Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo swears if he has to deal with another looter situation after this he is going to start murdering people.

Or at least. Letting Donnie murder people. He doesn’t have the energy anymore.

It’s barely been six months after the whole…Kraang situation… and some people (and some greedy yokai) are still on a looting spree. Which wouldn’t be that bad a situation if they stuck to uninhabited ruined buildings or large corporate stores.

But noooooo.

The first time the brothers overheard there were people looting damaged homes where people were living and relief supplies, they were LIVID.  No, that was probably an understatement. Of the century. They got back on the streets pretty quick after that and most yokai (and humans) got the message.

Some did not.

Hence the reason the brothers were currently free running on the rooftops of their beloved NYC. Usually April and the Caseys would join them, but April has “school stuff” and Cass didn’t answer her phone.

Their resident future boy was always down for a mission though, and was good as keeping up with them too. He cleared the larger jump in front of them right behind Raph as they came closer to the reported location.

All they got was a tip that some group of scumbags were planning to hit some damaged buildings off 12^th street, so all they could do was keep their eyes peeled and hope to pizza supreme in the sky that those bozos grew a sense of common decency, or it was a joke.

A really, really bad joke.

They came to a stop next to a shell of a building. The top was completely gone, windows long since shattered, and several walls just, nonexistent. Donnie declared the building structurally sound, which is probably what the city said as they brushed away the debris and left the building to rot until a later date.

“This is the most damaged area on twelfth; the most prime targets are in a four-mile radius from this spot which we should be able to easily monitor from here and swoop in gallantly should the need arise.” Donnie informed them as he perched himself on an old and busted air-conditioning unit.

Leo sighed as he caught his breath. Though he did NOT want to admit it, he wasn’t back to 100% yet. Apparently almost dying and being in a coma had some lasting effects. Who knew? As he ignored the pain in his lungs he turned to observe his brothers; Mikey took the chance to stretch, moving closer to admire the ruined building. Donnie was tapping away on his wrist monitor; Leo could see projections the city map and open radio channels. Raph paced in place, seeming restless, as always, and CJ,

CJ was tense, his mask down and on alert. Which was nothing new, the kid was always on edge. April told him it took Raph and Mikey two weeks after the…situation…to convince him he didn’t need to keep watch, like, at all. And even longer before the kid got a full nights rest without trying to stay up. Leo guessed growing up in a literal apocalypse did that to a person. It still left a sting in his heart.

“Yo, Case.” Leo called out and immediately felt guilt slide down his throat as the boy flinched, standing to attention.

“CJ, breathe. Donnie’s monitoring the entire area with his geeky tech stuff, so we’re good.” He threw CJ a cheeky smile as he nodded to his purple clad twin. He was hoping to hear some sort of complaint or reaction from Donnie, but his brother seemed too engrossed in his screen to notice the jab. Or he just didn’t care to respond. Leo silently hoped it was the first option.

It took a hot second to even get a reaction out of Casey as he stood rigid in place. Then, slowly, his shoulders relaxed, and he gave Leo a curt nod. He kept his mask down and still surveyed the area, but Leo noted the way his chest rose and fell, deeper breaths. He was walking around to patrol instead of turning his head like a turret and his shoulders weren’t pulled up to his ears. So Leon called it a win.

“We should still patrol the area, see if we can stop the bozos before they start anything.” Raph spoke up as he kept pacing.

“We can’t just beat up everyone walking down the street that looks suspicious!” Leo countered. And sure, it probably sounded like whining, or sarcastic or somehow demeaning. He could tell by Raph’s glare. He was working on his tone, alright?

“The last time we ‘waited’ and did nothing, the shelter we should have been ‘protecting’ got trashed and they got away with two crates of supplies!”

“Two crates out of eight and it if you hadn’t rushed in and started smashing-“

“They would’ve had hostages-!”

A blaring gurgle of static and muffled voices rang though the air. CJ jumped back and pulled out his hockey stick and everyone’s attention whipped around towards the source. Which so happened to be Donnie, or more accurately, his bracer. He tapped a button and the noise stopped.

“Oh golly me, I must have accidently switched the sound output to speaker. What an oddly out of character mistake at such a coincidental time, which was definitely not done on purpose to pose a distraction and or disruption to whatever you were… discussing.”

Raph let out a growl as Leo took a deep breath in. He counted as he held his breath, pressing his hands together and bringing them to his lips.

Compromise. Splinter had told him. He could compromise. He counted as he let exhaled.

“We can’t just sit here and wait for bad things to happen!”

“Okay.” Leo did his absolute best to keep his tone level, “Raph, Mikey, you guys patrol the area. If you see anything suspicious, check in with us before anything.”

A stunned silence hung in the air for a quiet moment before Raph nodded and Mikey jumped down from the higher building to stand next to Raph.

“Soooooo, that rabbit dude from the other week counts as ‘suspicious’, riiight?”

“Yes, Michael; he currently ranks number 7 on the ‘suspicion’ list-“ Mikey was quick to throw a pair of throwing stars at something behind Donnie, which whizzed past his head while he spoke. They hit the concrete building behind him and bounced off with metallic ‘tinks’, followed by the ‘thud’ of feet hitting the ground.

In an instant all five of them had turned to face their foe with weapons drawn.

Leo instantly recognized the rabbit yokai, who was quick draw his own katana as he opposed him. His samurai getup was obvious, but Donnie still hadn’t found anything on the symbol on the rabbit’s hakama. They had nothing on him. Other than maybe a few cuts and bruises from last time.

Leo barely registered the gasp from Casey, too focused on the Yokai in front of him. That little gasp was the only warning he got.

“Looks like tonight’s mission got a whole lot easier!” Leo began to boast and shift his stance, “I wish all the culprits just came to turn themselves in like-“

“Chichi!” Casey’s call tore through the air like a runaway subway train. The boy flipped up his mask to reveal sparkling eyes filled with disbelief.

Everyone froze; Donnie’s draw-on eyebrows rose up his giant forehead, Leo let his sword fall with a look of utter confusion he couldn’t mask, Mikey’s eyes grew wide as he looked between CJ and the rabbit, Raph’s jaw dropped and the rabbit; the rabbit grew as stiff as a board. Later Mikey will swear he saw him blushing something bad. The only thought Leo can wrangle in his racing mind is that THIS GUY! This guy is what gets CJ to take his mask off? On a mission no less? Leo had been trying to get the kid to loosen up since he woke up from his coma.

A millisecond is all the time he gets to process this revelation before Casey is tackling the rabbit in a bear hug. It seemed to take the rabbit by surprise considering he had barely moved. How the hell did Casey manage to move that fast? Wasn’t he on the other side of the roof? What the actual-

“Sorry! You probably haven’t met me yet! But it’s good to see you, Yue-chan!” The only response Casey got was a slow blink. Leo could practically see the ‘error’ code glossed over the rabbit’s eyes. He would laugh about that later. For now he was in the same boat.

“Glad you could make it to help us with the mission!” Casey looked like a kid on Christmas, like waking up to freshly fallen snow and the news of canceled school or training. Like he was set loose in a toy store.

“Mission.” The Rabbit parroted. Leo could see the light coming back to the yokai’s eyes. The shock factor was wearing off and he knew they had to act fast.

“Donatello hasn’t picked up anything on his scanners yet, but Raphael and Michelangelo where just about to-“

“CASEY!” Raph and Donnie shrieked in unison.

“Hey-hey Case?” Leo softened his tone, using his ‘gentle big brother voice’, “-Maybe back up a bit, bud.” Casey looked to him with a puzzled expression as Leo tried to cue him in on the situation, opening his mouth to question but getting cut off as shouting pierced though the air and the bracer on Donnie’s wrist started to flash red.

“Office building, point two miles north.” Donnie informed them as he tapped at his screen again.

“A group had taken up camp their a few weeks ago.” Mikey added, his street knowledge and connections coming into play.

“It’s just down the street, let’s go!” Raph bolted towards the shouting. Donnie’s jetpack activated, flying him backwards after Raph.

“Let’s go save the camp!” CJ flipped his mask back down and took a running leap to the next rooftop. Mikey was right behind him, only pausing to glance back towards Leo, who in turn was in a staring contest with the rabbit.

“Leo!” Mikey called back from the next rooftop. Leo gritted his teeth as he stared the rabbit down. He was unreadable. A steady hand on his katana, simple fighting stance, he returned Leo’s glare.

“Back off.” Leo barked out the warning, sidestepping towards the next rooftop. The rabbit didn’t flinch or emote at all, keeping his face neutral and his eyes locked with Leo’s.

Leo heard the tell-tale crash of Raph behind him, heard the battle cries of his family. Leo let out a sharp exhale through gritted teeth and turned to run towards the fight, keeping his guard up in case the rabbit got any back-stabby ideas.

Chapter Text

To his credit, the rabbit was actually helpful in the fight.

Minutes after Leo arrived, Raph was wrestling a larger bear yokai, while Mikey and CJ lured and fought the other goons. There was actually a mix of yokai and human offenders. Donnie was tampering with their getaway truck while they were distracted. Leo spotted some stragglers still in the building, the populated building he reminded himself, and took off.

He was able to take down the first one by surprise. The other two not so much. He was at least able to keep them away from the people huddled further inside. He led the aggressors slowly outside by keeping on the defensive. He finally made it outside and dispatched the two, when he heard a familiar shout.

It was Casey, shouting a warning to Mikey, as a weasel yokai snuck up behind him with a club raised high. Leo felt like time was in slow motion and his limbs were made of jelly, as he was only able to watch the scene unfold.

It was quite the surprise when a white and blue blur bounced off the weasel yokai, knocking him to the ground. And there stood the rabbit, with his katana, surveying the scene. Mikey took a defensive stance, but the rabbit ignored him in favor of the giant bear yokai Raph was still wrestling. Leo felt himself be able to breathe again.

Everything went smoothly after that.

Donnie found some supplies in the truck and left it with the group that was camped in the building. They tied up the human offenders and left them in the truck, they would turn the Yokai offender in at the hidden city police station. (Read: tied them up and threw them through a portal that led to the station).

Shrugging off the stares from the humans, Leo signaled everyone to regroup at their usual spot and they all scattered. He did not want the rabbit following them and he had SO MANY questions for CJ. Leo searched for the boy as soon as he was clear from the line of sight, but he was nowhere to be found. He caught sight of the tail end of Mikey’s bandana, heard Donnie’s jetpack off in the distance but no sign of Casey. He tried to take that as a good sign, telling himself that the rabbit couldn’t pull any funny business if Casey was on the move. The anxious knot in his stomach persisted; tightened even, when he realized he couldn’t spot the rabbit yokai either.

Mikey and Donnie were already on the rooftop when he arrived several minutes later. He spotted Raph not far off and figured Casey wouldn’t be far behind.

“Alrighty! Successful mission, good job team. When Case gets here we can-”

“I’m here, Sensei!” Casey popped up from the side of the building, flipping himself onto the roof. Relief sped through him at Casey’s call. He let his shoulders relax and turned to greet him but stopped dead in his tracks. The words died in his throat and the corpse caused him to choke instead. Because the rabbit was right behind him.

While Leo choked on air, Donnie readied his bo staff and Raph pulled out his sighs and grit his teeth. Mikey actually stepped between them,

“Wait, guys, maybe hear them out first?”

“Junior. Walk over here.” Donnie commanded as he glared down at the stranger.

“What do you need, Unc-er…Donnie?” CJ took a couple steps forward and as soon as he was in reach Raph grabbed him and shoved him back towards Donnie and moved to stand in front of them both, weapons at the ready. Mikey held his position in front of Raph, his arms still held out; like he was trying to reenact that raptor scene from the new Jurassic Park. By this time, Leo had gotten his head screwed back on. He caught the rabbits gaze when he drew his katanas,

“Sorry, conejo, this is a private family meeting.”

“Leo…?” Casey’s tone sounded…hurt…Hurt and confused but Leo couldn’t afford to break his focus on the rabbit. Donnie and Raph had him, so he was fine. They were fine.

“I would like to know how he knows me.” The rabbit turned back towards Casey, only to be met with Raph standing in the way,

“He was thinkin’ of someone else. Don’t worry about it.” Normally, Raph was inherently intimidating. When in ‘protective big brother’ mode? Leo thinks the only other time he looked scarier was when he went savage. They’re going to be fine.

The bunny seemed unfazed,

“Nice try; now who is he and how does he know me?” The rabbit shifted to try and get eyes on Casey. Raph simply took a step backwards and Donnie kept a hand on CJ’s shoulder, repositioning him to keep him out of the line of sight. Leo quickly noted the rabbit's newfound persistence; usually his MO consisted of quick banter and disappearing acts. Realization struck him as a devious grin grew across his face,

“Oh wouldn’t you like to know, Yue-chan~?” He drew out the rabbit's name in a sing-song voice, watching as his opponent stiffened. Leon pitched his swords into the ground, leaning all his weight on them as he watched the rabbit’s face tighten up; his mouth sinking into a thin line and his cheeks puffing up. Leo thought he looked a little constipated and absolutely adorable.

The rabbit surveyed the rooftop, eyeing each brother. Leo could practically see the gears turning in his brain, saw the confliction rolling in the rabbit’s eyes like a sea in a storm. Their opponent lowered his stance and raised his katana. Leo liked the odds; a flustered enemy all alone, versus the four of them (Junior was compromised, he didn’t count). His grin grew wider; they’d win the fight hands down. Now the only thing to make sure of was that the little bunny didn’t follow them all the way home. Said bunny seemed ready to pounce,

“What’s happening?” Casey’s shortcut through the high tension. Leo and Mikey flinched at the volume and the rabbit seemed to trip over his own feet.

“Uh. Fighting?” Raph voiced to CJ, who looked to be in between confused and outraged.

“Oh, OH!” an expression Leo couldn’t read quickly overtook CJ’s face, “Do they need a minute?” CJ not-so-subtlety whispered to his brothers. There was a beat of confused silence.

Perfect opportunity!

“YES! Yes, Casey, we do.” Leo brought his katanas back up, flipping one into the air and catching it as it basically fell right into his palm; “Why don’t you guys head back? I’ll catch up.”

“Leo! We’re not gunna-“

“Trust me.” Leo cut off one of Raph’s lectures as he stared the rabbit down. He did NOT want to argue in front of the enemy…again…

He also did not want to think up a new plan just to stop this bozo from following them back to the lair and it was going to be a pain if they all scattered. There was too much risk of them being followed considering their initial split-up didn’t work. This bunny was decently skilled, and junior was compromised until further notice.

“Are you guys done with the family chat or…”

He heard Raph grumble something and then nothing, feeling a void in his chest where their presence used to be. He was SO ready to rub this win into Raph’s face. He could be a competent leader. He could! All he had to do now was lose a certain cotton tail -ha- and he was home free.

The rabbit took a glance behind him and moved to give chase; Leo swiftly blocked his path.

“Sorry Yue-chan; but it’s WAY past his bedtime, so he can’t stay out to play.”

“Don’t. Call me that.”

“Ouch! Aren’t on a first name basis, huh?” The rabbit swung at him, bringing his sword down in a small arch. Leo blocked it with his left katana and swung at the Rabbit’s abdomen with his right. His opponent jumped back and took a simple stance.

“Alright cottontail I’ll think of something else.” Leo smirked as the Rabbit charged him again. Leo leaned backwards and in time to dodge the hit, falling a couple steps backwards and the rabbit pursued. Easy game of cat and mouse; just keep the bunny’s eyes on him long enough for his family to get back.

Leo keeps on the defensive, parrying blow after blow as they circle the roof. He can admit the bunny’s a good swordsman.  His movements were fast and straightforward. Leo was choosing to ignore the burning in his lungs in favor of taunting.

“Classic tortoise and the hare competition!” Leo parried the rabbit’s sword and pivots around him, “You do know how the story ends, right?” He twists and drives his elbow into the rabbit’s back.

The rabbit grunts and trips forward. He was quick to catch himself; his knees bent as he swiftly twisted around and took a swipe at Leo’s legs. Leo was forced to jump back to avoid it. Leo wouldn’t say it threw him off balance, no, it just threw him off his game just a tiny bit. The rabbit took a step forward and Leo parried his swing. The block was unsteady, and the rabbit knew. And Leo knew the rabbit knew.

Leo slid his front foot back to regain his balance and adjust his stance; the rabbit responded by jumping up and flipping over him. Leo’s jaw dropped as he craned his neck up to watch the figure. As soon as he left Leo’s eyesight he felt the attack coming. Leo barely managed to twist around and bring his katana up in time to parry the blow aimed towards his back. And that; that DID throw him off balance. Leo fell a few steps back, driving one of his swords into the ground to catch himself.

“Oh-ho-ho, bun-bun got game?” He retorts, leaning on his sword for balance. His mind was screaming at him as much as his sore muscles were; a rabbit Yokai that was fast and good at jumping? Who would’ve guessed?

The rabbit’s nose twitched, a faint smirk on his face; the expression was quickly schooled,

“Prepare for you defeat, ninja!” He declared, his voice a couple octaves lower than previously. Oh was he putting up a voice? A samurai voice? Leo didn’t have time to process this question as the rabbit jumped towards him. Leo let himself drop to the side and roll out of the way. He heard the sound of metal hitting concrete and springs back up from his roll just in time to parry another blow.

And then he gets an idea.

“Careful conejo, don’t get your ears in a bunch.” He taunts and slides back to dodge another blow.  He baits the rabbit as Leo takes a more defensive style. A couple parried swings, a few carefully thought out steps backwards, aaaaaand there we go!

Leo shifts his stance ever so slightly to create an opening and the rabbit jumps at it. His opponent charges him full force and Leo rolls out of the way just in time. The rabbit’s sword might have nicked him but the sound of a rabbit crashing into the wall of the taller building made the sting worth it.

“And here I thought this was going to be at least a little challenging.” 

Leo turns to see the rabbit picking himself up from the crash, he was wiping blood off of his face with his sleeve,

“Oh, you’re gunna pay for that one!”

“Put it on my tab.”

The rabbit was more hesitant in his next attack; still fast and bouncy but a little more cautious. Which was honestly a little annoying for Leo; there went the bulk of his battle strategy. At least dodging and parrying became slightly easier.

Leo dug his toes into the ground as he held off another blow; he was a few paces from the edge of the roof, backing up anymore was not a good idea. He did not need another repeat of that whole situation. The rabbit also refused to back away and so they were at a standstill, blades against each other. A battle of strength and will to see who’s sword would give in first. Leo didn’t see the rabbit shift his stance, only noted the smirk that crossed his face. He looked dangerous and beautiful; the sight made his chest tighten which he blamed on adrenaline and overexertion.

“You know what they say about pride, kappa?”

Leo opened his mouth to ask what a ‘kappa’ was, and felt a foot against his plastron. And it clicked. The kick knocked the air out of him, sending him stumbling backwards. Leo frantically tried to catch his footing, but every step backwards sent him further off balance until he tripped over the ledge.

