Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo was not expecting his day to go like this. 

He was going on solo patrol due to his brothers being completely drained due to training. Leo rolled his eyes as he remembered his brothers collective groans as they complained about how Sensei had left their shells aching. 

Leo was actually quite enjoying the quiet, not having to deal with his brothers whining. His patrol had strayed far off the normal path as he enjoyed the peaceful New York night. Because of this Leo had managed to find himself at New York's edge and was staring at a highway that stretched over and through a thick forest.

The air was fresher out here and Leo sat on the edge of a building and sighed. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, listening to faint beeping and rushing of cars and the wind blowing through autumn leaves.  Leo allowed himself a smile, and embraced the calm.

CLANG

Ok looks like the calm is over. Leo stood and quietly creeped over to the nearby ally and looked down. A small covered figure was digging through boxes of fresh meat that must have been delivered to the restaurant below. 

Leo glared at the figure ‘Damn porch pirates’ the turtle thought angrily. This guy was only a porch pirate so he probably didn’t need to use his weapons but he was still going to keep his guard up.

The ninja dropped silently into the alley, all he needed to do was scare this guy off so they wouldn't steal from this small business. Leo looked over at a trash can next to him and he kicked it over. The person was obscured by the boxes but he could see them freeze in place at the noise.

Leo took a step closer to the figure, still being in the shadows but silhouette now visible. “Hey, put that stuff down pal. I don’t want to hurt you.” There was no movement for a while and Leo stayed still. Finally the figure moved, but it wasn’t to leave. They leapt from out the boxes with armfuls of bagged raw meat, knocking over more boxes in the process. Leo was going to rush forward and pin them but stopped when seeing the person in full.

Their form was shrouded in a cloak but one thing was very clear… They were a kid. They were hardly at his waist. The kid stated still and stared at Leo, most likely trying to properly make him out among the shadows. Leo took a breath and lowered himself to one knee before speaking slowly and calmly.

“Hello. I’m Leonardo, I don’t want to hurt you. Why are you stealing that?” the kid only tilted their head. Leo guessed he didn’t make a very good first impression. They were probably on the streets and just looking for food. Leo tried talking again, “Do you have parents? A Home? If 

you need, I can point you to the nearest homeless shelter.” Leo took a hesitant step forward… which was the wrong choice apparently. 

The kid turned his back to him and sprinted out of the alley with the stolen meat. “Hey!” Leo shouted. He impulsively gave chase to the surprisingly fast child, and they knew the area better than him so he had the home field advantage. Leo would have kept up fine if not for the kid worming his way through tight spaces and going routes he couldn’t follow.

Eventually the kid had made it to an intersection and much to Leo's surprise darted across it despite the traffic. Leo halted and crouched behind a bush to avoid human gaze. He peeked around the edge of the bush to see the kid make it safely to the other side and disappear into the woods.

Well. that was weird.

Chapter Text

Leo was back on patrol, but this time his brothers were joining him, so the quiet he had enjoyed before had all but disappeared. They were back at the place he had spotted the kid a week ago in the hopes of seeing him again. Something about them had been eating at him, something was off. 

His brothers weren’t very interested in finding the kid. Mikey was playing games on his T-phone, Raph was practicing with his sais , and Donnie was tinkering with the expanding blade on his bō staff. Leo glared at his brothers and rolled his eyes before looking back down at the alley he spotted the kid at.

Raph looked up to his older brother and called out to him. “Hey fearless! Let it go! You won’t be seeing that kid again” Donnie jabbed a thumb at Raph and chimed him. “Yeah it sucks to say it but New York is no stranger to homeless kids Leo.” The eldest sighed and turned to face his brothers.

“You guys don’t get it, there was something off about this kid…” Raph groaned and pointed at Leo. “You're just mad that some kid outran you” He said accusingly, making Leo narrow his eyes at his immediate younger brother. “He ran across an intersection to get to the woods! That is no place for someone to be living if they don’t have a home, let alone a kid!” 

Mikey finally felt like joining in with an offhand comment while still focusing on his game “if the little dudes in the woods why don’t we just go to the woods” Mikey asked. Leo drew his attention back to the alley below before responding “In order to get there we have to cross the intersection, and would be pretty hard with being teen sized Mutant turtles.” Donnie taped his chin in thought, before responding to Leo. “There's probably a sewer tunnel that goes under the intersection.”

