrounded on all sides. Maybe they could’ve fought off one or two to stall a little longer, but not this many.
This was it.
“Mikey,” he called, breaking a cardinal rule and looking away from the enemy towards his struggling brother. He knew mystic portals took a lot of work, but they didn’t have any time to lose.
Literally.
(He might’ve made a quip about it, once upon a time. But clever jokes had no place in a fight for survival.)
Casey called out, a half-finished warning in his voice, and Leo could do nothing but watch in silence as his little brother fell apart at the seams. They were the last ones left. Raph, Donnie. Dad. (He'd lost sight of April when they'd first gotten ambushed, so no telling whether she was among the living or the dead.) Countless other friends and allies. But this was their shot. Casey was their shot. They had to take it while they still had a chance. Whatever that meant for them.
Mikey looked back and gave him a reassuring smile. A cheeky wink. And then--
Well.
Leo should have cried. He sort of wanted to. It probably would’ve been cathartic, to take a moment to just lose his composure for Mikey’s sake. He hadn’t had the chance for Donnie, and by the time he’d given up on Raph there had been too much else going on. But he couldn’t. There wasn’t enough time.
There was never enough time.
Besides. Mikey wouldn’t have wanted him to. If he knew anything about his brother, who had died with a smile on his face for the sake of a possible better future he wouldn’t get to see, it’s that he would’ve wanted Leo to keep smiling too. Which was why when he reached over and set a hand on Casey’s shoulder, the first thing that came to mind was a dumb joke.
“Casey,” he said without pulling his eyes away from the approaching Krang, “do me a favor--”
Once again, he lost his chance to finish the sentence. His words left him in a wheeze as his legs were swept out from under him, an arm was hooked around his, and he felt himself go weightless for a few split seconds. The Krang and their broken world disappeared in a flash of orange. And, seconds later, so did Casey-- dragged away and lost to the sea of energy. There was a sharp stab of pain in his side as his protege slipped away.
With no other options, Leo closed his eyes and waited for it all to stop.