Leo knew the exact millisecond the fall was inevitable. Felt when his center of gravity crossed the line of no return. And DAMN! This bunny kicked him off a roof! This was what? The third time? Fourth? Why was falling from deadly heights his trademark?

The pride remark replayed in his head and okay maybe that was fair. Kinda.

Leo tightened his core, bringing his limbs closer to his center and twisted to swing his sword beneath him. A glimmering blue portal tore open; snapping shut as soon as he fell through. His landing back on the roof was a little rough but he sprang back up to his feet as soon as he hit the concrete. He was on the same roof as before, landing behind the rabbit on the other side. He saw the yokai looking over the edge where he had fallen. Almost as soon as he landed his ears twitched in Leo’s direction. The rabbit whipped his head around and looked dumb struck,

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!” The rabbit lost any sign of a defensive stance. His shoulders drooped down and his sword lowered; he stared at Leo with stars in his eyes. And oh Leo relished in his gaze. He leaned over his sword as if it was an umbrella, giving the rabbit a wink.

“That all you got, cinnabun?” His teasing seemed to snap the rabbit out of his trance. Immediately the yokai switched back into his fighting stance, katana at the ready. Leo felt a yearning to see the stars in his eyes again. He shoved that feeling down with the rest of them and assumed it was his “complex” again. Pizza supreme, he could hear his little brother’s doctor persona in his brain.

Keeping his katana in his right hand, the rabbit reached to his belt and pulled out a…yoyo…

“Oh that is adorable.” Leo purred, leaning further on his swords to where his chin touched the hilt. He really didn’t think much of it when the rabbit started to spin the toy around. Until he flicked it across the rooftop and hit Leo square in the face.

Leo flailed as he fell to the floor. His hand immediately came up to nurse the pain in between his eyes. He blinked back tears and heard the bunny have the audacity to laugh. He blamed the burning sensation he felt all over his face and in his gut on embarrassment.

“Yeah, I don’t think ‘adorable’ is the word you're looking for.” His opponent caught the yoyo in his hand. He started to show off simple yoyo tricks as he looked down to Leo, the smirk back on his face.

The slider let out a frustrated grunt through gritted teeth as he jumped back to his feet. Readying his swords and fighting back the fire in his throat. The rabbit flung the yoyo at him again and he was ready this time. He ducked and moved to cut the string of the toy; only it didn’t cut. No, it wrapped effortlessly around Leo’s sword and the yoyo stuck to it like a magnet. He urgently tried to use his other sword to pry it off but with a flick of his wrist the rabbit entangled both of Leo’s swords in the unbreakable rope attached to the yoyo.

It was only then that Leo realized that the yoyo was glowing.

Mystic weapon. Mystic yoyo.

Goddamn mystic yoyo, FU-

The yokai let out a shout as he attempted to tug the swords away from him. Leo was able to hang onto one, but his right katana had the yoyo literally attached to it and he really didn’t want to face plant onto concrete tonight, so he let that one go. The rabbit swung his yoyo around and flung Leo’s sword behind him, sending it flying onto the opposite rooftop.

“You should give up now, stripes.” The bunny caught the yoyo, pointing his sword at Leo with his chest puffed out. And with the burning in his own chest making it hard to breathe, coupled with his joints stiffening up, Leo was inclined to agree. Maybe it was time to bow out. How long has this fight been going on? Five? Six minutes? More than enough time for the fam to get home; or at least, a safe distance.

And the rabbit had been so kind as to provide a means of easy escape.

“Yea no; this has been fun and all, but I think imma bounce-“ he reached his arm out and teleported to the sword across the street. He felt the hilt in his hand before his knuckles met the concrete. He teleported upside down and nearly hit his head on landing, but he rolled with practiced skill and sprung to his feet with both his swords in hand. He turned back to see the rabbit gawking in his direction,

 “We should do this again sometime!” He called as he swiped his sword in the empty air, cutting  a portal into existence.

“I’ll find you, ninja!”

“Good luck with that, bunny boy~” Leo teased and let himself fall backwards into the portal.

_______________________________________________________________________ 

Leo instantly recognized the wide space of the living area. Warmth hit his skin as he was bathed in the familiar smells of home.

“Leo!” A familiar voice shouted.

Oh good, they got home safe.

“What’s up, hermanito?” Leo spun around to greet his family, who seemed to be just making their way through the entrance. Mikey’s wide eyes was the first thing he saw; Raph was right behind him, turning at the sound of Leo’s voice. He was turning from Casey Junior, who was being held up by a metal claw like a little misbehaving kitten next to Donnie; owner of said metal claw that protruded from his battle shell.

That moment of observation was cut short by the barrage of questions quickly pouring from his family.

“Did you lose ‘em?”

“You good, bro?”

“Where’s Usagi?”

“You look like you were hit by a bus.”

“Ha! Did I lose him?” Leo held out his arm, gesturing to himself.  “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“Seriously though, did you get hit by a brick?” Mikey inched forward; his voice laced with concern.

“Run into a wall?” Versus Donnie’s flat tone as he started to tap on his bracer. Leo let out a frustrated grunt, 

“He got in ONE,” Leo held up a single finger, “-ONE good hit. That’s all!”

Despite his assurances, a small drone was quickly produced from Donnie’s shell. It flew over and scanned Leo with a red light. It stung his eyes as the light passed over him.

“Other than a chipped tooth, exertion from the fight, and no doubt wounded pride, he’s fine.” Donnie declared. CJ finally freed himself from the claw holding him up by the scruff of his cape and rushed over to Leo.

“I didn’t upset him, did I?” CJ was hunched over, playing with his fingers as he looked up to Leo meekly.

“Casey wh-?”

“I didn’t know he was around, and I haven’t seen him in years -“

“Easy Case-“

“I didn’t mean to offend him, will you let him know I’m sorry and-“

Leo finally took the kid by the shoulders,

“EASY there Jones. You don’t need to apologize.”

“He’s not mad?” He looked like a mix of a nervous kid before a school speech and a sad puppy.

“Oh, I have NO IDEA! And I don’t care.” Leo turned the kid around, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

“But-“

“You know him from the future, don’t you?” Donnie proposed, and Leo could feel CJ straighten up under his arm. Ooooo~ Future stories????

“Well yeah! He’s-“ Leo felt cheated when the words died in CJ’s throat, and a pit in his stomach when the kid’s shoulder’s dropped. “You guys don’t…?” His voice cracked and Leo did not want to see the face CJ was making. From his brother’s (minus Donnie) own expressions, he could glean it was more akin to the ‘sad puppy’ look now.

“He’s a suspicious character currently under investigation-“ Donnie started before Raph cut him off,

“Not really a buddy of ours-“

“He’s an enemy, Case.” Leo announced and cut the whole conversation. Silence was all that followed as Casey whipped his head around to face Leo. The boy seemed to stare into his soul; which gave Leo a great opportunity since that was a two way street kinda deal. Casey looked…confused…? Like that time Raph had to explain the whole process of ‘renting an apartment’ after they had to bail him out for breaking into an apartment and how just because it was empty doesn’t mean someone doesn’t own it and YES actually that is illegal. If you’re gunna do it, at least do it properly!

Different emotions flashed over his face as he processed the information. Confusion. Anger? Concern?

“You’re not-..so he-…you guys-…”

“Didn’t even know his name until you spilt that tea. What else ya got on ‘em?” Leo was eager for more blackmail info, or any info at all, on the mysterious yokai.

Casey turned to yell something at him; his shoulders tensed up, brow furrowed, hand already gesturing. But as soon as he opened his mouth the kid just…stopped. Fear swept over his face and Leo saw a light of recognition in his eyes.

The kid looked proper scared. Like ‘Kraang spotted downtown’ kinda scared.

“Uhhh…Casey…?”

“Hesagoodpersonandyouguysshouldtalk.” And with that outburst, Casey was off like a bolt of lightning. He threw off Leo’s arm, skidded past Mikey, dodged around Raph and leapt over one of the beanbags in a beeline towards the exit.

The brothers just stood frozen and blinked.

“Ohoho he definitely has some good stuff on the rabbit.” Leo couldn’t contain his glee, he wanted to know all the drama!

“Usagi.” Donnie corrected.

“Exactly what I said. CASEY WAIT UP!”

Chapter Text

Growing up, Casey didn’t always understand what his family was talking about. Be it strategies and battle plans that went over his head when he was little, or different languages he couldn’t comprehend. But as he grew, these instances became less and less often. Casey didn’t realize it when he was younger, but he made it his personal mission to understand, to be in the know so he could stand with his family. 

The different languages and battle Strategy? That’s why he started to call Leo sensei. 

Mathematics or biology? Master Donatello happily obliged anything related to science and set up an academic curriculum for him. 

Stories of old earth? Folklore and connections? Master Michelangelo told those stories the best, and could never say no to Casey’s questions. Casey consumed all the knowledge and stories his family told as best he could. But even still, he felt it was not enough.

Much to his own detriment, sometimes his family just spoke in riddles. Vague sayings or abstract teachings that Casey just couldn’t get the hang of, they told him he would understand when it came up, when he was ready. He had to live it to understand it.

And now, as Casey hyperventilates in the middle of his room, he believes he just figured out what they meant when they said Forbidden Knowledge . Donatello would always preach the ways of knowledge and science. Saying all knowledge was good knowledge. Michelangelo once countered with the idea of forbidden knowledge , and his Sensei whispered something in his ear which made the ever-stoic scientist shiver and go quiet.

Casey had asked and asked and asked, even tried to guess; but he could never understand how knowing something couldn’t be of use. Even if the information hurts to learn or to share.

He’s starting to understand now. His childhood naivety that led him to believe his uncle Usagi and his sensei had been inseparable since the dawn of time caused this whole situation and now the younger versions of his parental figures were breathing down his neck about the relation his other parental figure had to them in the future.

His head was throbbing.

And he wanted to tell them; he wanted so badly to scream at Leo that his soulmate was right there . But he was so scared to mess it up. He remembered Yue-chan and Leonardo would make up different stories about how they met to tell little Casey, each story more wild and outlandish than before. At this point, he couldn’t remember the original. He didn’t know how they met. And if he was deducing this correctly, they met after the Kraang . During an apocalypse. The one they all averted.

Casey learned from hindsight that his mentors had made truces with old enemies to unite against the Kraang. Was this one of those situations? Would they even get together in this timeline? Why were they fighting in the first place?

It broke his heart to think they wouldn’t be together. They were so close, from his memories. Was that just childhood naivety? Had he remembered wrong? Oh GOD his whole life was a lie.

His thoughts kept spiraling as he analyzed all the memories he had of his family and their interactions. He was stuck in his own mind until he heard the knocking. It took him a few minutes to recognize. Yeah, someone was definitely knocking at something.

When had he sat down? He was on his knees, hard and cold flooring underneath him. He found his hands were gripping at his hair and there were tears streaking down his face. He took a few deep breaths and noticed the bed next to him. He was in his room. In his apartment.

The knocking continued. 

Not at his front door, at his bedroom door. Which he noted was locked. (This wasn’t unusual, he usually locked his door when he was inside).

“Casey, you okay?”

Master Michelangelo.

Casey opened his mouth to respond but choked on air. He sucked in a breath as his whole body tensed. There was a weight on his chest, like he was being crushed, and a storm of nerves wrecked through his stomach and up to his throat.

“Remember to breathe, Junior. Just keep breathing.”

At the command Casey went back to counting his breaths. He knocked on the wood flooring underneath him in time with his counts. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Exhales were always longer, and while his chest protesting the first couple breathes, relief from the pain would always follow afterwards.

He could still hear Michelangelo speaking to him. If he listened he could hear the cars outside, the wind crashing against the building. He could feel the wooden flooring as he continued to knock on it. He had wooden flooring, it was pleasantly cool, but not as cold or rough as straight concrete. He reached back to feel the sheets on his bed, fingers meeting the thick comforter April helped him pick out. It was a huge quilt made up of multiple-colored patches. His bed sheets and pillowcase were gray, and the walls of his bedroom were a deep forest green.

He felt pain and soreness in his legs, his knees and ankles begged for relief. He made to stand up but fell right back down again. Sitting against his bed, he waited for the feeling to come back to his feet.

How long had he been like this?

“I’m okay, Master Michelangelo.” He called as soon as his throat allowed.

“That’s great, Casey! Can I come in?”

“Yeah. Yeah just a sec-”

It took Casey another minute to get his feet under him properly this time. Once that was accomplished, he took the few steps over to unlock and open the door,

And was greeted to the sight of Mikey, wearing that beige turtleneck sweater of his and a pair of iconic glasses.

“Oh no.”

“Now Casey, what have we talked about?” Mikey, or rather Dr. Feelings questioned.

“Reaching out when I’m in a crisis.”

“Mhm, and are you in a crisis?”

“Yes…?”

“Mhmm,” Mikey took a step past Casey into the room. He gestured for Casey to sit on the bed, “And what kind of feelings are you experiencing?”

“Master-…Mikey-… I can’t-“

“You need to tell someone, junior.” Mikey insisted. His tone was level and Casey felt he was back to being a reckless eleven-year-old being scolded by Master Michelangelo. Casey let his head fall into his hands as he tugged at his hair,

“But this is…This is really big…I can’t-I can’t-”

“This is about Usagi.” Michelangelo’s words cut off Casey’s rambling, his throat seized up, the last sound to echo out being a choked sob. He felt a three fingered hand rest on his shoulder. 

“This is obviously hurting you. And communication is the key to a healthy mindset and healthy relationships-” Casey began to lose track of Mikey’s speech as his mind still raced laps around the room. Would the truth really solve the issue? Or cause more issues? How could he word it so that everything would turn out fine and not destroy something beautiful before it even started?!

He felt tears well in his eyes as the back of his throat burned. And down deep into his soul, he wished Master Michelangelo was really here. His Master Michelangelo. Guilted pooled in his gut at the thought. He stole a glance at the turtle, still in speech mode; a ghost of something that never was, a new hope and beginning for something that deserved to be. How was he going to explain this? Where would he even begin?

“Master Michelangelo, I have forbidden knowledge.” The words were out of his mouth before he could process them. 

A beat of silence passed. 

“How forbidden are we talking?” He could hear Mikey’s ‘doctor voice’ falter, but he kept up his poker face. And at the question the damn holding his thoughts back broke and shattered. 

“HUGE!” Casey straightened up and threw his hands into the air, “Earth shattering! And I-I- and I-I don’t…”

“And how does this knowledge make you feel?” The hand previously on his shoulder moved to rub soothing circular motions on his back in a calming gesture. Casey pondered his question for a moment, giving him a side look. The question seemed ridiculous to Casey; it was kinda obvious how he was feeling right now.

“Try to describe it to me.” Michelangelo reframed the question, giving him a warm smile that bleeds sunshine and assurance. Casey took a deep breath before he began,

“Over-overwhelmed? Like. Like the sun hasn’t risen yet. And you know that it’s supposed to rise after the night ends. But it hasn’t happened yet, and the people around you seemed to have never even heard of the sun! And-and i’m scared- and i’m scared that if I tell anyone about the sun rising, it will cause the sun NOT to rise and that would be terrible because it has to rise for it to be day. We won and changed the future! We won so the sun has to rise! It has to-!” Mikey held up his other hand to cut off his spiraling. Casey took a deep and sharp breath, realizing he wasn't really doing the whole breathing thing while he was rambling. The pain in his lungs he didn't realize was there began to fade as he kept up the deep breaths. 

“In this analogy, you’re using nature as the reference.” Mikey began in his ‘Dr. Feelings’ voice’, “So it is an event that occurs? Does it happen natur-” 

“Yes! Of course it does!” memories flashed behind his eyes; of his Oji Usagi training with his sensei, it would always end in cuddles and kisses. Of Chichi telling him stories of Japan and past warriors, of samurai and ninja, of lords and ladies, of yokai and oni. He thinks of the look on his sensei’s face whenever he would look at Usagi, how they would talk about each other, how they were when they were apart, how they were when they were together. After Usagi- when Usagi didn’t…

“I thought- I thought it…” It was like how Leonardo’s color was blue and Michelangelo’s was orange. Like how Donnie would always tinker with the scraps of Kraang tech they managed to blow up, like how Commander O’Neil would always ruffle his hair no matter how tall he got. It just was. 

It felt like sticky lava ran down his throat. Casey felt hot tears roll down his cheeks as his throat tightened. He fought back the sobs that threatened to erupt, squeezing his eyes shut he let his head fall back down into his hands. Shoving his palms into his eyes he wanted to will the emotions away. 

He heard Mikey hum while he continued to try to control his breathing. But the very thought of them not existing together; of those soft looks and cheesy one liners not existing , it felt like his heart was being crushed under a fallen skyscraper. 

“People are fickle things, Junior. Stubborn, but just as fragile.” Ringing cut through the static in his head as his breath hitched. He knew that tone, that soft orange aura of comfort and safety and kindness. That was his Master Michelangelo. 

“And I know I’ve done my fair share of meddling,” He could hear the grin creeping onto the turtle’s face, the memories of a low and orange lit room took over his senses; of braiding hair and storytelling. Of gentle magic and tales of heroes. 

“But you can’t let it eat you up like this. You have to accept that maybe it won’t happen. And it’s probably not going to happen like it did in your timeline.” The last word rang in his head like a bell, clearing out the remaining fog in his head and snapping him back to the present. He let his hands fall and turned to look at the young turtle, who wore old eyes and a familiar smile. The warm and familiar safe feeling never left him, and Mikey gave his shoulder a tight squeeze.

“I’m sure whatever you know, whatever you lived, was good and true. And you might be able to make a pretty good ‘educated guess’ as Dee likes to say. But if it’s truly meant to be, if it’s like the sun rising every morning, then it will happen. Just have some faith.” The weight of Mikey’s hand rested on his shoulder, keeping him grounded as Casey wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve. 

“But the’r such dum-dums…” he muttered, the back of his throat still stinging. The weight on his shoulder was removed, and a hefty pat on the back followed.

“Then you can tease them about it later.” A chuckle bubbled out of Casey at Mikey’s words. “But you're not allowed to tease me.”

“I would never, Dr. Feelings.” He replied in the most innocent tone he could manage with the expression to match. He only held it up for a couple seconds, before they both succumbed to soft chuckles and smiles. 

“Good.” Mikey started, “I’ll see if I can get the fam to ease up on you until you're ready to talk about it.”

“Thanks Mikey.”

“No problem fam.” Mikey gave him another pat on the back and then stood, gesturing his thumbs towards the door, “I’m gunna grab you some water, okay? You’re gunna need to rehydrate.” Mikey waited until Casey gave a nod, then moved towards the door. 

“Master Michelangelo?” His call halted Mikey as he stepped into the doorway.

“Yea?” He turned his head, but Casey avoided his gaze, keeping it on the ground as he battled the uncomfortable nerves resurfacing in his gut.

“What happens if… What if it never happens?” He couldn’t help how faint his voice sounded, how much it really did sound like he was a scared eleven-year-old again. 