Leo blinked when realizing how easy it would be to get there. He waved at his brothers to follow him before jumping down. He heard the sounds of his brothers groaning in frustration while mumbling about a goose chase.

He didn’t care what the others thought, there was something off here, and Leo was going to figure it out.

Leo was the first to emerge from the manhole cover. He glanced around to see they were on an empty sidewalk a good ways past the intersection. Leo exited the sewer and quickly rushed to overgrown shrubbery for cover, his brothers were quick to follow. 

Raph glared at Leo before gesturing at the woods. “Welp here we are, What the heck do you expect us to do now!” Leo stood and began pushing apart the thick bushes and leaves. “We look around for any sign of a kid living out here”.

The brothers trek through the woods, despite the complaining of the younger three. Leo scanned around trying to look for any sign of a worn path, but so far nothing. That was until Mikey called out to his older brothers. 

“Hey Guys! Look at this over here!” They joined their brother in staring at a small opening in some bushes like a tunnel. The tunnel was lined with old blankets and the bunch of bushes it led into had several blankets draped over the top. Even Raph found this odd as he leaned down in front of the small tunnel to try and look inside. 

The brothers were distracted however when a growl sounded from behind them. Thinking a wild animal had spotted them they turned quickly, drawing their weapons. however It was not an animal they were faced with, it was a mutant.

They were still covered in a cloak (Which now could be recognised as a brownish blanket with a faint unicorn pattern), but clear mutant features could now be seen. Deep green scales, and pale brownish red palms, three fingered clawed hands and feet, thick tail that drags on the ground and… blood.

The mutant kid was dragging a small dead doe they seemed to have killed themselves, blood dripping from their beck and claws as they growled at the 4 brothers.

The ninjas looked at them surprised, not expecting the kid to be a mutant hiding in the woods killing deer. 

Leo sheathed his weapon and lowered himself to look smaller. “Hi, it’s me again. I want to make sure you are ok, you're safe here, me and my brothers are like you.” Mikey nodded and waved at the tot. They growled louder at Mikey's gesture and carefully dropped the deer. The tot flexed their blood stained claws and eyed the 4 of them, as well as the tunnel entrance.

Leo looked at his brothers and waved a hand to get them to drop their weapons, hesitantly they did so. Leo raised empty hands to show he was unarmed “We won’t hurt you kid, we want to help”. Raph looked between his brother and the angry tot before asking “Do they even understand us?” Leo shrugs “they look old enough to, right?” Donnie tapped his temple before saying “Mutation might have messed with poor kids' brains, they could be as sensent at street dog.” 

The tot was still growling at them, but didn’t move ‘He’s waiting to see what we’ll do first’ Leo thought. Glancing behind him he was reminded that they were blocking the entrance to what looked like their home. Leo looked to his brothers and cocked his head to one side and began moving out of the way.

The tot backed up and bared sharp teeth when they moved. The entrance was now open and the brothers tried to back into the shadows, in the hopes the tot would lose track of them. After a few minutes of the tot looking for the brothers they grumbled and grabbed the deer with his teeth and dragged it through the tunnel on all fours.

The brothers stood in the trees, staying completely silent, waiting to see if the tot would come back out. Their patience was rewarded with a tot crawling out from the tunnel, but it wasn’t the same one as before. 

This one was smaller and lacked a cloak to hide themselves so it was pretty easy to tell they were a turtle mutant of some kind. They wore a worn purple bandana around their neck and tied in a bow. They were skinny and had these odd gross pink rashes on their sides, arms, as well as spots of pink inflamed skin on the shoulders and ankles. And that's not to mention the claw deep claw mark scaring their shell.

Mikey gasped and covered his mouth at the sight of the tots shell, the others were equally concerned. The new tot held a thin plank of wood like a staff and scanned over the area. They hobbled awkwardly on their feet as they paced around the area, scanning the area with whited out eyes. 

A shuffling could be heard from in the den and the first tot crawled out frantically after the other. They weren't wearing their cloak so the brothers had a full view of the larger tot… it wasn’t pretty.