“Well then, my dear young mentee,” Mikey’s voice was void of any act or ‘doctor persona’, 

“Then we meddle.”

Chapter Text

True to his word, Michelangelo was able to get most of the family off of his back about the while ‘Usagi’ thing. 

The cost of this compromise, however, was basically a planned intervention. Mikey had bought him time. 

A week later, they all sat in the TV room, the turtles, April, and him. And the conversation…occurred…

Mikey had kept them all quiet by sheer vibes alone. He’d cast a quick glare at anyone who took too deep a breath, and occasionally offered short words of encouragement as Casey ran through his story. He told them of Usagi in the future, of the freedom fighters from other nations. Of their alliance and friendship. A quick explanation of Usagi as a person, his character and some of his past. Nothing detailed. Nothing incriminating or implicating. Short and simple debriefing. 

“Soooooo-, he’s a samurai, from halfway across the world?” April’s eyebrow shot up as high as her hairline. She sat on the armrest of the lounging chair, leaning on Raph in the chair. Her question was followed by silence, it was the first time since they started that Mikey had allowed anyone to finish a sentence. 

“...Yes.” Casey answered, preparing himself for the ‘questions’ part of the debriefing. 

‘And he live in a pocket dimension?” The question came from Donatello, his tone was normal and level but his knees were wiggling from where he stood across the circle from Casey. Donatello was the only one not seated, standing next to Leo who was sprawled out on the couch. The purple clad turtle’s elbows had begun to match the movements in his knees. 

“Tied to this plane, as you’d explain it.”

“Aaaaaand he helped with the resistance!” Mikey chimed from the couch, shaking his fists in a circular motion close to his chest. Even though Leo was fully sprawled out over the couch, propped up against the armrest, hand thrown over the back and feet resting on Mikey’s knees taking up as much space as possible, Mikey didn’t seem to mind. Instead, Mikey sat with his legs criss-crossed on the couch, knees bouncing occasionally during the conversation. 

“Yeah! He was one of the commanders, like April! He led a bunch of rescue missions and supply runs.”

“And we’re sure he’s not evil?” Raph spoke up from his chair, doubling down on the only question he tried to ask before the whole ‘talk’ started.

“Of course! Yu-er- Usagi has always been on the side of good! Protecting people and justice long before the invasion.” Casey’s chest swelled with pride as fond memories played in the forefront of his mind. 

“That. Is not what samurai technically are, actually.” Donatello interjected and brought an abrupt end to Casey’s trip down memory lane. 

“Soldiers of peace and justice?” He really couldn’t see his Chichi as anything else. Too many memories of hero speeches, too many tales of justice and honor. Too many groups of survivors being shepherded into their base by a white and blue clad figure. Too many times accompanying his Chichi as he checked on and tented to those very survivors, ensuring them of their safety and place in the community. 

“Oh no, no, no, Junior.” Donnie began as he brought up a holographic screen on his bracer and began typing away, “-Samurai were historically made for bloody war, and followed the whims of whosoever their allegiances were with. Like. Really beefy bodyguards or high-level henchmen.”

“Hey! Samurai could be good! They protected a lot of people!”Mikey’s outburst sounded less like a defense for Usagi and more like a defense for all samurai based media. 

“And they were buddy-buddy with ninja’s, right?” Raph looked to DOnnie, who was reading something on the holographic screen. Casey couldn’t see through the screen but he guessed it was either previous notes about the topic or some academic engine search.

“Not really no, but again, depended on allegiances.”

“So who does this Usagi guy work for?” April leaned forward, using Raph for balance as she craned her neck to peek over at Donnie’s screen, adjusting her glasses and squinting her eyes as she tried to read what he was. Her attention turned back to Casey as he failed to respond. He was currently scrambling through memories like fast forwarding a video, trying to remember any mention of a ‘Lord’ or ‘Boss’ related to Usagi. 

“Uhhhhhh- he-he came from Neo Edo…? That probably?”

“If he has no clan or lord that would make him a ronin; and that's a WHOLE other ballgame. They were historically hired help, and again, bodyguards and bounty hunters.”

“REGARDLESS, he’s a good guy with good morals and this whole thing is probably one big misunderstanding!” Casey’s heart rate was picking up. Why did his throat feel tight? This was going to fix everything. He looked to each of his family members, younger versions of his mentors. Donnie’s gaze was still fixated on the screen in front of him, his usual unimpressed scowl being lit up by the reflecting light. April was sharing a look with Raph, still leaning on him. Similar looks of skepticism and confusion spread over their faces, as they seemed to be having a silent conversation. Mikey’s knees were bouncing, he sent Casey a thumbs up when their eyes met.

A shifting of moment caught Casey’s attention. Leo let his feet fall to the floor and straightened his posture, all the while keeping his arm draped over the back of the couch. Casey could practically see the calculations in Leo’s eyes, a frown in place instead of a jovial smirk. Fear gripped his heart as he realized he hadn’t heard Leo speak at ALL during the last half hour of explanations and questions. 

“Okay but like, he attacked us.” Leo reasoned, keeping his tone light. The slider blinked and his ‘faceman’ act was in full play. Words failed to form in Casey’s head and his jaw refused to cooperate.

“He also helped us with those looters!” Mikey held the defense where Casey failed too, and he made a mental note to buy the orange clad turtle a couple pizzas once he actually got a job.

“And then he attacked us.” Leo reiterated as he shot his younger brother a look.

“Maybe he just wanted to talk!”

“And our dear brother in blue coming home with blood all over his snout gave you the impression he ‘just wanted to talk’?” Donatello dismissed the screen hovering above his bracer as he rejoined the discussion. 

“Well, we did stick ‘em alone talking with Leo .” Raph points his thumb towards said blue brother, who immediately takes offence to the comment.

“HEY!”

“ Sigh . You make a good point, but I am not convinced.” Donnie crossed his arms and turned his line of sight towards the corner.

“CJ says he’s an okay guy. He’s an okay guy.” Raph stated and crossed his own arms. Casey’s heart was going through whiplash at the mixed judgments. Did he not explain it clearly? He was always good at debriefing though, and he had time to prepare this time! What had he missed? What could he say to make them understand? Why couldn’t they understand?

“In the FUTURE!” Donnie’s raised his voice and an arm as he gestured towards the ceiling, “A future that is no longer a part of this timeline, my dear brother.”

“As much as I hate to do this, I’m siding with Donnie. Junior came from an actual apocalyptic future; no one had the luxury of fighting anyone other than those alien bozos. A luxury, that we do have.” His younger Sensei waved his hand out, looking as nonchalant as Casey had ever seen him.

“Or maybe we can try making allies instead of enemies for once?” Casey flinched when Raph raised his voice, his tone was deeper than usual with a snarl beneath his tongue.

“Yes, let us make amends with suspicious persons and or vile outlaws like, say, when Junior tried to walk into the purple dragons hide out. Because it was Jeremy’s birthday.”

“Everyone deserves a chance, Donald.” Mikey scolded and Donnie let out another verbal scoff.

“Hey, we got history with the dragons, I haven’t even SEEN this rabbit dude.” April reasoned and Raph nodded,

“Plus, we haven’t seen him DO anything horrible yet.”

“Yet.” Donnie glared at April and Raph, “Additionally, we haven’t actually observed him doing much of anything. Except acting suspicious, helping out citizens that one time AFTER Junior called out to him, and him attacking Leo. None of those scream ‘I’m a really good person’ aesthetic.”

“Like I said;” Leo sat up completely, lifting both his arms to his side, ”-CJ came from a world where there was a WAR with homicidal aliens. It was a ‘them versus us’ mentality. We don’t have that right now.”

“May-be, we should just ask Usagi.” Mikey lifted his chin as he spoke, before turning to his brother with bright eyes, “We befriended Draxum! Why not him?”

“You. You befriended Draxum.” Leo corrected as he held eye contact.

“Which was a very good manipulative ploy on your part, Michael, engaging with him at his lowest-“

“It wasn’t a ploy, Donnie!”

“Mikey would be the best option for negotiations.” Leo brought a hand to his chin and Mikey continued to shriek.

“It’s not manipulation!”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s persuasion by appealing to emotions!”

“Ya-huh.”

Casey just stood there as Mikey kept insisting his innocence in the matter. He stood as a spectator, disconnected from the discussion. Waiting for a verdict. His heart was still racing and he was starting to sweat. The heavy weight in his gut had begun to spin and swirl, he vaguely noticed he was hunched over to compensate for the feeling. 

“Still a bad idea.” Leo cuts Mikey’s protests by physically shoving him away and off of the couch. “If he originally came because of the Kraang, why is he here now? We don’t know his motive or intentions.”

Still scrambling through memories, Casey realized he didn’t know. He didn’t know how Usagi originally got here. He knew his Chichi’s favorite katas and had memorized the old stories he used to tell. He knew Usagi descended from a great Samurai, he knew the name of his blade, he knew where he was born and his close friends and how he was the honorary uncle/older brother to a gaggle of orphaned ex-ninja kids because his aunt took them in.

But none of those were the right answers to this.

“That is still no good reason to be at odds with the guy.” Raph argued.

“Okay, okay. How about this? He stays on the list, but we do our very best to avoid a fight with him.” Leo raises his hands in an act of surrender as he raises his compromise.

Casey’s eyes stung as the weight in his gut began to bubble up to his chest.

“That…Wont actually accomplish anything though…” A statement turned mumble, he felt the bubbling feeling reach up to his throat.

“I shall put a question mark at the end of his name, to indicate the questionability of his suspicion.”

“So you’re just going to avoid him?!” The swelling and stirring in his gut finally boils over and out of his mouth as he shouts a little louder than he wanted too. Everyone’s attention switches to him, his shoulders were rigid and his jaw was tight.

And tense silence reverberates through the room. Leo is the one to break it.

“Case, I know you think you know him,”

“I do know him!” He knew he loved puns and silly one-liners as much as Sensei. He knew how Chichi liked his rat stew and how he couldn’t eat before or after a particularly bad or important mission. He knew his Chichi stomped his foot on the ground when he got excited or happy, how when he was younger, if he listened close enough, he could hear someone’s heartbeat.

“-But it’s going to be really hard to explain to him that we should be best buds because a guy from the future said so.”

“We could still try!” Casey took a step forward, balled fists tense at his side.

“We could reach out a truce or a sign for peace! We could just go out and ask him!”

“Ceej*(read, siege), calm down buddy,” Raph’s stood from the couch, his body language shifting instantly to a calm and concerned demeanor. Casey wondered if the stinging he felt at the corner of his eyes were tears. “Ya know things tend not to be so simple for the maddogz, usually when we go looking for trouble, we find it.”

“Yeah, it might do more harm than good to actively go snooping the dude out.” April added, taking full advantage of the empty seat and shifting her weight to lay over it.

“And might I remind you ALL that Leo still hasn’t fully recovered.”

“I’m fine, Dee-“

“Said the dum-dum that needed to spend the night in the medbay after our mission.”

“Wait, WHAT?!”

“Raph-“

“You said you were keeping Dee company! You said you were watching anime!”

 “Snitch.”

“Eeheh, busted.”

“The point of this whole conversation, fam, was to learn more about Usagi and figure out what to do next.” Mikey stood up next, holding his hands flat together in front of him. The family exchanged glances of confusion, annoyance, and worry. Finally all eyes turned to Leo, who seemed a little panicked at the attention.

“Okay, fine! Next time we see the rabbit we can invite him over to Hueso’s for pizza. But until then, he stays on the list!” Was the decision.

“Dually noted, the question mark has been added.”

“Fair, but NO ONE MAKES A DECISION UNTIL I MEET THIS GUY!” April still had her feet hanging off the chairs armrest, she twisted so she could glare and point in Leo and Donnie’s direction. Leo held up his hands and Donnie kept typing on his bracer.

“I shall add that in his bio.”

“How…many bios do you have on people we know?” Mikey asked slowly, inching over to peek at Donnie’s bracer. The softshell tapped again and the bracer quickly went dark.

“Unimportant.”

“Donnie!”

A hand had rested on his shoulder, he turned to see Raph, giving him a small smile. Casey could still feel the tension through his body, like a wound-up spring ready for action. He let his shoulders fall, his fists uncurling in the same motion. He hadn’t realized how tight his jaw was set, he was gritting his teeth.

And there were, in fact, hot tears pricking out of the corners of his eyes.

Casey spun on his heels, shrugging off Raph’s hand, and made his way out of the lair.

Combat boots hit the concrete as Casey landed on the rooftop. His grappling hook retracted back to his gauntlet with a satisfying metallic ‘ thunk ’. There had been a few squatters in the abandoned apartment complex, human and yokai , but not the one he was looking for. He continued to run in pace with his breathing, feeling the ground beneath his feet felt comforting despite the late hour and strenuous activity.

The discussion had…not gone how he’d wanted it too.

He had gotten what he wanted, hadn’t he? Why did it feel wrong? Why did he still feel like something was wrong? He had told his younger mentors that Usagi was not a threat and a potential ally. They had all agreed to ask questions before throwing a punch next time, which seemed like a big deal with these younger versions of the turtles.  Why did it feel like nothing was accomplished? Why did he feel this pressure and pit of nothing in his stomach?

He jumped from the ledge, rolling as he landed and jumped back to his feet into a run. He checked off most places on his list. Quite a few of them were actually fully intact and not ideal places to set up camp. He still gave them a once over. With half of the city scoured, Casey had very few places left to look.

A cold dread ran down his spine as the thought of Usagi leaving the city entirely came to mind. Because that would mean he never met Sensei, he would never get to meet Master Splinter or taste Mikey’s cooking or spar with Leonardo or-

Casey stopped himself just as he ran out of rooftop to run. He swayed and teetered on the edge,  flailing his arms to regain his balance. After regaining his center of gravity, he looked onward to see the docks. Meaning less rooftops and more cargo boxes.

And warehouses.

Easy to hide in, not patrolled regularly it appeared. And many of which were just empty in the first place. Perfect place to stow away or camp for the night.

Casey scanned the area, making note of several buildings of interest. Having gathered all the information he could from his location, he shot out his grappling hook at a nearby crane. It caught and he swung down to the ground. He kept his stance low as he checked the perimeter. There was no one in the area, a gate guard and a guard house that might hold more, but they were of no threat as long as Casey kept quiet. Casey crept towards the closest warehouse.

His mask told him it was currently 2:48 AM, and he had several missed messages from several people. Mikey’s and Leo’s name were the two on top of the notification list. He felt the exhaustion most in his limbs, but his mind wouldn’t let him sleep. He knew that for a fact. No, it would buzz with random thoughts, and he would spiral into his own mind, lost in ‘what ifs’ and memories that might or might not have happened.

He snuck into the first warehouse from above, there were some broken windows, very thin and hard to reach but child’s play for someone with his training. Other than some bugs and NYC’s famous rat population, it was truly empty. Casey fought back a sigh and left the way he came. He knew he would probably have a better chance finding Usagi in the forest; but that was a whole other level of expedition that he did not want to brave right now while he was exhausted and unprepared.

So he was checking the closest places first. He could probably finish up the docks on this side of town before sunrise. If he wasn’t back by breakfast, his mentors would hunt him down for sure. Despite all their differences, stubbornness and overprotectiveness was NOT one of them. They were still very scary if Casey stayed out past curfew.

Making his way to the next warehouse, he stalked between the lines of cargo crates. Large, bulky, with dulled color. A chill ran down his back like ice cold water as a shadow flashed across the ground. Casey spun on his heels, scanning the areas behind him, on top of the crates, even in the shadows; where his eyes couldn’t see, his mask could. He watched as the scanners relayed nothing. No fresh footprints, no mystic energy. No trace of anything. Casey’s gut feeling told him otherwise. Someone or something was watching him. 

This information did nothing for him, as he was mid-way through turning back around when something blunt hit the side of his head HARD. A flash of white and blue had Casey thinking maybe Raphael was right about the whole ‘looking for trouble’ bit. And that’s all Casey could ponder before the darkness welcomed him.

Chapter Text

The turtles, and April especially, had tried to get information from him before their little ‘talk’. It was mostly met with silence and awkward gestures until Mikey or Cassandra intervened. Donnie wanted to know where Usagi had come from, if there were other hidden cities throughout the world. Raph just wanted to know how much of a threat Usagi was, if Raph could take him basically. Leo was very indirect in his questioning; asking about details, who trained him again? What’s up with that yoyo thing? Is he an acrobat or something? April, however, in her own April O’Neil style, was very direct in her questions. She was also the most determined. Walking straight up to him, her first question was which turtle did he befriend first, which caught Casey completely off guard one afternoon. He saw very little difference between her and his Commander O’Neil. Besides the lack of experience and haunted look in her eyes, the attitude was exactly the same. 

Despite the questions, and the impulse to just come completely clean and fuck the consequences, Casey kept his mouth shut until the meeting. 

He only made one exception. 

The day of their meeting, as he walked down the underground tunnels towards the lair, he ran into Master Splinter. He literally ran into him. He was so quiet, blending into the shadows perfectly. He stepped out as Casey was about to round the corner to the lair’s entrance. If not for running into him he would have missed the old man entirely. And pizza supreme, did he look his age. Splinter looked to him with old and tired eyes, weathered with age and trauma. Just the way the man stood, leaning on his cane more than he usually would, the glassy look to his eyes, the wrinkles and gray hairs littering his face. 

“This, rabbit…” His voice trailed off, as if it had lost its way. The old rat’s gaze dropped to the floor for a moment. He seemed to collect his thoughts as he returned to Casey’s gaze with a genuine and concerned look.

“Is he a good one?”

Casey couldn't help the memory that rushed to the forefront of his brain. 

Of his Sensei telling stories of this man, of Usagi hanging off of every word as Leo recounted stories from his lost family and of their youth.

“He sounds like an amazing man.”

“I wish you could have met him.”

A hazy memory, like a blurry photo, of Leo taking Usagi to a family shrine, adorned with a white robe and a large spiky shell. 

“Yes.” Casey felt the shape of the word leave his mouth like ink dripping from his lips.

“Yes, an-and you should be able to meet him properly soon.”

The old rat nodded. He turned and hobbled around the corner, making no sound despite how much he was relying on his cane. Casey didn't know how long he stood there after he disappeared. The meeting hadn’t even started yet, and he was already emotional. He took a very deep breath, and continued his march into the lair as he exhaled. 

Casey wished with all of his soul that his words were true. 

The nice thing about getting knocked out by force, is that you don’t dream. His Uncle ‘Tello had explained it to him once, that the brain needs to be functioning to dream, and blunt force trauma to the head tends to disrupt said brain functions. He had no idea why that memory was the first thing on his mind when he woke up. Although it was fuzzy, much like everything else at the moment. 

Casey didn’t make a sound as he slowly opened his eyes. Biting back the groan at the tip of his tongue he took in his surroundings. The room was mostly dark, there was a light source coming from somewhere in front of him; not hanging, it was low. He was sitting up, hunched over and his back, neck, and shoulders were begging for relief. Oh boy, that’s why, his arms were pulled behind him, his hands bound behind something. Something metal. 