They had a nasty scar over their right eye that left it scrunched. They also had bandana of their own tied into a bow, but this one was red and partially covered; a deep cut over their left shoulder made a crack run down their plastron and shell. Numerous scars covered their arms and hands, and there was no way they got all of it though because of some bramble. 

The larger rushed out and scoped up the purple one dragging it back inside despite the complaints of the smaller. The brothers sat in the trees for at least 30 more minutes before Leo had had them all leave.

They made it back to the sewer no problem and they were now all just sitting around mulling over what they had seen. It was Raph who spoke up first saying “Ok Leo… you were right that was really weird” “That poor kids shell!!” Mikey cried out, still shocked about the state of the purple one's shell.

Leo dragged a hand down his face and groaned. This had gotten a lot more complicated, he thought he would just be getting a kid to proper shelter not seeing two kid-mutant-turtles covered in the scars of a war hero. Leo took a breath in and out but facing his brothers.

“We need to talk to Sensei, he’s the one with the most baby mutant turtle experience. We’ll decide where to go from there… but I want to make one thing clear. We will find away to help them.”

“No matter what.”

Chapter Text

The brothers sat in the dojo in front of their sensei. Leo had finished telling him about the two tots they had found, how they were living in a makeshift den, scrounging for food on the streets, hunting wild animals, and sporting gruesome scars.

Splinter stroked his thin beard in thought. He looked up to Leo and asked “Is this all we know?” Leo sighed and nodded sadly. Humming in understanding The rat stood and looked down at his sons. 

“This is troubling, but there is a silver lining.-” Splinter placed a hand on his chest “-We can help. They are mutants like us and, if they are as young as you boys assume, then we can help them get on their feet and lead them down the right path.” Donnie's eyes widened slightly “Are you saying we should take them in?”

Something sparked in Leo's eyes and he stood to face his father “Then we need to get them now, the more time they spend out there the more danger they could be put in, so we need-” “Hold on!” Donnie stood to face his brother “We need to think about this, we can’t just grab two random kids and bring them here. We know nothing about who they are, or how they were mutated. For all we know they might not even be kids, they could be some kind of krang spy made to draw us in via their turtle appearance”

Leo glared at his younger brother. “Are you kidding me Don? Those were kids! Kids that need our help. They're not Krang, if they were they would have just sent them straight to us and not have bothered to detail them with wounds.”  “Those wounds could very well be from experimentation, and the krang have been getting more and more tricky. If I were them I wouldn't send the sympathy bait spies directly to our doorstep, I would be more subtle, allow us to find the bait first so we think it’s all unrelated!” “Do you not hear yourself!? You're talking about kids! Hurt kids who need help, not an interrogation!” “I do hear myself, I know it’s crazy and I know that the hypothesis I just stated is far fetched and likely untrue, but it could be true. We lead dangerous lives, we can't just take them in, even if what I said is unlikely! You’re the leader you should be-”

“ YAMA” 

Leo and Donnie  looked up at their father. We were glaring down at them disapprovingly, making Leo look down in shame and Donnie wince. The two sat back down with Mikey and Raph who felt beyond awkward and out of place.

Splinter rubbed his temples and sighed deeply. “Donatello, I understand your concerns but we can not abandon children” Leo smirked in victory, however that was short lived when Splinters piercing gaze turned to him “And Leonardo, your passion for helping these children is admirable but you can not simply rush into something like this” 

Splinter looked between each of his boys and felt something heavy build in his gut. He sat back down in front of the brothers looking each of them in the eyes before saying “When you boys were small I was terrified I would be unable to care for you. Worried about what to do if any of you got sick or hurt, one of you getting lost, wandering to the surface and meeting a less than friendly human.”

The brothers listened intently, even Mikey. None of them have heard their father talking about what it was like to raise them alone in the sewer with no help or guide. “My worst fears were of one of you dying or… being alone. Alone like I was after I lost my family. Having to fend for yourselves and being unable to relax or be children. I refused to let that happen to any of you.” 

Splinter looked down at his clawed hands and thought about his now dead daughter “those kids are mutants like you, but they are small, weak, hungry, wounded, scared, and lost. That was my worst nightmare for each of you” Splinter stood and gestured for his sons to do the same.