Casey straightened his posture, easing the pain in his neck and back slightly. The metal behind him had long since lost the cool sensation from his body heat, but the bit behind his head hadn’t; which was a relief as he rested his pounding head back against it. 

He opened his eyes again, unsure when he had closed them. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out what looked like a campfire further in front of him. It illuminated metal flooring around it. Tilting his head upwards, he saw no lights, no sky, no moon, no stars… no pink swirling fog of death. He did see various, rectangular blocks of dim light, that looked like windows in a-

Warehouse. 

He was in a warehouse. He was at the docks, scouting out warehouses for Usagi. He got jumped. 

He wasn’t wearing his mask. 

Really, that should have been the first thing he notices. But head trauma does that to a dude. Looking over himself now, he notices many other things missing as well; his grappling hook, gloves, and most of his weaponry had been taken. He glances around frantically with a pit forming in his stomach. He quickly located a dark silhouette of what appeared to be his gear, piled up in front of the campfire. A good distance away from him. 

And also a figure pacing by the fire. 

“-breathing so he should be fine-”

He’d recognise those feet and ears anywhere. 

“-do when he wakes up-?”

Said familiar figure was completely unaware he already was. He could use this. 

Growing up in an apocalyptic horrorland had its perks. 

Now he just had to find out how to explain the situation and talk his way out of this. While being held captive, to be interrogated with zero help or preparations. And a ticking time clock before the turtles noticed he was missing and pinged his tracker. 

You know what; maybe this would turn out better than his previous explanation attempt. It is how he met the past turtles and that turned out fine. Mostly…mostly…

“-Find out who they are-” Usagi was still pacing in front of the fire. 

“My name is Casey Jones.” Casey's call echoed through the empty warehouse. He had to stifle a laugh as Usagi jumped in surprise, his ears shooting up. He was still for a moment and then Usagi darted to the side out of sight. 

Casey was still able to track his movements, even without the help of his mask. He watched as Usagi darted behind a different pillar, then behind a larger machine. Casey heard a dulled ‘thwump’ and spotted movement up above. He must have jumped up to cross the beams near the ceiling. Casey was proven correct as he watched, unamused, as a shadow flashed across the high beams. He traced the path to a column on the other side of the warehouse to Casey’s left. And sure enough after a moment he heard a voice resonate from behind it. 

“I have some questions for you.” Casey had to bite his tongue this time. His Chichi used to do a dramatic ‘hero’ voice when telling stories to him, this sounded just like it, except higher pitch; more effort but less payoff.

“HEY! You’re my prisoner!” Usagi’s normal, younger and squeakier voice rang through the warehouse. Meaning Casey must have not done a good job keeping up his poker face.

“And-and you’re not leaving until you answer my questions!” Usagi tried to drop his voice another octave but the damage was done and Casey couldn't help the smile on his face despite the binds and throbbing in his shoulders. 

“Ok-ay. But can you come out from behind that beam?”

Silence ricochets off the metal walls. Casey continues to stare on at the pillar until a pair of long ears poke out, quickly followed by Usagi himself. 

“Okay, ninja , but I still have the upper hand here.” The rabbit stood his ground, a few feet from Casey, back lit by the fire. 

Casey felt the same rush of warmth rush through him, like it did a week prior on the rooftop. And he knew, he knew this wasn’t his Chichi; he wouldn’t call him little Nozomi and ask him how his katas are going. He wouldn't tell him overly exaggerated stories of his missions or of a fairy tale he knew. It was a sickly, bittersweet feeling in his chest, that he had become accustomed to. 

No, this Usagi was much younger. The only scar he bore was the one on his left eyebrow. Nor did he move as gracefully, treading closer to Casey while making a show of unsheathing his katana. 

“So that’s a no to untying me?” Casey got Usagi to pause in his tracks for a moment. 

“Uh…Yeah no. Not a chance.”

“Alright, whatever makes you more comfortable I guess.” He did his best to shrug his shoulders, despite his arms being pulled behind him like he was giving the pillar a backwards hug. Logically, he knew he should be tense; he was tied up, being threatened, he was on a timer before the turtles inevitably came looking for him, and his shoulders really ached . But he couldn’t focus on any of that. Usagi was right here in front of him! He hadn’t seen him in…years…

He didn’t feel threatened at all. He knew him, he wouldn’t hurt anyone without reason. 

“I have some questions for you.” Usagi repeated, normally, this time. 

“That works, because I have some things I need to tell you.” Casey leaned forward, trying his best to move his shoulders to ease some of the pain. Usagi’s scarred eyebrow rose on his forehead. 

“You were sent with a message?” The blade twisted in Usagi’s hand to follow as the rabbit tilted his head. 

“Umm-actually no, I wasn’t sent at all. And it’s less of a message and more of an… explanation?” he felt his mind starting to race, old memories and information fighting to the front, ready to be spilled out in no particular order. 

“Ok-ay?” Usagi answered his questionable statement with his own. Casey took a deep breath, attempting to organize his thoughts into something cohesive. 

“Look, I think there has been a huge misunderstanding and I’m here to clear it up.” He continued to count his breaths to keep himself calm and grounded. 

“Okay…” Usagi repeated, still wearing a confused expression as he eyed Casey up and down again, “What’s your name again?”

‘Nozomi-chan’ A familiar voice echoed in his brain. 

“Casey Jones.” is what left his mouth. 

“Alright, Casey Jones,” Usagi lowered his katana, “What are you here to clear up, exactly?”

“Of why you’re fighting against the turtles!” The shout rose out of him as he struggled against his binds. And just as quickly as Usagi had lowered his katana, he brought it back up again. Casey was too preoccupied to notice. 

“They are actually really cool when you get to know them! I don’t know exactly what happened between you guys…” -why you’re here or how you met in my timeline- “...But I do know you guys would be better allies than enemies. And they agree!” Usagi narrowed his eyes as Casey finished.

“Your ninja clan?”

“Yes! They are the protectors of New York!” He confirmed. Casey could see the cogs turning in Usagi’s head. The tightness in his chest began to loosen, he already felt lighter. 

“Protecting it?” Usagi echoed him with doubt laced in his tone. The rabbit in front of him kept his brows furrowed.

“Of course! They stopped the Kraang! And- and-” they also fought for almost forty years against the Kraang, but they won’t have to do that anymore because they stopped it this time. They won. “-And they protect the city from rogue mutants and evil people like the foot clan and-”

“They were the ones who stopped the Kraang?” Usagi asked and Casey felt his heart swell at the question. He was doing it. It was working. He was going to clear all of this nonsense up.

“Yes! That’s why you came here right? The invasion? They stopped it! Leo almost died, they all almost died, but they did it!” Casey felt the warm feeling turn into buzzing excitement, felt pure joy radiate from his toes to his fingertips. They did it. They did it and none of that terrible stuff was going to happen anymore.

Instead of a look of clarity like he expected, Usagi’s expression darkens, and Casey’s breath hitches as the previous feelings of joy turn icy cold. Misstep. Where did he misstep?

“How did you know I was investigating that?”

Ah. Right. 

He wasn’t ‘supposed’ to know that. 

“How did you even know I was after your clan in the first place, ninja?” Usagi takes a step closer, shifting his feet apart to take a fighting stance. He pointed his sword down at Casey. 

“Lucky guess?” Was what fumbled out of his mouth while his eyes were set on a familiar blade in front of him. He mentally kicked himself. THAT he got from his Uncle, lies were stupid anyways. 

“Yeah huh, right. Nice story, but I’m not buying it. I’m not falling for this ninja trick!” Usagi declared and all that energy in Casey’s chest turned to stone.

“It’s not a trick! It’s the truth!” There was a pause of silence, “Okay I panicked about the ‘lucky guess’ bit but everything else is one hundred percent true!”

“Which one is Leo?”

“Huh?” The switch of topic caught Casey off guard; that, and hearing him say his Sensei’s name. Refocusing back on Usagi, his eyes and expression looked dark and dim, eyes narrowed and completely closed off. Meanwhile Casey felt his own eyes widening.

The katana inched closer to hover under Casey’s chin. 

“Which one is named Leo? Usagi asked again, “What are their names?” Casey swallowed hard, gulping down any reaction threatening to break through. He bit his lip, lifting his chin as a stinging sensation began to pinch at the corner of his eyes. He felt the blade on his throat now. 

“ How do you know my name? ” Usagi glared down at him. 

This…was not going any better than before, actually. 

The warning bells were starting to go off in his head now. A mantra of ‘nonononononono’ playing through his head. He wished his Sensei was here, to say something cheesy that actually worked to convince or deescalate the situation. He never could get the hang of that, his brain just couldn’t produce the flowery words, or the right ones in the right order. 

You know what. Lies were stupid and overrated. 

“Yuichi Usagi, descendant of the samurai, Miyamoto Usagi.” Casey spouts off as if it were a mission detail. 

“So this is about my ancestor?”

“Taken in and raised on your aunt’s farm, she taught you everything you know about sword fighting and survival. “ He continued, ignoring Usagi’s questions. 

“HA! Actually I-”

“Received training from Karasu Tengu after you unleashed the yokai from the Ki-stone when you first traveled to Neo-Edo.” The blade fell away from Casey’s neck as Usagi took a step back, looking utterly flabbergasted. 

“She wasn’t going to train you. She gave you trials in order to prove your worth and dedication.” He had heard these stories a dozen times. He knew him. He did. 

“The last of those trials was about compassion, and thinking before you strike, in order to avoid hurting the innocent.” He looked him dead in the eyes as he continued. 

“Wait a second, how did you-”

“You have several adopted nieces, because your aunt took in the orphaned children you rescued from Lady Fuwa.” The words were getting easier now, flowing like water from a spout. Casey rested back against the pillar, the nerves melting from his limbs.

“Hold on-”

“Your best friends' names are Gen, Kistune, and Chizu; and they were basically all of your impulse control when you were younger.” Casey paused for a moment. “Well, I suppose that’d be now…”

“ YOUNGER?!?! ” Usagi’s voice cracked in his exclamation. 

“You love your auntie’s farm, you love Neo-Edo; that’s your home and you’d do anything to protect them all.”

The blade was back at Casey’s throat now, it made no contact but hovered under his chin again. 

“HOW do you know all of this?” Usagi practically shrieked, eyes wide as he stared down at Casey. At least his eyes didn't look as cold anymore. 

Now or never, Casey supposed. 

“Because YOU told me.” Casey confessed, leaning forward against the sword. A good tactic when being held captive, especially when you had your captors off their game. Who taught him that one again? Was it Uncle ‘Tello? Or Sensei? Wait, was it his Chichi? That would be ironic.

“That makes NO sense!” The tactic worked. Usagi stepped away, turning his back to Casey as he began to pace, “I don’t know you? We’ve never met!” his grip on his sword visibly tightened while his other hand tugged at his ears. 

“Because I’m from the future.” Usagi halted his pacing as if frozen still for a moment, turning to give Casey a very confused and irritated look. 

Okay so maybe he still didn’t believe him.

“Well, a different future,” Casey began again, “A future where Kraang’s invasion of New York, and of earth, was successful.” Casey dropped his gaze to his feet, tilting his steel-toes boots back and forth. Watching the movement helped quell the uneasy and squirming feeling in his gut. 

“You joined the turtles in the fight against the Kraang, you were a commander, a great samurai.” Many of his memories were hazy and faded, especially from so long ago. His best memory of his Chichi was during a calm night, he had just returned from a supply run that went off without a hitch. He was bragging to sensei, who in turn was trying to confirm the whole ‘no injuries’ report. He could picture him so clearly in the loading dock, his laugh ringing through the halls and in Casey’s head. 

He didn’t want to think of the last memory he had of his Chichi. 

“But the resistance failed…and everyone…” Looking back in hindsight, Casey understood more; That Usagi knew it was going to be his last mission. He knew the odds but insisted on going anyway. Sensei had tried desperately to stop him, it was the biggest fight they ever had. 

He remembers being kissed on the forehead, he remembers Sensei holding Usagi and refusing to let go. Remembers them both crying. Usagi said something about ‘duty’ and ‘honor; and that’s all. 

His Sensei wasn’t the same after that. Nothing was. 

Casey swallowed the lump in his throat.

“As a last resort, I got sent back in time to try and avoid that future.” Casey shoved the memories as far back into his head as possible. “And it worked .” His voice was shaky, he blinked away any tears threatening to fall. Not now. 

“So they realized their mistake.” Usagi commented, and Casey wasn’t sure which version of the turtles that applied to. 

‘They made some mistakes, but they didn’t realize-”

“Realize they were unleashing an apocalypse?” Usagi’s accusation sent shivers down Casey’s spine.

“What?”

“They started the invasion when they released those pink monster thingies!” Usagi gestured his sword out to the side, pointing somewhere but Casey refused to look. How had he gotten the story so wrong ?

“No! No, no, no, they STOPPED them. They fought tooth and nail to STOP them! The foot clan unleashed them!” Casey shouts his explanation. 

“The foot clan.” Usagi parroted. 

“Yes!” Casey yelled, and he wanted to yell more! Usagi was wearing the same calculating expression as before and frustration burned in Casey’s gut and up his throat. They were talking in circles!

“Yes, the foot clan, the Hamatos.” Usagi stared him dead in the eyes as he said that, and Casey did scream that time. 

“What now-? NO!” His mind was reeling . How could he think that? What the everloving FUCK was going on?

“The Hamato clan. The foot clan. Two very different things!” Casey sucked in a breath as he continued, “The Foot Clan, they stole the key and unleashed the Kraang, not the turtles.”

“Are they not the descendants of Oroku Saki?” Usagi worded it like a trick question, like it was rhetorical. 

“Yes, he was the leader of the Foot Clan years ago! The Hamatos stopped him!” he was internally begging for Usagi to understand. 

“No, no; the turtles, are they not the descendants of Oroku Saki?” Usagi asked again and Casey had to think about the answer to that one for a hot second. 

“Technically? It’s complicated!” His brain was screaming as much as his joints were. He needed to move, this wasn’t working. He struggled against the binds while he wrestled with his thoughts. 

“Oroku Saki was the leader of the Foot Clan,” Usagi continued, “he was a menace in Japan and believed to be a fearsome Oni in disguise. They are his descendants, they worship those weird pink things-”

“NO! Oh spirits you got it so wrong…” Casey continued to struggle against the ropes. The thought of aborting the mission was at the forefront of his brain, every fiber in his being was telling him to retreat, cut losses. 

His heart told him this was a battle he couldn’t afford to lose. 

So he did his best to even out his breathing as Usagi continued to ramble off about the legends of the Shredder. 

“The Hamato Clan is an offshoot of the Foot Clan.” Casey did his best to keep his voice firm and steady, not shouting. “Oroku Saki’s daughter, Karai; she stopped the Shredder almost a thousand years ago. The turtles are HER descendants. The Hamatos are dedicated to stopping the Shredder and keeping the Kraang at bay!” Casey was panting now, his lungs were burning, his heart still pounding. 

“Off-shoots?” There was a curious tone to Usagi’s voice and Casey latched onto it for dear life. 

“Do your legends depict how the Shredder was defeated?” Casey prompts him, if he could work with what Usagi knows, maybe that’s how he could convince him. 

A spark reflects in Usagi’s eyes as they go wide, a trace of a smile on his face, 

“The scrolls tell of a group of warriors that…” his words petter out, his head slowly lowers he stares out to nothingness behind Casey. 

Got ‘em.

“Five mystic warriors? Four ninja of great skill and power fighting alongside Karai? Sound familiar?” Casey knew he still had tears in his eyes as he watched Usagi closely. He watched every ear twitch, every time his brow furrowed deeper. He needed Usagi to understand.

“They protect this city. They love New York as much as you love Neo-Edo.” Usagi turned from him without a word and began to pace again. He twirled the hilt of his blade in his hand, ears still twitching and jaw set tight. 

Casey held his breath the entire time. 

And after what seemed like an eternity Usagi looked to him again. 

“So…they didn't unleash the apocalypse?” Casey let out his breath along with all the remaining tension in his body. Immediately light headed he dropped down further onto the floor, as much as the bindings would allow. He was honestly lucky to be sitting on the floor. 

“No. No, they stopped it.”

“Huh.” Usagi looked away again, letting his shoulders relax, along with his posture, even his ears dropped back down to a relaxed state. 

“Which one is Leo?” Usagi asked again; his tone was light, carrying only curiosity and none of the malice from earlier. Casey let out a small laugh, 

“Leo is actually-”

His sentence was interrupted when the wall Usagi was staring at exploded inwards. The foundation of the building shook and debris and dust clouded the air like smoke. Instinctively he tugged on the bindings, trying to shield his face from the dust invading his lungs. He began to cough, taking note that Usagi had fallen to his knees in a similar predicament. The warehouse had gone almost completely dark in that moment, debris having sniffed out the fire and was interfering with the moonlight. 

And then there was a brilliant blue light. 

A familiar pair of glowing red stripes caught his attention as Leo dropped down from one of his portals in the center of the warehouse. 

“Casey!” His call was panicked. Casey tried to answer but the dust in his lungs and coughing fit made that an extremely difficult task. Coughing louder was all he was able to manage. 

“YOU!” Usagi hollered as he made eye contact with Leo.

“Me.” Leo lunged forward immediately. A clang of metal hitting metal was the next thing that Casey registered, again and again.

The dust began to settle yet Casey’s vision was still hazy. But it was enough for him to get a couple of good, clean, and deep breaths. 

The next thing he registered was purple lights zooming in and around the warehouse; drones. Donatello had been working on different types of drones to test out different types of builds and attachments at once. Red light was next, as a large, glowing red shape flew into the building like a runaway subway train. It smashed right into Usagi, given the yelp that sounded afterwards. 

Welp, ran outta time.

“WAIT-!” Casey more coughed than called out and it fell on deaf ears, drowned out by metal clashing and debris being thrown around. Some of Donnie’s drones had taken up snipping positions and were giving covering fire or cheap shots, others were placed at key exits or hiding places, the rest were zooming around in predetermined paths. 

Oh great pizza supreme, he brought them all. 

Casey opened his mouth to call again, instead a hiss of pain left his lips as the bindings holding him back were cut. Pain shot up his arms as they fell to the ground. He immediately pulls them to his side, gritting his teeth he ties his best to stretch them and rolls his shoulders. He doesn't hear the pop but he sure does feel it. His muscles are throbbing and he curls into himself. 

A weight falls on his shoulder and he turns to see Mikey, smiling down at him. Casey saw Mikey’s mouth move, ‘it’s going to be okay’ is what he read off his lips; still unsure if he just mouthed it or if Casey just couldn't hear him over the ringing in his ears. 

He did hear the explosion that went off some feet in front of him, followed by manic laughter. Those two things together didn’t really reassure him of Mikey’s statement. 

“Donnie! You’re gunna bring the whole place down on us!” He barely heard Mikey that time, yelling over him to his purple clad brother who had taken a defensive position in front of them. Multiple holographic screens floated around the turtle, no doubt how he controlled the drones.