“We must approach this with cation. Leo, tomorrow I want you to go to that spot again and bring the tots food. Something simple but filling. You will bring it to them and watch from afar to see what they will do then return home. If we wish to help them we must learn about them and gain their trust.” Leo nodded in understanding, realizing that in the eyes of small kids, a giant turtle breaking into your home and kidnapping you might not be the best approach. 

“When we find out more about the condition of the tots then we will find a way to bring them home.”

Leo pushed up the manhole cover that led out to the other side of the intersection. He had a paper bag held in his mouth as he quickly crawled out and darted in the shrubbery and out of the open.

Him and Mikey had packed four ham sandwiches and two ziplock bags full of trail mix. They had no idea how long it had been since the two tots had real food (If they ever have) so they wanted to make sure they had enough to last.

Leo quietly tracked through the woods, not wanting to draw the attention of the tots (or anything else out here). Eventually he found the den and crouched down into the shadows. Leo kept his head down and listened for any of the tots.

From in the den the faint sound of muffled whimpering could just barely be heard from where Leo was sitting. He frowned and clenched his teeth wishing Sensei was letting them do more than just deliver food. 

Leo tossed the bag in front of the den before throwing a small rock inside the den inorder to get their attention. A fearful cry rang out before being quickly silenced. Leo winced and mouthed a sorry despite the tots inside not being able to hear him.

After a moment the large tot with the red bow crawled out on all fours. They were baring their sharp teeth and growled, scanning the area. Eventually they spotted the bag, digging their claws in the dirt they growled and lowered their head.

They slowly crept forward and sniffed the bag. Circling it a few times and glaring at it as if staring at it hard enough would reveal what was inside. The tot must have run out of ideas cause they looked over at the den and chirped loudly at the entrance.

When the tot turned Leo tensed. Their shell was in clear view and… somehow it was worse than the slash on the purple ones shell. There were holes in their shells.

Multiple holes about the size of the kids fist dotted the spiked shell. You could see flesh, mussel, and tissue all exposed to the elements. They didn’t seem new but they don’t look like they've healed at all. 

Leo shook his head to try and look away from the red tots' mutilated shell. The purple tot with the equal messed up shell crawled out of the den and hobbled over to the bag on two feet. The purple one had weird gold stains covering their hands, plastron and they looked rather stressed. The red one looked at the other and nudged the bag with his claw and chirped. The purple one examined the bag and circled it a few times like the other had done.

This allowed Leo to see that the purple one had a weird shaped shell. It was fairly flat and a little bumpy looking, spinny ridges could be seen through the center. ‘Is their shell deformed or something? Why can’t these two keep their dang shells intact?’ Leo thought. 

His thoughts were interrupted however by the tell-tale tell sound of a paper bag being opened. The purple one had finally opened the bag. 

They peered inside curiously. It made Leo smile, it almost looked like normal kids exploring the world rather than two mutated siblings doing what they can to stay alive. Purple reached a small scared hand in and pulled out one of the sandwiches. 

Purple sniffed it and gasped, a small thing tail wagging. Red looked at the sandwich skeptically, seeming wary of the unknown food. They grabbed the bag and ripped it in half, causing the other three sandwiches and the trail mix to fall in their lap. 

Purple chirped happily and went to grab the rest of the food but was stopped by Red who snatched it away and held it out of reach. Purple whined but relented, peering questingly at Red. 

Red took the sandwich and opened it, looking at the ham, cheese, and ketchup inside. He separated the layers and laid them in front of them (On the dirty ground). Purple chirped and grabbed another sandwich and did the same.

Finally purple dumped out the trail mix and the two stared at the food for a long while before Red grabbed a piece of bread and began ripping it into smaller pieces. They did the same for all the food until everything was torn into bits about the same size as the bits of trail mix.

Leo watched in complete confusion as purple carefully piled them in four different piles each smaller than the last. Purple looked at Red for confirmation who nodded and chirped. Red pleased their head on Purples and purred affectionately. Purple smiled but pulled away rather quickly, shaking their hand.