“This is a prime opportunity to test out the-”

“This is a rescue mission.” Mikey reminded him. Casey couldn’t see the look Mikey was giving Donnie but he did see the softshell roll his eyes. 

“Scoff, fine, get Junior out of here then. I am here to provide you with cover.” Mikey huffed at Donnie’s response, but Casey had stopped listening. He was scanning the room; Usagi and the other turtles had pushed back to the far corner of the warehouse. In his line of sight he spotted his gear, under a small amount of rubble resting just a few yards away from him. 

Casey bolted before he could form another thought. 

He heard Donnie and Mikey call after him as he made a break for his gear. He mentally thanked the spirits and universe that they didn’t give chase. It was a straight shot to the rubble pile with little to no resistance. Casey slid to a stop on his knees and gave another mental thanks that his gear was still intact. 

Throwing on his knee pads and mask, he reassessed the situation. 

Even with all the chaos, the room was too quiet.

There were sounds of explosions and falling debris, shouts and grunts from his family members as Raph charged at Usagi only to ram into another wall as the rabbit leap out of the way. Leo met him in the air with a swing of his sword.

He heard shouts from Mikey, and the discharge of lasers as the drones fired. But it was all muddled; fading into white noise as Casey watched silhouettes of blue, red , and white clash with each other in front of him.

Another clash of metal brought Casey back. He dashed forward, hastily fastening his bracers on. 

There was nothing but dust and fire in the air as Casey whips across the warehouse as fast as his grappling hook would propel him. He took to knocking down as many drones as he could, much to Donnie’s vocal displeasure. His heart was still pounding and his throat burned from the ash invading his lungs.

No one was talking. Raph only gave angered grunts and yells as he swung at Usagi; there were no battle cries, no banter, no one-liners. Heck, Casey had seen his sensei taunt the Kraang while evading a barrage of lasers and his younger version never seemed to stop talking so why-

Casey kicked another drone out of the air while a large red projection of a fist collided with the rabbit at the end of the room. Leo had been keeping him on the defensive, and every time the rabbit tried to leap to the side or over the slider, Raph took a swing; his latest attempt ended with Usagi getting sent flying backwards into some crates lined up against the wall. However, Usagi was quick to get to his feet, holding a defensive stance.

There was a blink of purple light, a drone lining up a shot to Usagi’s back while Leo and Raph kept his attention; parring another blow from Leo and ducking under Raph’s left hook. Casey jumped into the fray; he shot off his grappling hook again and zipped over their heads, bringing his hockey stick down on the drone just as it was about to fire. 

He spared a glance behind him to Usagi to find the rabbit doing the same. He gave a quick nod and turned to smack away another incoming drone like a baseball. 

Leo stepped to the side as giant red, spectral arms charged forward like bulls at Usagi. The rabbit found parrying useless and was snatched up and shoved up against the concrete wall. 

“Stay away from my family!” Raph growled as Usagi struggled to free himself. 

“Wait-” Casey called but was yanked back by his shoulder. Leo had pulled him back and took a defensive stance in front of him.

“He came after ME!” Usagi shouts as a faint, white glow emitted from his side. His yoyo gave enough power to cause the red silhouette to glitch. Enough for Usagi to fall through, dropping down and rolling away to the side. 

Leo let out a ‘tsk’ sound and moved forward before Casey could grab him. He quickly intercepted Usagi as he bounced back to his feet. 

“Stop this!” Casey cried out over the clanging of swords. He stood to the side, following their movements; but not for learning purposes- no memories right now brain, in a fight- no he had to look for his opportunity to break up the fight. If he could get between them-

Then his feet were off the ground as he was enveloped in red light. Giant, glowing red spectral hands scoop him up from the ground like water from a pond and start to carry him further from the fight.

He presses up against the projection but it’s solid as stone. He scans for something to anchor his grappling hook, but he keeps moving further and further away and he has no clear shot with the projection surrounding him. Instead he uses it to scale up and out. The projection moves under his feet, twisting, trying to contain him. It sends him off balance, but it also creates an opening. Casey jumps off of the projection and out of his confinement. He lands hard on the concrete floor but tumbles well enough to not break anything. He knows he is going to feel that one later.

“Casey fall back!” Leo doesn’t even glace in his direction and Casey has already decided to ignore that order. Running back towards them, he notices Leo send Raph a look. Raph nods and Casey will forever be tormented trying to figure out what their side looks mean . WHAT is he MISSING?!

Leo gives a shout as he charges at Usagi again, a more dramatic over arc with both of his katanas that Usagi easily parries. Leo strikes again and again, speed over accuracy. And while Usagi has an easy time blocking, it makes him take a step back.

Casey didn’t really think about how he was going to stop the fight, so when he got close enough he didn’t really slow down. He ran right into Leo, throwing his arms around him in a hug and tugged him back.

“Casey!” Leo leans forward to keep upright.

A ring of metal echoes in Casey’s ear, and this time it’s Leo blocking a swing from Usagi.

“Casey. Fall back.” There was no amusement in his voice, no teasing, nothing was elongated or drawn out. Casey flinched at his words, his muscles trained to obey the order.

That was master Leonardo’s voice. How he sounded when he gave orders on missions. When he ran drills. That was…

Leo shrugged Casey off while he was stunned, pushing Usagi’s sword away with one sword and swinging the other in a vertical arc. The rabbit dodged and Leo followed.

Casey shook his head and refocused in time to see several crates being thrown at them. He ducked and shouted out a warning as they flew over him. A portal opened underneath Leo’s feet and he was gone. Usagi didn’t have that luxury.

Casey scrambled to his feet with wide eyes as Usagi dodged most of the boxes. He watched as Usagi weaved in between them, the last one catching his arm and pulling him down. A portal opened above him and Leo dropped down, swords ready to strike. Casey didn’t even have time to shout; he just pressed forward and spun on his heel as he came in between them. And for a third? Fourth? time that day, he felt the very edge of a blade on his skin.

“Stop, you can’t hurt him!” Casey held Leo’s confused gaze as the katana stopped right at his cheek. He had his arms out to his side; to protect Usagi of course but maybe also to catch his balance.

Leo seemed to deflate, the blade immediately lowered away from him and hit the ground as Leo leaned over with an audible sigh.

“Case, what the- I could have-” Leo hung his head and leaned on his sword. Casey really didn’t have anything to say to that as he watched Leo take a deep breath.

“Case...“ rustling and a grunt sounded behind him and Leo’s head shot up, his eyes narrowing. Casey kept his arms spread out,

“You can’t, please don’t…” He heard Usagi get to his feet as Leo corrected his posture, raising his swords.

“Listen to me, this is all one big misunder-”

Casey saw the glint of red in his peripheral vision and just moved . He spun around and launched himself forward. He drove his shoulder into Usagi, shoving him out of the way as Casey was hit with pure force that knocked the breath out of him, pushed him up and off his feet. He slammed against something and it gave way to his weight. Falling to the ground and something crumbling under him was the last thing he felt.

Pain was the first thing that he registered this time around. He swore someone had cracked open his head, unraveled his brain, tied it into a bow, stuck needles in it so the shape would keep, and shoved it back in. Both his shoulders were throbbing almost as bad as his head, the left side of his face felt twice as big and it hurt to breathe . Oh why was everything so bright ?

More of his senses started to call in; there was an overwhelming bright yellowish-white light, a whine mumbled above him, and something was poking his shoulder that made him want to flinch away. A rumble in his ears and the sound of a low growl emanated. Someone said something and the poking ceased. 

In fact, people were still talking. What were they saying?

Did he really care?

“-almost home, he is fine -” Was that Uncle ‘Tello?

“-too still…is it okay to be this still-?” The voice came from right above him. The voice was a comfort but Casey couldn’t place it. 

“-concussion and maybe a broken-...-he’ll be fine Raph.” Sensei. That was his Sensei’s voice. 

He was safe.

He let out a groan, betraying the fact that he was awake... Mostly awake...

He tried to sit up but the grip around him tightened.

“Casey-” The familiar deeper voice called and Casey cracked his eyes open instinctively. He didn’t even realize they were still closed. But if he thought it was bright before, ho-boy was it blinding now.

“CJ! Are you good?” He was jostled as Raph pulled him closer. Oh, Raph was holding him. He tried again to get up but rough scales and dulled spikes held him in a steady grip.

“You took a nasty hit there, Junior.” He tried to look towards Leo’s voice, most of the area still being very bright and the spots in his vision were not helping. Not to mention the disadvantage to his perspective as Raph held him like a baby.

He grunted, a better response than no response, and squeezed his eyes shut again, waiting for the floating light spots to fade. It definitely felt like he took a nasty hit. He could feel the lumps on his head already forming, the fire in his joints and bruises on his arm and ribs. His first guess would have been ‘hit by a kraang droid’ but a freight train would have probably been more likely in this timeline.

“Raph, let him lay on his side… You can still HOLD him! Don’t give me that look! It’s just in case he needs to cough up anything.”

“I got the puke bucket!”

“Oh please no, NOT IN THE TANK!”

Casey did taste blood in his mouth and it kinda hurt to breath but his head was the really distracting part at the moment. Like he got smashed through a-

Right. Warehouse.

“What-what happened to Usagi?” He choked out followed by a coughing fit. His throat burned something fierce. Something cold and wet was put to his lips. Water. He took a few gulps and muttered a thank you that didn’t sound like he was about to cough up his organs. 

“That’s your first question?.” Leo replied, Casey imagined his hands on his hips and a wrinkle deepening in his forehead.

“He got away.” Mikey chimed in. Casey imagined Mikey was still holding the aforementioned bucket. Maybe he was holding it above his head.

“RAN LIKE A COWARD!” Casey flinched at Donnie’s shout, he seemed further away than the other three.

“And smashed a bunch of Donnie’s bots on his way out.” Raph again, right above him. Casey could feel the vibrations against his plastron as he spoke.

“Forgot about his yoyo trick.” he barely picked up Leo’s mumbling. He definitely had crossed his arms, maybe he was even pouting. 

“And he got away before Dee could tag ‘em.” Casey could help the smirk that crossed his face. He made the mistake of trying to open his eyes again only to be met with a light shining directly in his eyes.

“Alright, Case, look here,” Leo, holder of said bright light in the form of a small flashlight, had turned into medic mode.

“Can’t this wait until we get back?” Mikey protested as Casey turned his head away, trying to bat the light away with his hand.

“No, I need to clear him from any intensive head trauma before I start roasting him.”

Casey felt himself move, so quickly it made his pounding head spin faster and the threat of needing that bucket very likely . The movement was so sudden he couldn’t tell which direction he was relocated, but the light was no longer in his eyes so that was a plus.

“Raaaaph, put him down!” Leo whined and it sounded...from below him? He could hear Mikey snickering.

“Nah, you can wait.” There were no vibrations that time. In fact there was a lack of a plastron at all. His voice was still close, but...

“Raph.”

“GENTLEMAN, we are almost at our destination. So there won’t be much of a wait.” Donnie announced. Casey heard a grumble from Leo but couldn’t make out the words. Mikey was still snickering and while he still had his eyes closed he liked to imagine Raph was grinning.

There was a hard stop and Casey swayed with it. Slowly this time, he felt himself lowered until he heard a heartbeat against plastron.

“Home sweet home!” Mikey cheered.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get Junior to the med-bay.”

Casey was able to open his eyes again, met with the sight of Raph carrying him out of the turtle tank. Groaning, he twisted to roll out of Raph’s arms and onto his feet.

“I’m okay.” his own voice sounded strained, and Raph’s grip didn’t budge.

“Sure ya are, CJ.” Raph didn’t even spare him a glance. They quickly exited the garage and headed across the common room.

“Future boy!”

“He’s gunna be okay, dad. Don’t worry!” Mikey broke off to talk with Splinter and Raph followed Leo towards the med-bay, still cradling Casey like a kitten, with Donnie close behind.

“I’m okay, really!” Casey’s voice didn’t betray him this time, he made another move to get up but Raph wouldn’t budge.

“Yeah, ain’t nobody trust that phrase in this household.” Raph responded as Leo slid the doors of the med-bay open. It was dimmer than the rest of the lair, definitely compared to the tank and the garage. Casey’s eyes adjusted quickly, and he noticed the light spots were gone from his vision.

Raph placed him down gently on the table and stepped back, letting Leo step forward. He quickly pulled the flashlight back out but it didn’t burn so badly this time

“Alright, you know the drill. Start with your name and birthday.” Leo began his check-up. Casey rolled his eyes and answered the questions, let Leo check his shoulders and ribs, and compiled for the scan Donnie wanted to run. Mikey had made his way into the med bay by that time.

“So Usagi got away, right?” Casey asked as he laid back in the giant machine Donnie was using for scans and tests. Said purple clad turtle was behind the machine, goggles down and tapping on the control pad.

“Yup!” Mikey chirped. Raph and Leo said nothing.

“Is he okay?” Casey asked as the machine under him hummed to life. He could faintly feel the vibrations under the table.

“You have two giant lumps on your head- and I’m talking tennis ball size humps- and you’re worried about the rabbit?” Leo looked up from his notebook.

“He wasn’t gravely injured, if that’s what you’re referring to.” Donnie piped up from behind the machine, which had started to move. Disks and metal circles that wrapped around the machine started to spin and rotate around him. He breathed a sigh of relief as the pieces rounded his torso and head.

“Okay! Nothing appears to be broken!” Donnie announced as the pieces of the machine began to fall back into their original place. “No internal bleeding, and other than some massive headaches you should be fine.”

A smug smile grew on Casey’s face as he sat up. A bit too quickly as the room started to spin but he wasn’t going to admit to that right now. Across the room Raph smiled, Mikey cheered, and Leo put down his notebook onto the desk by Donnie.

After that, the sound of tapping on a keyboard was the only sound that followed. He looked to Leo, who was looking at Mikey, who was looking back between him and Casey. He looked to Raph, who was leaning against the wall of the med-bay next to the door. A cold feeling nestled in his gut as a shiver went up his spine, and his smug smile faltered.

“So do you wanna start or should I?” Leo asked Mikey

Mikey said nothing, simply bounced over and sat next to Casey on the bed.

“Soooooo….” He started to drawl out, “What happened?”

“What?”

“How’d that rabbit guy get the drop on you?!” Mikey bumped his shoulder into Casey.

“Where were you when it happened? When did it happen?” Leo started spouting off questions, counting on his fingers.

“Oh um… we were at the docks…”

“So he jumped you at the dock? What were you doing at the docks?” Leo forwent counting on his fingers to cross his arms.

“Was he gunna hold you for ransom or somethin’?” Raph piped up from across the way.

“It looked more like an interrogation to me. And I have FULL CONFIDENCE that you didn’t say anything!” Mikey slapped a hand on his back with a little too much force than normal.

“Well-“

“If he targeted you specifically, you might need to lay low for a while.” Came from Donnie, still typing away from behind the machine.

“-Actually-“

“I can’t believe he kidnapped you! And we were going to invite him to HUESO’S!” Leo began to pace as he threw his arms up over his head.

“HE DIDN’T KIDNAP ME!” Casey’s yell bounced off the metal plated walls of the med-bed, silencing even the rhythmic typing in the room. The turtles looked to him with confusion.

“He had you tied up in an abandoned warehouse. You weren’t answering the comms.” Donnie pointed out, leaning out from behind the machine to look at him.

“For HOURS! Did he have you tied up that whole time?” Raph stood up straight, pressing off from the wall he was leaning on.

“…Okay no, actually I um…” Casey looked at each turtle, and then down at the floor.

“I actually went looking for him.”

“CASEY!” Leo's voice was the loudest and easiest to pick out in their unified shout, despite Mikey sitting right next to him.

“AAAAnnnnd I found him, or well, he found me, at the docks. I was sneaking around outside trying to find his hideout.” Casey explained while avoiding their gaze.

“And you found it.” Raph confirmed.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Leo began again, letting his head fall and raising up his hand.

“SO after we had that WHOLE discussion about letting it go and not going to look for trouble-“

Casey’s shoulders rose until they touched his ears.

“-YOU JUST WENT OUT ON YOUR OWN-“

There were times in his life he wished he had his own shell to retract into.

This was one of them.

“-AND WENT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE!?”

“I went looking for USAGI!” Casey justified.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Trouble.”

“You were just going to do NOTHING!” Casey straightened out, leaning forward, Mikey outstretched his arm in front of his so he wouldn’t fall off the table.

“Biding time is not ‘nothing’.” Leo argued.

“What is there to ‘bide’? Nothing! I just wanted to talk-“

“And look how that turned out.” Leo cut him off with a smooth tone. And Casey felt the fire under his tongue.

“PRETTY WELL, ACTUALLY, UNTIL YOU BUSTED THROUGH A WALL AND ATTACKED HIM!”

“YOU dropped off all comms and scanners for almost TWELVE HOURS!” Leo took a step forward and pointed an accusatory finger at Casey. “YOU were tied up, unarmed, being interrogated by an unknown enemy .”

“He is NOT the ENEMY!” Casey retorted.

“Let HIM prove that then!” Leo shot right back.

“GIVE HIM A CHANCE TOO!”

“By sticking our necks out? HA, yeah no !”

“UGH!” Casey couldn’t find the words to express his frustration. He shrugged off Mikey’s hand and slid off the table to his feet. He was still dizzy but solid ground felt good under his feet.

“And neither are you. You’re benched.” Leo crossed his arms and held his chin high, blocking his path as Casey took a step towards the door.

“What?! You can’t do that!” Casey disputed, Leo’s mask line raised up on his forehead.

“Oh can’t I? Donnie?”

Sounds of machinery humming to life followed just a moment later. And a little purple bot with a heart monitor display zoomed into view right above Leo’s shoulder. The heart rate monitor was tracking a raised heart rate with red warning lights and suspiciously familiar and human schematics.

“A weeks bed rest for the cantaloupe sized lumps on your head, and your little buddy will make sure you stay there .” Leo put as much emphasis on the last word as possible.

“Is…Isn’t this your bedside bot?” Casey asked. It looked identical to the bedside bot Donnie invented to keep a very bruised and broken Leo from leaving the med bed after the invasion. 

“Designed to be a monitoring bot;” Donnie began to explain,”-we will be alerted if you leave a particular range away from the lair, if it is destroyed, if you come into contact with enemies, if-“

“You cannot be serious!” Casey cut him off.

“I’m not grounding you, just ensuring your safety.” Leo raised his hands as if in surrender, and then immediately replaced them back on his hips, “Because CLEARLY, your head is compromised.”

“Why are you so against this?!” Frustration. They were talking in circles again .

“Why are you pushing so hard?” They refused to believe him again .

“BECAUSE-“ Because he is your soulmate dammit and you need to get your youngish head out of your own- “Because your head is too far up your own-“

“Enough!” Raph cut in, stomping in between them. He turned to Casey,

“Casey you defied a direct order, you put yourself in danger. We’re just worried about ’cha.”

Casey couldn’t find words he hadn’t already used.

He felt it when Mikey walked up behind him, once again offering comfort but Casey shrugged him off. He stormed past them both, towards the door. Cursing as the beeping of the little purple robot followed him up and out of the lair.

Another fun fact. Getting knocked out doesn’t qualify as ‘quality sleep’. The only thing that kept Casey from nodding off was the faint pounding in his head and the throbbing in his chest. So maybe being crouched sitting on a rooftop ledge wasn't the best way to recover from being blown through a WALL. But his heart rate went down which quieted the bot down. Plus, the sunrise was really nice. He got to watch as the city slowly picked up the pace. More lights went out as the sunlight stretched further and further over the city. More cars in the streets, the hustle and bustle of people moving, the switching of the shifts.

So maybe the car horns and bright lights were n’t really helping with his headache, but the colors were beautiful and the fresh-ish air was nice.

He hears the door as it opens; no matter how slowly they open it or how much they lift it so it doesn’t squeak. It still does. And he knows who it is.

“I know you’re there.” He announced.

“Ooof, he’s still mister grumpy pants.” April’s voice rang out over the rooftops. Coming to talk some sense into him, or listen to him rant, or whatever this chat ended up being.

Some things never do change, do they?

“Your lil bot buddy says you're dehydrated, Junior!” Mikey’s voice chimed up, and the small purple bot havering near his shoulder made a couple beeping sounds as if to confirm.

“You know it’s ‘Hydrate or Dyedrate, bro!”

Casey let out a sigh and watched on as the sun made its way higher into the sky. April took a seat on his right with one of her legs dangling off the ledge, while Mikey sat criss-cross on his left, delicately perched on the edge of the building.

Mikey handed him a water bottle. Casey took it without any fuss and downed the whole thing. They sat there in silence as he crushed the plastic in his fist, taking note of the sound and shape of it.

“You scared us.” April confessed, still staring out over the now bustling city and the beginnings of rush hour traffic.

“I’m fine.”

“We didn’t know that.” She reasoned.

Casey didn’t have a response.

“Leo didn’t know that.” Mikey added, and Casey sunk lower, hugging his knees to his bruised chest.

“Like, five outta six people usually want to hurt us rather than befriend us sooooo…” April started,

“Yeah, trust issues.”

There was a nice breeze that passed as they kept watching over the city.

“Why are you pushing so hard for this?” April asked.

“I just-“ Emotions and memories flooded his brain as he sputtered, trying to respond. “I feel restless?” Casey let go of his knees and looked up towards the blue sky.

“He’s out there!” He exclaimed and gestured towards the city, “He’s out there, right now, and they know each other and have met but they hate each other? It feels so WRONG and I guess I just want to make it right. Like. I thought if I just explained it, that would fix it.” Casey hung his head until his forehead touched his knees.

“But it didn’t. I made things worse.” He heard Mikey hum in response.

“And I still feel restless!” Casey popped his head back up and threw his arms as high as he could through the dulled pain. “I still feel like I have to do something about it!” They both said nothing as Casey took a deep breath.

“This whole thing started because of me. I have to fix it.”

“Hey! No more bad talking yourself! Anyone who smack talks my family has to go through me, alright?” April punches his shoulder. He would say lightly but it really wasn’t.

“Life isnt on a script, Casey. And, worst case scenario, we get another time traveler coming back to help us fix it.” Mikey half joked, and they both gave him warm smiles.

“They’re NOT supposed to hate each other.” He replied.

“Okay. Who is this ‘they’ you keep talking about? Cause I don’t think you’re talking about the whole fam anymore.” April’s brow furrowed, looking away in thought as she brought her hand up to her chin.

Casey didn’t have a chance, her eyes blew up wide as she started to turn to him with a wider smile.

“Oh. OH!”

“Wait no-”

“OHOHOHOHOH!”

“-It’s not-”

“So when you said, it’s WRONG that THEY hate each other, who were you talking about, exactly ?” April inquired, leaning against him.

“WOW, you know what guys, I’m getting pretty hungry.”

“Wait, talking about who?” Mikey looked to April.

“-JUST REALIZED I HAVENT EATEN LIKE, AT ALL-”

“It’s Usagi, obviously, aaaaaannd…?” April threw an arm around Casey’s shoulder to grapple him and bring him closer.

“-GUESS GETTING KNOCKED OUT TWICE WILL DO THAT TO YOU-”

“And-? OOOOOHHHH!” Mikey leaned back as he exclaimed.

“I COULD SURE GO FOR SOME PIZZA RIGHT ABOUT NOW. LIKE NOW, NOW.”

“Casey Jones,” April started with a level voice, cutting off his ranting,

“Who exactly did Usagi befriend first in your future timeline?”

Casey could feel the sweat starting to run down his neck.

“Present company excluded; it can’t be Donnie…” April continued her deductions, and Mikey caught on quickly,

“Which would leave Raph or-” They both pause and share a look which Casey is uncomfortably caught between. Casey gulps, feeling fire on his cheeks and sweat pool in his palms.

“OHMIGOSHNOWAY!”

“OH MY BUTTER BUSCUITS NO FUCKING WAY!”

They both exclaim at once.

“Oh please no.”

“LEO?!” They declare in unison and Casey just hangs his head. And is then being shaken by his shoulders by an orange clad turtle,

“Come on dude, now you gotta spill it!”

“And now they hate each other!” Was his response. The shaking stopped, as did the squealing from both of them.

“-oh brother…”

“Nah, fam! Dont give up!” April addressed them,

“Look Leo’s just a bit...Cautious...especially since the whole...ya know…”

“He can also get in a mood when he doesn’t want to deal with something.” Mikey added in.

“That’s all this is, babe. And we already KNOW how to push all of Leo’s buttons.” There was a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Casey.” He turned to face Mikey. “Remember what I told you?”

“That if it’s meant to be, it will happen, and to have faith?” Casey parroted from their earlier talk.

“Well yes but also, IT’S TIME TO MEDDLE BABY!” Mikey declared as he shot to his feet.

“Oh oh oh, proper enemies to lovers, speed run, let’s do this .” April never lost that mischievous look as she pumped her fist into the air.

“Or we could just make it worse!” Casey reasoned, he really didn’t feel like going in circles again.

“You’ve got help this time, CJ!” Mikey assured him.

“Soooooo~” April leaned on Casey more, extending her reach to also grab Mikey in the headlock, squishing all of their cheeks together. 

“What’s the plan?”

Chapter Text

So Casey had been avoiding him for a few days. Big deal. Whatever. According to Donnie’s little spy bot, the kid has been chilling for most of the week like he’s supposed to. Leo has seen him hanging out with Mikey and April, who had rushed to comfort him after the warehouse fiasco. Case hasn’t gone off the rails since, so they did a good job. Yup. Definitely. Should not be bitter about that fact. Nope. And he’s NOT. Definitely not. He’s cool as a cucumber, yup. The kid is back to hanging around the lair with Mikey, a little skittish but Leo is definitely still mad at him so good. Yeah. Totally fine.

And he is totally not lurking outside his brothers room where they have been held up for a couple hours. Def not. He’s just. Coming to check up on his brothers while not interrupting them. It’s his responsibility after all, as a leader, and older brother, and whatever figure he was to Casey in the future.

The door wasn’t closed. Mikey never really closed it, he just hung up a thick curtain along with some lights and beads strung into it. His shell to the wall, Leo inched closer to the voices emitting from behind said curtain. He couldn’t make out the words but they were definitely going off about something. Another step closer, Leo was tempted to hold his breath. Casey was ranting about something, he seemed concerned, while Mikey held a calmer tone.

“-way that would work!” frustration was clear in Casey’s voice.

“Oh, it’ll work.” Yup, Mikster sounded confident about it,

“-It will at least wear him down.” Wait. Wear who down?

“You’re telling me he wasn’t interested-”

“-have a lot of time to-”

“-Don’t really remember-” Casey’s voice was getting softer.

“Oh!” Casey exclaimed and Leo leaned forward until he felt the curtain on his skin.

“I do remember he used to-” And then there was nothing.

“Junior?” Mikey’s question was met with silence much to Leo’s displeasure.

Leo risks taking a peek behind the curtain; immediately regretting that decision as he locks eyes with a wide-eyed Casey Jones Junior. He doesn’t plan on sticking around to hear that response. Quickly, he jumps backwards and turns on his heel. But the damage is done.

“Leeooo~” Mikey chimes from behind the curtain. His voice was too leveled. Sing-song without the smile. Leo kept walking, picking up the pace as he hears the beads being disturbed.

He didn’t get to take another step before there is a Mikey hanging off of him.

“Heeeey, Leo.” Mikey had thrown his arm around Leo’s shoulders. His little brother tugged him down, attempting to pull him into a headlock. 

“What’s up Miguelito?” Leo starts to sweat.

“Theoretically. You’d totally be down for a party, like, randomly, right?” Mikey was attempting to hide his phone behind his shell, which gave Leo the advantage to maneuver out of his hold.

“I’m always up for a good party, Mikes.” Leo shrugged off Mikey’s arm and straightened up. His little brother wasn’t deterred at all, bouncing back up and slinging his arm back around Leo like a hook.

“How about say… A cultural event, or going to an art museum or sumthin’?” Leo kept his posture straight as his brother hung off of him. He had the advantage at the cost of slowing his pace through the lair.

“Like I said, I’m always up for a good party.” Leo reiterates, scanning the hall for a means of escape or distraction.

“Right, right...” Mikey shifts his weight to look at his phone, and Leo takes his chance to duck out of Mikey’s grip. Quickly entering the common room. He feels his stomach twist as he finds it empty.

“Would you consider yourself a tidy person?” Mikey pops up next to him, reading the question from his phone he had apparently foregone hiding, before turning to him expectantly.

“Uh...Yeeeeaaaah... did Donnie put you up to this?” Leo takes a turn, unsure of where his destination is but definitely away from here. His little brother trails behind him.

“How likely are you to travel to exotic places for fun?” Mikey didn’t even look up from his phone this time.

“Miguel, this is the portal master you're talking about? What is there some party in Venice you wanna go too? Is that it?” And he honestly hoped it was; Mikey just trying to convince him to take him to some ‘art show thing’ in another country. Which he totally would. Instead, Mikey tapped something on his phone and continued.

“In a conversation, do you prefer constant talking or you good with some silence?”

“I-uuhhh-guess it depends.” Leo spins on his heel and enters the first room he passes. Kitchen. 

“Are you the type to keep a schedule?” Mikey was right behind him, pushing Leo further into the room.

“As far as I’m concerned, the world runs on Leo-time.” He opened a random cabinet. Ah, mug cabinet. Guess he’s making tea.

“Would you prefer someone with a lot of friends or few friends?”

“The more the merrier.” Leo then moved across the room to grab the kettle.

“Do you like friendly competition?” Mikey leaned on the center counter while Leo filled the kettle and placed it on the stove,

“Pfft, what competition?” He responded.

“On a scale of one to five how-”

“OKAY, What kinda test IS this?” Leo spun around to face his orange clad little brother. Mikey’s phone chimed in response. Leo crossed his arms as Mikey read whatever was on the screen.

“You know,” A smirk crossed Mikey’s face.

“Oh pizza supreme,” Leo turned back to the kettle.

“You would really benefit from someone energetic; a ‘people person’ like you, who can match your energy in conversation and in competition.” Mikey’s voice read off a script, and soon there was a familiar brother sized weight on his shell.

“But also someone who is loyal,” Leo could see the light from Mikey’s phone in his peripheral vision as his brother continued to read outloud, “-and sensitive, because you cant see over your own ego and be vulnerable.”

“HEY!” Leo shrugged a giggling Mikey off of his shell. Leo didn’t even hear him hit the ground, Mikey recovered gracefully, never missing a beat as he continued to read,

“Loyal, energetic, competitive, sensitive...and probably just plain lucky knowing our family… Hey ya know what, I think we know someone like that-!”

“OH THERE YOU ARE MIKEY!” Casey slid into the kitchen and all but tackled the other turtle. The running dive sent them both to the floor, they slid across and knocked into the cabinets lining the wall. 

“You’re MESSING with my MOJO Junior.” Mikey leaned up and rubbed his head, muttering his words between gritted teeth. 

“OH LEONARDO, HI. WHAT A WEIRD COINCIDENCE.” Casey was completely unbothered by the whole thing, looking to Leo with a panic in his eyes and a very obviously fake smile. 

“I told you it would WORK!” Mikey pushed at Casey; the kid in turn dug his heels into the ground and pushed back, grasping for the phone still lit up in Mikey’s hand. Mikey held the phone as far away from Casey as possible while using his other hand to push Casey’s face away. 

“And I told YOU, it isn’t going to END WELL!” The kid retorts, still trying to wrestle the phone away from Mikey. Leo continued to witness the squabble; Mikey had the advantage with a hand on Casey’s face and the other one holding the phone away. But Casey had the determination; first flailing his arms in a desperate attempt for the phone, then switched his tactics, going for Mikey’s own face next. They continued to roll around on the ground for a couple minutes before Leo’s curiosity got the best of him. 

“Hey, Case, what’s with the weird quiz questions? Was it from buzzfeed? What kind of bread am I? I bet I’m ciabatta.” Leo points his thumb back at himself. It’s Mikey that looks to respond, and Casey uses that moment of distraction to push him away. Mikey’s shell hits the tile with an audible “Oof-!” and Casey swiftly jumps over and snags the phone. 

“I still cannot believe you treat these quizzes like prophets.” Casey sounds reprimanding as he dodges Mikey’s swing at the phone. Casey jumps back to his feet and Mikey is quick to follow. 

“HEY! You did too until Dee corrupted you.” The box turtle points an accusatory finger at the human boy. 

“Showed me the algorithms behind them all.” Said human boy retorts, Mikey lets out a dramatic gasp. 

“beGONE, UNBELIEVER!” He shouts before rushing Casey. 

A sudden loud whistling made Leo flinch. It cut through the air, freezing Mikey and Casey in their tracks. All attention turned to the tea kettle, spewing out hot steam as it screamed for attention. 

Right! He was making tea!

Leo was quick to move the kettle from the stove, the ear-piercing screech fading with the action. He filled his mug and replaced the kettle to a different burner with no more steamy complaints. Satisfied with his tea brewing, he turned to the two behind him, leaning back against the counter, 

“Sooo are you going to tell me which bread I got ooorrrr-” Leo crossed his arms as he spoke. Casey opened his mouth to answer but Mikey was quick to shove a hand over his face and push him away, 

“More like which bread you would match with~”

“OH! Nice! Who’d I get?” he felt a chill run up his spine and across the skin of his arms as the words left his mouth. The wide grin crossing Mikey’s face confirmed it; trap. His little brother opened his mouth to retort and Leo braced for the punchline. Casey however, came back with a vengeance. Jumping Mikey from behind and shoving his fist into Mikey’s mouth what was that kid doing?

“Just a dumb quiz, nothing important.”  CJ gave a nervous smile while Mikey choked. The orange masked turtle then tossed CJ over his shoulder to the floor, dislodging the boy from his back. Leo watches Mikey cringe from the fist-in-mouth-situation, then turn back to him with an only slightly dampened grin. 

“I hope you made enough for me.” Saved by a Splinter. Leo witnessed Mikey’s grin falter at the sound of their father’s voice.The three boys turned their heads to see Splinter standing in the doorway, in his lounging robe with his arms folded neatly behind his back. 

“Of cooourse, Papa.” Leo gestured to the still hot kettle. He nodded in response, walking into the kitchen. He made his way right between Leo and Mikey. Leo saw Mikey calculating the risk of activating whatever trap card Leo was about to walk into with their dad in the room. He felt a grin grow over his own face. 

“Good to see you up and about, future boy.” Splinter addressed CJ as he was pulling himself off the floor,

“Thank you master Splinter.” He responds, he even bows, and Leo rolls his eyes at the gambit. 

“Such a proper boy,” Splinter comments with a smile. He then turns to Mikey, interrupting whatever thought process he was going through. 

“Orange, grab my Lou Jitsu, twentieth Anniversary mug, Red keeps it on the top shelf.” Splinter gestures towards the top shelf behind Mikey. 

“That’s cause I’m pretty sure it’s his, and he doesn’t like when we use it.” Mikey counters, still jumping on one of the counters to retrieve the cup.

“Bah, this is my house! These are my mugs!” Splinter scoffs. Leo bites back his ‘sewer’ comment so he wouldn’t draw anymore attention to himself. He saw this as his chance to escape. As Mikey was currently occupied with the top cabinet, Leo grabs his mug and slips out the doorway, tea bag and all. He hesitates just outside the archway; The charade was obviously a set up, but what was the punch line? Was it worth the punch to find out? Did he really wanna take that punch in front of Junior right now?

No. He ultimately decides, and heads towards his room. If it was important, he can coax it out of Mikey later. In fact, he could probably get the details on whatever him and CJ were talking about as well, and maybe get to tease him about it if he plays his cards right. Basically a win-win. He takes a sip of his tea, his lip curling as the bitterness hits his tongue. Not the first time he’s had unsweetened tea, oh well. 

Just a waiting game now.

Chapter Text

“ Hey Leo,” Casey's stomach was twisted, like someone was trying to ring out the juices in his guts. They haven’t talked about the incident since the fight. But if their plan was going to work, Casey knew he needed to report his conversation in the warehouse to Leo.

“ Hey! What’s up, Case?” Leo was hovering in the walkway. He looked up from his phone as Casey approached. The boy stood still, avoiding the turtle's gaze. He felt seven years old again; caught sneaking into an off-limits area or having broken something again.

“ About the whole...Warehouse thing…” he grabbed the back of his neck as he began. Still averting his eyes and looking to the side. He was going to have to tell him at some point.

“ Don’t hurt yourself, I know.” Leo simply went back to his phone as his words knocked the wind out of Casey.

“ Wait, what?!” His mind was reeling, his whole prepared speech and the points he was trying very hard to hold in his head vanished.

“ How-How did you-?”

“ No hard feelings here, Junior.” Leo held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. His phone screen was dark as he pocketed it in his belt pouch.

“ Re-really?”

“ Of course! Hey, things are gunna go back to normal, no need to stress about it.” Leo pushed himself off of the wall and took another step towards him.

“ So are you going to talk to-”

“ Psshh, Mikey’s more of the feelings guy. BUT, I’m here for you if you wanna vent or whatever.” He threw an arm around Casey and patted his shoulder.

“ Wait, about what?”

“ Hey, mistakes were made, everyone makes mistakes! Plus, you’re new to the timeline. Technically, you aren’t even born yet, sooo-”

“ What are you talking about?” Casey finally asked.

“ Anyways, no need to apologize, I getcha.” Leo patted his shoulder again.

“ Apologize?”

“ Hey, it’s water under the bridge.” Leo had taken a step away from him, mimicking water flowing with his arms.

“ So hey, wanna skate later? It’d be pretty cool to have you for the next skate ball.”

“ But wait, about-”

“ We could do tomorrow; afternoon-ish? Cool.” He slipped past Casey, turning to give a two finger salute.