The tots scooped up the piles and went back to their den, though Purple had to lean on Red for support. Due to the odd way they hobbled on their feet carefully holding the two piles of food seemed to upset their balance.

The Den was quiet for a while until Leo heard happy trills chirps from one of the tots inside. Leo smiled softly and sighed. Considering how weird they were acting with the food he was worried they weren't going to take it.

Feeling satisfied Leo turned and crept back home.

Splinter sat in the dojo facing his eldest as he was informed about the state of the tots and their behavior. Stroking his thin beard he nodded slowly. “Thank you Leonardo, I will take this into consideration” Leo bowed and stood to leave. But as he was about Leave to, he turned.

“Sensei… We are going to help them, right?” Splinter pause. The rat stared into his son's eyes. Leo’s eyes shone with a desperation he has only ever seen when his brothers are in danger. That determination burned in his soul and welded his resolve.

With a smile Splinter nodded “Yes, of course.” Leo sighed feeling relieved, glancing back at Splinter one last time before leaving, sliding the pale closed behind him.

Splinter let himself relax, listening to the silence as he thought about the tots and building an image in his mind of who they are.

Red was large, strong and protective, holding Purple close to shield them from the world. They are sturdy and insist on holding the struggles of their lives on their own. They don’t care about their own health and would most likely put themselves in great jeopardy for the sake of their siblings without hesitation or complaint. 

Purple was Brave and stubborn, head filled with ideas but being stopped due to limitations. They want freedom and life but are well aware of the gravity of their situation and chose to stay quiet in favor of making it through. When Red neglects themselves to care for Purple, they will take care of Red in turn.

They are lonely and only have each other. They cling to each other and their companionship for safety and comfort, willing and ready to face the world if they must.

Both are Strong.

Both are smart.

Both are resourceful …

But both are children- young children.

Children who are weak, wounded and vulnerable.

Splinter stood and walked to the small shrine of his lost family. His lovely Tang Shen and darling Miwa. He took the photo carefully in his hands and pressed his forehead to the photo.

His Tang Shen always knew how to help the lost and lonely. Splinter himself knew how to help others very well, but with the safety of such young children at stake… he wished he had her wisdom, her steady hand in his own, and kind words pushing him forward. 

His sons had told them how small they were and how the purple one hobbled on his feet as if his feet were uneven. Splinter remembered how when Miwa took her first steps she fumbled and fell, but stood back up so try again and again. 

He never got to see her master walking, just childish tumbling and flopping. He never got to see her run and play outdoors. She was gone. They both were.

Splinter placed the picture back on the mantel and bowed. 

The Ninja master called out to the spirits of his family in prayer, with only one request.

‘Please, help me save the children and help me give them a good life. Let me give them the childhood The Shredder stole from my Daughter.’  

Chapter Text

Leo has been conditioning to Leave sandwiches for them everyday for about two weeks (Now they only pack them with two sandwiches and one bag of trail mix). 

The oldest turtle brother had sometimes brought along one of his younger brothers, and each time they were all equally confused as to why the tots would go through such a weird long process before taking the food in their den. They were also left smiling at the happy chips of Purple and the soft thumping of Red's large tail every time they gave the two food (Raph refused to admit how cute their excitement was). 

They had taken to leaving giving them the food at noon everyday so they should hopefully learn to expect it. Donnie said kids that young shouldn't be eating raw bloody meat, so getting them to eat this instead of dead deer was rather important.

Leo was once again on his way to the kids' den, humming softly while wading through the brush. He wasn’t paying as much attention as normal so he recklessly walked right into the clearing the den was in. He didn’t even notice until he heard a gap from in front of the Den.

Purple was sitting just outside the den. He appeared to have been tying some sticks together with some random pieces of plastic, making an odd circle. Leo froze in place and Purple did the same.

They stared at each other for a moment before Purple scrambled to their feet. They picked up the wooden plank they had seen them with when purple was first spotted. They held the wood in front of them as if to attack. They breathed heavily and were shaking slightly but otherwise stood their ground. 

Leo stood as still as he could, knowing that sudden movement frightened the tots. Purple narrowed their eyes and crept towards Leo. they looked Leo up and down and growled slightly threatening the older.

He couldn't leave without giving them the food so he stood his ground and gripped the bag tighter in his hand. He didn’t want to startle them, if he did the tots might stop taking the food so Leo tried to relax his muscles while standing still.

Purple glared at Leo but they seemed to get the hint that he wasn’t going to be moving they did something that caught Leo off guard.

“... leave… ”  

Their voice was small and hoarse, they clearly didn’t speak often making the words sound more like a whimper than a word. Leo looked down at the shaking kid sympathetically, wanting so bad to scoop them up and take them somewhere safe. He knew however doing that would do nothing to get them to trust him.

Leo got ready to run and toss the food behind him but before he could, Red crawled out and they looked livid .

Red pushed Purple to the ground behind them and screeched loudly, claws bared and beak wide. Purple tried to get back on their feet but Red kept them down. 

Cursing under his breath Leo slowly raised his hands to show he meant no harm, the bag still held tightly.  

Red stilled at the sight of the bag and their eyes went wide. Purple chipped frantically to Red, seemingly trying to calm them down. Leo glanced at the bag then back at the confused chattering tots. He lowered himself slowly to the ground, ignoring the warning growls from Red.

Leo placed the bag carefully on the ground and began to back away. The two stared at him, Red with hate and fear, Purple conflicted and confused. Before turning to leave Leo looked Red directly into their pale yellow third eyelid. “We’re going to help you. It will be ok.” 

And with that Leo disappeared back into the shadows Darting back off into the woods and away from the tots.

Leo was back in the woods the next day perusal to deliver the tots' food. Though he did get chewed out by Splinter and Donnie for slipping up and scaring them.

Leo's sweat dropped as he remembered Donnie's long lecture about the long term effects of trauma and how much of a tricky it is to build up trust with kids like them. If it wasn’t for Sensei going off on him as well he would have just tuned out.

It was a surprise how dedicated Splinter became when it came to the tots. He supervised the making of each sandwich and gave all of them a run down on child care for whenever they finally brought the two Mutant kids to safety.

Leo thought back to when Sensei opened up about his fears and struggles. These tots were his worst nightmare come true… all the more reason to get them to safety.

This time he was careful, not walking into the clearing, and staying in the shadows. Leo waited for a while, not doing anything. He wanted to make sure Purple didn’t pop their head out of the den or for Red to appear behind him to defend their home. While waiting he noted that the thing Purple was making from sticks and plastic turned out to be a make-shift door that was covering the entrance of the den.

Leo smiled at their resourcefulness. Donnie would have fun with them, he could teach them how to build all kinds of things. 

It turned out to be a good decision to wait, cause while crouched in the brush Purple came rushing out. They looked frustrated and confused, flapping their hands and having an even harder time keeping their balance than normal.

Leo’s brow furrowed in worry, watching the tot pace. (It reminded the oldest turtle of when donnie hits a roadblock on a difficult project) 

Purple suddenly paused and had a look of realization. They looked around the clearing for a moment, rubbing their throat and bouncing on the balls of their feet.

Purple opened their beak as if to speak but closed it and furrowed their brow. They opened and closed their mouths a few more times, squeaking and chirping in frustration. They managed to croak out a sound that almost sounded like actual words but was still indecipherable.

They shook their head violently and they hit their forehead with their fist a few times. Leo leaned in, wanting to know what they're trying to do but not wanting to scare them like yesterday. 

Eventually they managed to spit out what they were trying to say, despite they’re struggling.

“ h-h-h h help… help! ”

That was all Leo needed to ignore the orders from Sensei and Donnie. He emerged from the shadows and looked down at the tot. They yelped and fell backwards. 

Leo kneeled and spoke softly and quietly. “Hello, I’m here to help. What's wrong?” The tot stared up at Leo and gulped but managed to drag themselves back to their feet to face Leo. They raised a shaking finger and pointed to the den before once again muttering…

“ help” 

Chapter Text

“ help ”

Purple didn’t trust him, Red even less so. He was a stranger, and to them that automatically meant hostile. Leo understood and respected that but it made it hard to help them when you can’t approach them. 

Which is why Leo felt his stomach drop when Purple whimpered out that single word. Whatever happened had made the weary tot willingly ask him for help. Leo would do everything in his power to help.