“ Catch ya then.” And the blue clad turtle walked away as Casey stood there in shock. This was going to be much more difficult than he originally thought.

“Okay but picture this,” Mikey held his hands out in a framing gesture, as if he was watching a movie scene between his fingers. 

“NOooOOoOooOO-” Casey let out a groan from behind his hands. They’d been discussing this for over an hour now, and every new idea Mikey suggests is more bold and insane than the last one.

“It starts with falling rose petals, violin music…”

“Master Michel-”

“Yea, yea! I can use my mythical razzmatazz to make stuff glow and float, right? And then we use the projector too-”

“Even if he believes it for a SECOND, which he will not, how is that going to help?!” Casey argues another one of Mikey’s outlandish ideas.

“Hey! If I got a mythical prophecy from Cupid about my soulmate, I would be intrigued.” Mikey retorts. Casey was exasperated, wild eyes locked onto a smiling Mikey as his gestures froze in place.

Until they both heard muttering.

Less muttering and more distant and hushed arguing. Which was getting closer and closer. Not five seconds later, Donnie and April made their way into the train car.

“-idiotic theory with no actual grounds-”

“-Just because you can’t test it in a lab, doesn’t mean it’s not real Dee; relationships don’t work like that.”

“Oh boy, what’s he trying to dissect this time?” Mikey leans back into his hammock. April opens her mouth to answer, however, Donnie simply steps forward and brushes her off.

“Your attempts to set up our dear beloved brother and leader with an unknown enemy, because of a childhood memory of a future that no longer exists in this timeline.” Donnie directs his gaze at Casey. Who really didn’t have an answer.

“Uh-” Was all he managed to gurgle out.

“April you TOLD HIM?!” Mikey exclaims as he gestures with all of his limbs at April, causing him to slink back even further into his hammock.

“You forget, dear brother, I record everything.” Donnie’s gaze never left Casey. It was making the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end.

“Did you bug my room again?!” Mikey accuses. Casey swallows hard,

“The buddy bot.” He states, Donnie doesn’t even blink.

“Precisely, Junior.”

“And I will be talking to him about PRIVACY BOUNDARIES, again.” April tries to pull Donnie back a step. She was thwarted by four metallic arms that sprout from Donnie’s battle shell. She wrestles with the attachments as Donnie spoke,

“After, Junior, you explain to me why you think this is even remotely a hint of a good idea.” His eyes narrow ever so slightly. “And please tell me this was not your motivation for tracking him down and getting kidnapped in the first place.”

“uh...Well…” Casey continues to sputter as his mind races to catch up.

“Sweet Galileo.” Donnie breaks the staring match to lower his head slightly, pressing his fingers into the spot between his eyes.

“Hear him out, Dee.” April defends, casting Casey a weak smile and thumbs up.

All eyes fell on him, caught like a Kraang dog in headlights. Casey was really tired of this honestly. He was not good at the words thing. Especially when they don’t work the first time. Or the second. He would much rather be punching the problem, or rewiring something, or literally anything but talking.

“You...I think you were like this in the future too.” Casey almost chokes on his own words, reaching back into the memories he tries very hard to keep on lock down. “Hesitant to trust him. Sensei would tease you about it, how hesitant and ornery you were.”

April pauses her wrestling as Casey spoke, while Mikey wrestles with his hammock to sit back up and lean forward. Donnie curls his lip as Casey continues,

“And I don’t know how it started, or how they really met, or how he eventually earned your trust. I was too little to really understand, and then he-” A sharp and crushing pain hit his heart like a bullet. His stomach twists in on itself as he squeezes his eyes shut.

“But what I do remember, is the hole he left in Sensei's life, in everyone’s life… That was real . And-and it it- and it is going to be different, I know that; but I can’t just do nothing .”

“You could though,” Donnie interjects, “You could leave it alone and literally all of those problems would be solved, no one gets put in danger and-”

“And what if he leaves? What if they never would have met? What if I already messed it up and now if I DON’T do anything they’ll be enemies forever?!” Casey feels the heat on his face and tears prick at his eyes as he looks to Donnie, who shows no reaction to Casey’s words.

“This is my brother , our brother, we are talking about.” There is a sharp, cold edge in his words. He turns to the hammock bound turtle,

“Mikey, you keep telling us about how “fragile” his emotions are, and you think introducing a rogue element while he is still in recovery from that stupid sacrifice move is a good idea?”

“New relationships are proven to make people happier, especially romantic ones.” Mikey offers as he swings gently in his hammock.

“And now we know there was someone out there that was actually willing to put up with LEO.” April adds on before a metal claw squishes her face out of the way, reigniting her one-sided fight.

“Under very different circumstances-”

“We aren’t going to lock him in the room with the guy all defenseless! Just just do some gentle nudging and suggestions…” Mikey defends.

“You classify putting on over the top shenanigans, like magic prophecy stunts, as a gentle suggestion?” Donnie glances back to Casey.

“We are NOT DOING IT!” Casey declares, sending Mikey a stubborn look.

“AW COME ON!” Said turtle throws up his hands and falls back, mostly disappearing into the hammock.

“You are still forgetting the rogue variable and the unknown intentions of someone who attacked us.” Donnie insists.

“HEY! I know you watched the bit where CJ explained the warehouse talk.” April shouts, arms full of the metallic limbs. She grits her teeth as she weaves them together.

“It really is all a misunderstanding!” Casey explains. April has foregone the defeated battle shell attachments and is now going for the turtle himself.

“And we haven't discussed this because?” Donnie, who is currently losing said shoving match with April, questions.

“Drama!” A pair of three fingered hands rise from the hammock to do jazz hands.

“Do you really think Leo would go for it?” April asks earnestly as she grabs his arm to hold behind his back.

“He does seem pretty reluctant and shy when it comes to a certain rabbit.” Mikey voices.

“There could be countless other reasons for that.” Donnie raises his voice slightly as April applies more pressure to his hostage arm.

“Oh come on, Dee! We’re already involved with Usagi, we can at least befriend him!” Mikey finally reappears from the hammock, Sitting up and sliding his legs out to set them on the ground as he sits in it like a swing.

“Better to have an ally rather than another enemy.” April reasons, finally letting him go. Donnie rights himself and stretches his shoulder. And then Casey finds himself under Donatello’s intense glare,

“Please,” Casey pleads. “He is good.”

Donnie keeps up the glare for about another second or two before he concedes with a sigh.

“Fine,” Mikey and April cheer before Donnie continues, “-I suppose I can just interrogate him to ensure his personality is consistent with Junior’s claims.”

“You’d have to catch him first, Dee.” April remarks as Donnie brings up the holoscreen on his bracer. The room is silent as he continues to tap away.

“Donnie.” April’s tone is low, she gives him her own flavor or glare. Casey starts to sweat from exposure.

Donnie doesn’t last twenty seconds.

“I may or may not have caught a certain rabbit in a theoretical trap before I confronted-”

“DONNIE!”

“DONALD!”

April and Mikey scream in unison,

“I suppose you all want to come to the interrogation?”

“Obviously!” They shout; Mikey's voice was more excited while April’s sounded more expectant.

“Donald, you can’t just TRAP him! He could be future family!” Mikey is on his feet, hanging off of Donnie and trying to get a look at the screen.

“Then he better get used to it.” The purple clad turtle didn’t even flinch at his brother’s weight. Not even when April pulled on his arm to get a better view of the screen.

“Where is he? Is he okay?” Casey asked, concerned. He catches Donnie’s eye, who dismisses the screen, which April and Mikey let out exasperated objections. .

“His vitals are fine.” He pushes Mikey off of him and wrestles his arm back from April. “This way.” He gestures for them to follow as he makes his way out of the train car.

“Vitals? What’d ya hook him up too?!” Mikey shouts as they follow after him.

To call it an alley way would be a disgrace to alleyways and shortcuts all over the city. It was more like a tight squeeze of a bubble of space, which was the result of lack of planning foresight. By roof access only, you could drop down into a very small open space, only made remotely manageable by the giant hole in one of the buildings. Like a really, really tiny back porch for the space inside the condemned building. So discrete was definitely applicable.

Donnie glides down the narrow entrance using his jet pack, April hitches a ride with him as Mikey and Casey scale down the wall of the building. There is a faint purple hue shining from inside the hovel, which Casey picks up on immediately and bolts towards as soon as his feet touch the ground.

Rushing into the condemned building, he passed newly built and vaguely purple support beams. There was debris pushed to the side making way for a path to the only room still standing. Surrounded by piles of rubble which reinforced the fallen walls, a small clearing was barely an excuse for a room but it was close enough. The only light source came from the center, a purple glowing box illuminated most of the room.

“Chi-Usagi!” Casey cries as he runs to the foot of a mythical cage. Cube shaped, with the corners rounded and glowing bright purple. The color bleeds into the sides, all six transparent with the undertone of the same purple hue. The rabbit perks up at the new sounds, meeting Casey’s gaze and rising to his feet.

“See, he is perfectly fine. For now.” Donnie sounds off behind him.

“Donnie.” April’s tone is flat and low.

“Look he is fine . And we all want to talk with him, yes?”

Casey was already pressed up against the cage. The rabbit steps back at his approach, leaning back and reaching for the hilt of his blade. Casey quickly turns back to the group,

“Donatello you have to release him.”

“Absolutely out of the question.” Said turtle denies.

“He’s still armed?” Mikey bounces over to the cage, pointing at the sword on Usagi’s hip.

“How did you get him in the first place?” April questions as Donnie brings up his holoscreen again.

“I may have set up a few...Traps as a countermeasure if someone or something got to close to the lair-”

“You WHAT ?” Donnie flinches at April’s tone.

“-and as soon as I got the alert that he was caught, I came to you, for more of an explanation.” 

“Wait, so how long have you known about the plan?” Mikey turns from the captive to question his brother, narrowing his eyes as Donnie begins to fidget with his fingers.

“...A while…” He answers slowly, looking away to the corner of the room.

“Okay, we are having a serious talk when we get this over with.” April leans forward to jab an accusatory finger at his plastron.

“Not looking forward to that.”

The conversation behind him had lost Casey’s attention. His eyes scan the machine; there are several exterior control panels attached to the cube, a small plate in-bedded into the ground in the center of the cage which seems to be the triggering factor. Energy pulses from both the center plate and the exterior panels. Casey races over to find the panels blank. He pokes at them anyway, finding them solid. He taps at them, swipes at them, even tries to find a seam to pry at.

“So this is him?” April walks up to the cage, hand on her hips and head held high. Usagi matches her stance, keeping his hand on the hilt of his blade, eyes darting over each of them.

“Hiiiiiii~” Mikey cheers, coming up to stand next to April, “Do you remember me? I’m Mikey, by the way.”

“Michael, please do not give away personal information to the unknown factor.”

“Does he always talk like that?” Usagi speaks up, gesturing to Donnie. April cracks a grin, and Mikey nods,

“Pretty much, yeah. Unless you get him really, really, REALLY mad!” Mikey’s voice remains cheery and playful,

“Which is not advised.” Donnie had his goggles down, making a show of filtering through holographic weapons like a character customization menu.

Casey presses his whole weight on the top of the panel and it clicks. He scurries off as it opens to reveal several holographic screens showing off vitals and other readings. Below the screens several keys, switches, and buttons popped up from the surface of the box. He looks over the readings, which display a rabbit-like silhouette along with vital readings, different notes about the subject, and a voice-to-text recording of their current conversation.

“So you like-came from a pop up dimension or something?” April asks behind him and her words appear on the windowed screen.

“Pocket dimension.” Casey pays no heed to Donnie’s correction in either the scene behind him or the screen in front of him, and focuses on examining the different switches and keys on the board. There was no apparent side panel to get a look at the wires, there were no labels or notes left, nor was there a clear distinction between the switches or buttons, they were all uniform.

Casey shakes his head and tries one of the buttons. He makes a mental note as it does nothing. He tries another, it brings up another chart on the screen. Another, and it rearranges the format of the screen. He tries a switch, the cage glows brighter; he holds his breath, but nothing else happens. He flicks the same switch down and the cage glows dimmer. He grunts in frustration.

“It’s called Neo-Edo, right?”Mikey continues the conversation, “Is that like the Hidden City? Are there a bunch of Yokai there too?!” Mikey asks enthusiastically. Casey feels Usagi’s gaze on him as he was testing different switches.

“How did you get here?” Donnie questioned as he walked closer to the cage, dismissing the holographic projection from his bracer but keeping an eye on the vitals still displaying on the bracer itself.

“What’s your favorite food?” Mikey leans in between Donnie’s line of sight to Usagi.

“ Michael .”

“Uhhh…” Usagi glances from Donnie to Mikey, confused.

“ Please say carrot cake.” April still had that smirk on her face. Her comment earns a glare from Donnie which she doesn’t acknowledge. The rabbit gives her no response as he looks wide eyed between the three of them.

Casey pulls one of the several levers, immediately registering the sound of crackling electricity as energy pulsed through the cage. Usagi jumps back to the dead center, narrowly avoiding the licks of energy that spouts off of the walls. Casey pushes the lever back into place as quickly as he can. He glances over to the group; April was the only one to catch his gaze, sending him a quizzical look. Mikey was bouncing on his feet, inspecting the cage and Usagi. Donnie’s stance hadn’t changed since they walked in, nor his expression.

Casey offers April a meek smile and shrug as she squints her eyes. A very clear, ‘ stop messing with the controls ’ message. He watches her take a deep breath and turn back to Usagi.

“Do you like magic shows and magic tricks?” She asks, quirking a brow and shifting her weight to one side.

“Are you here alone?” Donnie follows up, keeping his distance and cold glare. And ignoring the glare April shoots at him.

“OOOO what are your friends like?” Mikey was quick to inquire. Donatello mutters a frustrated sigh as his eye twitches at his brother’s antics.

Casey watches the scene in front of him. Usagi stays quiet, watching as Mikey leans forward on the cage, April rolling her eyes at Donnie, who stands still and stoic. The silence barely lasts a minute before the rabbit responds.

“My friends are awesome, and not here.” Usagi finally spoke, “If they were, this would be an entirely different situation.”

“Interesting,” Donatello responds, casting a glance past Casey to the machine and the screen next to him. Casey follows his gaze to see that particular conversation pinned in red text at the top of the screen.

“Do you like Lou Jitsu movies?” April’s voice cut through the air and whatever Donatello was going to ask next.

“A what now?” Genuine confusion crosses Usagi’s face and both Mikey and April gasp.

“You’ve, NEVER SEEN A LOU JITSU MOVIE???” Mikey slams his hands on the cage making the rabbit flinch and tighten his grip on his sword.

“No??” He answers with more confusion laced in his tone. April takes a swift sidestep to Donnie as she grabs him and shakes him by his shoulders.

“Donnie, we need a projector, ASAP!” She insists, Mikey nods furiously behind her.

“I will NOT be showing what is probably the greatest show of martial arts and most of our training and childhood to an unknown enemy . He has to earn it.” It took him a couple tries but Donnie was able to push April away.

“Wait, it’s for training?” Usagi inquires, raising a brow.

“No definitely not, why would you think that, nervous chuckle.” Donnie turns away from the cage for the first time since their little chat began.

April was still hounding Donatello and Mikey began to explain the concept of Lou Jitsu. Donnie did his best to talk over Mikey and stop him from revealing any more information but that was already a losing battle without taking note of their relative location and April’s interference. Casey glances back to the machine and then back to their squabble.

Quickly he returns to his work now that they were all distracted. The screen now held red colored notes of the scene. It was categorized between information Usagi gave them, like the mention of his friends, on the top right. And information they revealed to him, such as Lou Jitsu, on the top left. Windowed notes were stacked on top of each other on the screen and it appeared that the top left category had much more than the other.

Casey notes the buttons and knobs he already tried, none of them significant enough to point to a ‘big off switch’ he is looking for. He gave the machine another once over, no seams to indicate a removable panel, no significantly different buttons or switches. He huffs in frustration, mulling over the consequences of pulling the remaining two levers. He doesn’t ponder it for very long before he grabs the second lever and pulls.

The machine roared and sent waves of purple light over the exterior, weaving around and up like geometric wiring. The three levers cocked to the side and retracted into the machine; leaving a blank, purple hued metal in its place. Casey kneels down and places a hand on the side of the machine. Lights shown from the inside out, in the form of a keypad. Only this key pad was a four-by-four, with no digits or symbols to clue him in. Casey curses under his breath.

The energy from the control panel washed over the cage; the plate in the middle vibrated and spun deeper into the ground, bolts in the outer base shot up and back down like pistons, and the very top of the cage received the energy wave and spat it back out as a second layer fell over the cage.

“Okay, what is up with this cage? Is this some sort of Kappa magic?” Usagi moves to knock on the wall, getting a slight shock in return. He shakes out his hand and holds it close to his chest.

“Oh, we’re not Kappa.” Mikey states.

“It is magic though.” April walks up closer behind Mikey.

“An ingenious blend of technology supported and sourced by ninpo and designed by me.” Donatello brags, making another show of his prowess, producing a holographic rocket launcher.

“Magic gun.” April gestures behind her to Donnie.

“Deep sigh, yes. If you want to simplify it.” Donatello’s head lowers as he dispels the weapon. Usagi’s face turns serious, taking in his surroundings once more, eyeing the structure of the cage.

“Magic cage.” he mutters to himself.

“So you like magic?” The rabbit jumps at Mikey’s voice, still loud and lighthearted. He quickly recovers, his hands going to his hips instead of the hilt of his blade.

“I’ve never seen something like this before.” he admits as he leans closer to Mikey, “Is there some sort of-”

“Hey, HEY! We are asking the questions here.” Donatello steps up to the cage, pointing an accusatory finger at Usagi.

“Yeah! And you still haven’t answered the most important one!” Mikey’s face contorts, a frown appears as he gets super close to the cage,

“What’s your favorite food?” He asks in a low voice, with a scowl pressed up against the cage.

“Sweet Galileo, why.” Donatello facepalms and April lets out a hearty laugh.

“Um…” Usagi looks to April, who is bent over cackling. Donnie has his face buried in his hands. He turns to Casey, who is still furiously fighting with the lock mechanism on the machine; continuously pressing in different combinations only to receive a little beep and flash of red. And then he looks directly in front of him, to the very serious turtle who still has his face pressed up against the cage wall.

“Uhhh...Okonomiyaki?”

“OH I HAVE A RECIPE FOR THAT!” Mikey exclaims as he leans back from the cage with a smile. “I’ve been meaning to try it out!”

“Scoooff.” Donatello crosses the distance to the cage. He folds his arms behind his back as Usagi puffs his chest up defiantly.

“How did you get here?” Donnie ignores his younger brother’s muttering about ingredients, solely focused on the prey in front of him.

“Magic.” A faint smirk graces Usagi’s features. Donnie narrows his eyes, neither of them backing down from the glare.

“Hey, the guys said you have a magic yoyo, what’s up with that?” April leans in between their staring match.

“Oh yeah! Can you do any tricks, yoyo man?” Mikey asks, his musings of recipes forgotten as he bounces back to the cage.

Usagi hesitates, eyes flickering between the three of them. Until he slowly reaches for the yoyo on his belt. Mikey lets out an excited cheer as Usagi starts to swing it around.

“YEAAAH!” Mikey cheers again as Usagi demonstrates the elevator trick and then ‘walk the dog’.

“I used to have a magic Kusari-fundo! It would do something like that but on FIRE!”

“Wait, a flaming weapon?!” Usagi immediately lost focus on his yoyo. It wraps around his wrist and smacks into his hand.

“Mikey!” Donnie scolds.

“Yeah! It was such a devilish little dude.” Said turtle continues.

“We’re pretty sure it was possessed. By a literal demon.” April clarifies.

“Oh! Like a Tsukumogami?” Untangling the yoyo string from his wrist, Usagi hooks it back on his belt.

“They’re old and mistreated household objects or tools. They turn into a Tsukumogami after a hundred years of neglect.” He continues, “Although it could be more related to hi-no-tama, like a Furaribi, if it was more fire-ball like.” Usagi rambles on. Mikey leans forward, nodding enthusiastically, while April leans back and crosses her arms as a smile crosses her face.

A green light flashes over the side of the control panel, where Casey cheers as he guesses the code. He watches as the panel folds back to reveal different multicolored wires and circuitry. His attempt to grasp at these wires is instantly thwarted as his fingers clash against a transparent barrier. It pulses a light purple hue, then returns to its transparent state. He grabs a rock and smashes it against the barrier, to a similar effect.

Casey tosses the rock aside with much more force than necessary. He presses both hands against the mystic glass and presses as hard as he can. It doesn’t budge. Casey hangs his head and lets his hands slide down the barrier. In response, pieces of circuitry hum to life; lifting his head at the sound to see a hub of wires pop out of their position and slide down the machine, following the direction his hand did.

He taps with a single finger, purple light ripples away like water. Testing his new theory, Casey taps and slides his fingers along the glass. A different piece from inside the machine glows and moves to a different position. Hope and wonder pool inside Casey, and mix with the ever growing frustration as he begins to study the inside of the mechanism.

“What is your directive here?” Donnie pushes Mikey to the side, continuing to glare daggers at the rabbit.

“Directions to what?” Said rabbit halts his Yokai explanation, his expression switched from joyous, to confused, to hardened as he looks to Donnie. 

Donnie takes a deep breath,

“What are you doing here?” He tries again.

“Making sure you don’t start the apocalypse.” Usagi shoots back, shifting his weight back and returning his hand to the hilt of his blade.

“And how are you going to do that?” Donnie continues,

“Release me and you’ll find out.” The rabbit lowered his head slightly, widened his stance just a smidge.

“That was a threat.” Donatello glares daggers at the rabbit, who offers a smug smile in return.

“No-duh.”

“Pretty sure Junior already told you, but we don’t want the apocalypse either bud.” Words of reason come from April, as she tries to break up the impromptu staring contest between Donnie and Usagi. Only silence follows.

A low grunt of muttered curses from the control panel cut through the tension. Casey had found that the amount of times one taps on the glass, how many fingers you use to slide across, in what direction, and how far you slide all affected which piece would move and to where. He was able to cause a spark in the box for a second by moving a circuit hub closer to a power source, but it had moved too far away to continue the reaction and he hadn’t been able to replicate it. He couldn’t even predict which piece would move next. He taps the glass three times and makes a circle motion over a hub where the wires converged; in the far corner of the box a different piece of machinery pops out of its socket and spins, only to replace itself again. Casey hangs his head and huffs.

“If you’re not Kappa,” Usagi eyes the group up and down, “What are you?”

“That is none of your concern.” Donnie states flatly.

“We’re turtles! Our dads made us!” Mikey helpfully intervenes. Donnie moves to push Mikey out of the way and gets intercepted by April, who drags him back away from the cage.

“And they’re turtles too?” Usagi asks.

“Nope!” Mikey chirps. The rabbit looks more confused than before.

“O-kay?”

“Kappa are the guys with the water bowls in their heads, right?” Mikey tosses a question back to Usagi.

“Yeah! Their whole life force rests inside! If the water spills out, they it’s light out! They’re actually really easy to trick or bargain with if you can play your cards right.”

A few paces back, Donnie watches the scene in front of him with contempt. April stands next to him, arms crossed, watching along as the rabbit lights up talking about river cucumbers or whatever. She leans closer to him,

“He’s not terrorizing anybody.” She states.

“No. It appears he is on a mission to destroy us specifically.” Donatello grumbles.

“He didn’t say that. He said stop the apocalypse.” She counters.

“Which we did.” He clarifies.

“So if no one is trying to restart the apocalypse, we should all be chill.” April insists. Donnie says nothing as he hunches over himself, crossing his arms and deepening his scowl.

A frustrated yell cuts through the air, followed by a crash, then Casey Jr. makes his way over towards Mikey and Usagi, a holographic lever held in his hand. The lever begins to fade and disappear as he approaches.

“No use?” Mikey offers him a soft smile. Casey rests his head in his hands and groans. He looks up, with the soft eyes of a child,

“I’m sorry Usagi. Looks like Donatello is the only one who can release the trap.”

“You can’t with your magic?” Usagi suggests, and both Casey and Mikey shake their heads.

“I don’t have any.” Casey admits, looking down at the base of the cage. Mikey is quick to throw an arm around his shoulders,

“YET!” He insists and gives Casey a hearty pat on the back.

“So...You guys are not all Kappa- Turtles.” The caged rabbit brings his fingers to his chin as he ponders out loud.

“No?” Casey answers, taking in Usagi’s serious demeanor. The rabbit’s eyes widen slightly, lifting his head he looks from Casey to Donnie, who is still arguing with April, and then back to Casey. A look of recognition crosses his face and Casey’s heart betrays him as it flutters with an impossible hope.

“Did they…” Usagi leans closer to the cage, hunching over and lowering his voice. Casey and Mikey lean closer as the rabbit whispers,

“Are they keeping you, like, hostage?”

“Say what?” Mikey straightens up, taken aback. The rabbit begins to clarify, 

“Do they like, make you do stuff you might not want to? Or put you through grueling training and punish you if you mess up?” He gestures wildly, his words fast and frantic.

“I mean the drills Raph runs are really annoying and pops get mad if we interrupt his TV time or leave a big mess and-” Mikey counts on his fingers as he speaks until Casey jumps in.

“Are you asking if we were kidnapped?” He interjects. Usagi is silent, casting a quick glance behind him and nodding.

Immediately, Mikey busts out laughing. His laughter echoes around the room, bouncing off metal and concrete. It cuts off whatever discussion April and Donnie were having, taking their full attention.

“GUYS! Guys you would not believe this!” The orange-clad turtle calls, turning to them and gesturing to a now cherry red faced rabbit.

“Guess not.” Usagi mutters under his breath and Casey shoots him a sympathetic smile.

“He was asking if we were hostages! That was SO NICE! He was making sure we were okay!” Mikey wears a huge grin, gesturing his arms out wide. A sweet smile crosses April’s face and Donnie’s scowl deepens.

“Awwww, such a sweetheart.” April almost coos, elbowing Donnie in the arm.

“More dense than initially anticipated.” Was his only response to the jab.

“Your ninja. I’ve seen it before.” The rabbit booms, defending himself, his blush still apparent.

“Okay, there seems to be some disconnect with the word ‘ninja’ here.” Mikey’s words were smooth and calm as he turned on his heels back towards Usagi. Everyone instinctively took a step back as they recognized a Dr. Feelings moment.

“Wow, an actual sweetheart.” April restates as they survey the scene in front of them.

“Or a liar.” Donnie once again finds himself countering.

“He’s the one in the cage and he’s concerned about Mikey and Casey? And didn’t he help you guys round up some looters?” April moves a hand to her hip, glancing at him and narrowing her eyes. 

“A ruse to gather more information.” 

“Ah yes, his master plan to get close to you guys to destroy you for not starting the apocalypse.” She leaned over to bump shoulders with him. He grumbled in response. He continued to watch as the rabbit was seemingly ranting about something; Mikey followed along, nodding his head. 

“Headstrong, stubborn, loves to talk and seems a bit arrogant, distracted easily, bit of a dumdum, but with solid morals.” Unfortunately, April’s description rang true. He was either a manipulative mastermind or an idiot, there wasn’t enough data to fully support one or the other theory. Although it seemed April was going with the ‘idiot’ theory. Donnie gave another huff, feeling his snout twitch. 

“Wow, kinda sounds familiar…” April began to drum her fingertips on her chin. Donnie had the remark ready, his mouth opened to snap back but the image in his head changed; from a blue clad arrogant rabbit to a blue masked arrogant turtle. The sudden synapse connection had him choking on his own breath.

Everything in his head came to a grinding halt, he was helpless as his own brain kicked into overdrive, drawing similarities and connections. Donnie grit his teeth as he scoured all the data he had on the rabbit, flipping through memories and mental notes like pages in a book. 

He was still a threat. He told himself as he eyed the caged rabbit. He was still talking with Mikey, this time looking earnest and curious as Mikey explained something to him using wild gestures.

There still wasn’t enough data to conclude his intentions. It was practically on a loop in his brain as he caught April’s cheshire grin from the corner of vision. 

There are still too many unknown factors. He observed Casey hovering to the side of the cage. Listening intently to Mikey and the rabbit’s conversation, leaning forward then bouncing back on his toes. Donnie was sure he hadn’t set up any invisible barriers around the cage. Momentarily perplexed at the behavior, he watched Casey look on eagerly at the conversation, fidgeting and- Oh he acted like that when Leo was still bedridden after the-

“And Mikey already loves him sooooo-” 

“Absolutely not.” Donnie firmly stated. 

“Just get over your swollen pride and accept he seems alright!” April turned to face him head on, he did his best to avoid her gaze. His fingers began to flex, tensing into a fist and relaxing over and over.

“There is a lot on the line here.” He crossed his arms, his shoulders tense. He could feel her burning glare on him, he started to tap his foot on the ground. 

“You can’t protect him from everything. You know that.” She reasoned, trying to move into his line of sight, yet he just kept looking higher up, saying nothing in response. 

“This is one of those times you’re just going to have to take a risk.” She stood under his chin now, looking up as she scolded him. He scrunched up his snout, having to stand up to his full height to avoid April’s gaze. From over her head he saw Casey finally join in Mikey’s conversation. His little brother had fully pulled out the Dr. Feelings look; sweater, glasses, notebook and all. Casey still stood to the side as they spoke, offering additions to the conversation while playing with his fingers. 

Casey looked over to him and briefly made eye contact before Donnie quickly glanced to the side. Taking a quick look back and YUP the kid was still looking. Doe-like eyes bored into him, offering a smile as he glanced back from Donnie to the rabbit in the cage; the kid looked more anxious by the second. Closing his eyes, Donnie took a deep breath. He verbally sighed before taking another breath. 

“ALRIGHT FINE!” He concedes. April’s cheers catch the attention of the others. 

“As my compatriots have told you, we do not want the apocalypse.” Donnie begins to walk closer to the cage; he watches as both Casey and Mikey look to each other with giant grins growing on their faces. The rabbit narrowed his eyes,

“Sounds like something someone who wants the apocalypse would say…”

“We DO NOT-!” The words die in his mouth as he quickly looks to the ground, taking in a deep inhale before continuing, 

“If you promise, not to hurt ANY of my family,” He straightens up, glaring at the rabbit, “In any manner or form; then you may go.”

“YES!” Mikey cheers, Casey giving him a high five.

“Sure.” The rabbit crosses his arms, tilting his head to the side without breaking eye contact, “But if any of you attack me, or anybody else, or start the apocalypse, then bets are off.” He moved one of his arms just enough to point a finger at Donnie. 

“That will suffice.”

“YeAH BABY! Lets get ‘em outta there!” Mikey pumps his fist into the air, Casey already pressed up against the cage. 

“I will. After you all leave.” The purple clad turtle stood his ground, folding his arms behind his back. 

“Donnie.” April’s tone was borderline threatening, he simply held a hand up.

“I will! I just want my precious family to be a safe distance away from the unknown factor to ensure everyone’s safety.” He reasons, taking note of the way the rabbit shifted his stance and grit his teeth. 

“I gave my word.” The rabbit stated, as if he took offense to precautionary actions. 

“Others have also given me their words. It did not end well.” Donatello met his stare. No one moved. He ignores the eyes he feels focused on him, and shoves the squirming feeling down as far as he can as he stares down the rabbit. 

“Donatello…” Casey’s voice was soft, a mix between a question and a plea. It caught Donnie’s attention, and the soft-shell gave him a nod,

“I promise, Casey.”

The boy seemed satisfied with the promise, his mouth formed a line on his face and he gave a solemn nod in return.

“Bye Usagi!” Mikey was the first one to move. he  cheers and waves as he starts to walk backwards towards the entrance. Casey slowly followed right after, casting a smile and wave behind him towards the rabbit. April gave pause, just long enough to cast a look at Donnie which carried its own promise. Then she was quick to follow behind Casey.

Once Donnie witnesses them leave, he turns back to Usagi with a very cold demeanor.

“The event which you came to investigate. That took a toll on my family.” He steps closer and Usagi raises his guard.

“Some have still not recovered.” He taps a few buttons on his bracer and the cage roars to life. Electricity zaps and runs along the outside perimeter of the cage. 

“Physically or mentally.” He continues to slowly walk closer, the room dims as the cage switches to only internal lighting. The rabbit under the spotlight starts to draw his katana.

“I was not able to protect them during the last few important clashes we’ve had.” Donnie pauses just a couple feet away from the cage, glaring daggers at one of the only things that could present a threat to his family. A kind of threat he wasn’t very versed in preventing or fixing. That was more Mikey’s wheelhouse. 

“I am now.” But he would be damned if he wasn’t going to try. 

“If anything poses a threat to my family, in any shape or form. It will be eliminated. Swiftly, painfully, and without a trace.” He kindly and clearly informed the rabbit,

“Keep that in mind before you pull another ridiculous stunt or attack.”

“Well you keep in mind that-” Usagi starts to counter; Donnie presses a button on his gauntlet and the prison lifts off the ground. Usagi loses his balance as it shifts and rotates, and then pops open like a gotcha ball. He hits the ground face first. He lifts his head to find the building empty, his captor vanished. 

Donatello runs into them sooner than he expects. Although, he supposes he should have predicted that. He specified that they should leave, he never specified to go back to the liar. He spots them waiting on a rooftop just a couple blocks away. Half his mind wants to jet past them, but he knew there would be consequences to that. They’ve already seen him.

“Soooo?” Mikey drew out before his heels even touched down.

“He is fine; and has already destroyed the tracker on him.” Donnie reports. Casey’s shoulders visibly relaxed, letting out a deep breath. Mikey and April did not have the same reactions.

“I mean about our plan!” Mikey was quick to grab and tug on his shoulder. He gauges April’s reaction; still wearing a serious look on her face and her shoulders were held higher than usual, meaning she wasn’t satisfied either. He turned to Casey who had the biggest puppy dog eyes next to Mikey, and both pairs were on display, although Casey wasn’t pulling the quivering lip off like Mikey was.

Mikey tugged on his arm again, and looking down at his face and making eye contact was a mistake. Donnie felt the fight leave him, leaving only slight bitterness in its wake.

“Deep exhausted sigh. You will obviously need supervision and guidance so I suppose I am in.”

“Yesssss!” Mikey slid off his arm and quickly spun on his heel to high five April. Her stance also relaxed, posture returned to normal and a more normal smirk on her lips.

“But the SECOND he poses a threat I’m hunting him down with the turtle tactic drones.”

“Fair.” April agreed as Mikey began to rant about different scheduling and ingredients for a completely unrelated endeavor. Donnie rolled his eyes at his siblings, his gaze landing on Casey. The boy had a huge smile on his face. Everything about him seemed softer.

And he was staring at Donnie like he was the north star.

He looked away, feeling the familiar squirming feeling like worms under his skin. Emotions. Eugh. The rabbit obviously meant a great deal to him. Probably due to his upbringing in an actual apocalyptic timeline; the communities were probably tightly knit, and warriors were the only ones who survived long enough to help raise a kid. He called Leo, Sensei, and if in a future timeline Leo had relations with the rabbit, he probably had a hand in training him as well.

The sound of a chuckle caught his attention. He followed the sound back to Casey himself, a hand over his mouth but the corners of his mouth were still visibly pointing upwards. Donnie felt his forehead crease, a display of his confusion. Casey shook his head slightly. Lowering the hand away from his mouth he said,

“Thank you.” a giant smile still wrapped across his face.

Still puzzled, Donnie offered him another nod, which seemed to satisfy the boy. Casey smiled at him for a moment longer before giving a nod back and turning to join Mikey and April as they schemed.

Or perhaps, add some logic to whatever ludicrous idea Mikey was trying to spin.

Sweat dripped off Raph’s scales as he mouthed the number of his reps. A weight in one hand and the other rested on his knee, he counted twenty-five, halfway there. His music was playing in the background offering the perfect white noise for Raph to get lost in the zone. All of this was interrupted when a certain red-marked slider threw the doors of the dojo open on about his twenty-eighth rep.

Leo made no effort to greet him, strolling into the dojo with purpose. Raph made no attempt to stop his routine, but watched with confused interest as the slider began to inspect the room. He looked to the corners, he moved to the shelves, opened closets, all the while having this squinted look on his face. Raph counted fifty reps just as Leo began to move benches and rugs to look under them.

“You looking for something, Leo?” Raph set the barbell down and rolled his shoulder in a circular motion to stretch. The blue-masked turtle stopped his rummaging to stand up tall, his shell was still to Raph as he scanned the room once again.

“Yeah. Where IS EVERYBODY?!” Leo turned to him with his hands on his hips.

“Who?” Raph questioned as he pushed his shoulder back, using his other hand to hold it in position.

“Everyone!” Leo threw up his hands in the air and began to pace. “Mikey and Donnie are gone, so is Case, and I can’t get a hold of April or Casey!” He gestures in the air to his side as he rants.

“People have lives, Leo. Maybe they went out to eat or work or something.” Raph lets both his arms fall as he rolls both shoulders once more.

“Excuse you, I would know if they did. This is too weird to be a coincidence.” Leo argues, stopping his pacing in favor or tapping his foot on the ground and holding his hand to hold his chin and cover his mouth. Raph counts Leo’s tapping until the twentieth tap,

“You. Are being paranoid.” he states as he picks up the barbell again with his other hand. He hears a squawk come from Leo, his mouth agape. He quickly remedies this with a huff, crossing his arms again as the tapping of his foot becomes more pronounced.

“If you’re bored, you can join me.” Raph offers but Leo is quick to wave him off.

“Just let me know if you hear anything.” Leo calls as he exits the dojo, closing the doors with a little more force than necessary. Raph lets out a deep exhale as he continues to count the reps, focusing on his music and hoping to get back into his groove.