He looked to the entrance of the den where Purple was pointing. “Are you ok? Is Red- The bigger one hurt?” Purple stared for a moment before turning back to the den. Leo was confused, didn’t they need help? His questions were answered when Purple looked behind them and waved them over .

“ help ” 

Leo’s mouth parted in an “O” once he understood. Purple entered the den and Leo rushed to follow. Purple was much smaller than him, all they had to do was duck and they could go through just fine but Leo had to lay on his plastron and drag himself with his elbows to make it in (Getting scratched by branches all over)

Finally Leo managed to worm his way in. It was a somewhat hollowed out bunch of bushes. The dirt floor was lined in dirty blankets stained with blood and that weird gold liquid that stained the tots every now and then. The torn up food was all separated into four piles of varying sizes, hidden in the leaves of the bushes.

 As Leo wedged his way in, a sharp chip cried out. It was Red… and they were not happy. Their eyes shone with terror, but Red seemed unwilling to let that get in the way. Their beak opened in a way only snapping turtles could, revealing all of their sharp teeth ready to rip apart his flesh.

Leo was lying awkwardly in the Den, half on his side, half on his butt, propped up on his elbows while most of his legs were in the tunnel still. Needless to say, dodging an attack from the protective tot would be impossible.

Luckily Purple reached up and held Reds beak in their small scarred hands before croaking out, “ help”. Red Paused and looked down at Purple then back up to Leo. 

Leo wasn’t sure how to gain Reds favor but he had to try something. Leo placed one of his hands over his heart and repeated Purple “Help.” 

Red narrowed their eyes but reluctantly untensed and shrunk into Purple's hold. Leo looked around trying to find out why Purple needed help, and quickly spotted a nest in the corner of the den.

It was built from dirty blankets, pillows, sticks and hardly seemed comfortable. But in the nest was a figure, partially hidden in shadow, that stared at him with red eyes so bright they almost seemed to glow. Leo was suddenly hit with the realization of what was in the nest.

It was another tot!  

Said tot became more clear as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the den. They were just as small as the other two but appeared to be at least a bit taller than purple. It was hard to tell due to the darkness but a bow was also tied around their neck as well, this one being blue. What was obvious however was that they were albino. They’re a pale creamy white all over and had red markings over their face and arms- oh.

Markings all over the only arm they had .

A scarred stump was all that was left of what might have been a left arm once upon a time. Their plastron was horribly cracked and just barely healed.

Leo gulped and looked at them in horror as they simply looked back at him, curious. Leo noticed they had something orange cradled in their arm. The Albino Tot looked over at the other two and spoke, seemingly much better than the other two (If Red could talk at all). 

“Who’s that?” Leo took a breath in and out before answering, calming himself. “I’m Leo, I was brought to help.” Leo saw Purple nod and Red growl. “Help?” The albino questioned. 

Leo nodded, giving the blue wrapped Albino a smile. They looked down at the thing held in their arm and then back to him. 

They began awkwardly trying to crawl out of the nest while still holding the orange thing in their only arm. Purple rushed forward and helped the other out of the Nest. When out Purple supported the Albinos left side as they began walking.

To be honest it was less like walking and more like purple dragging the Albino cause it didn’t seem like they were moving their feet much at all, just enough to stay standing. 

When close enough the blue themed Albino held out their arm to the older. “Help, the small one.” Leo looked at the orange thing and gasped.

That was no object…

IT WAS AN EVEN SMALLER TOT!? HOW MANY OF THEM WERE THERE-

Wait.

…

Oh no.

They weren't moving. 

The small turtle held in the blue Albinos arms was small enough to fit easily in cupped hands. Thin and fragile. 

Loose blood and gold stained bandages were wrapped around their small arms and legs, partially counseling yellow spots that dotted their frame. The hairline fractions over their plastron and shell on the other hand were on full display.

Hurt by something unknown, despite being so young.

And just like the others and the bow was tied around their neck, theirs was orange and too big for them.

The four were a family.

Siblings.

Just like him and his brothers.

…

But this small tot was not only not moving,

...

They weren’t breathing.

Still as a-

as a-

…

-as a corpse.

“Give them to me.” The Blue Albino frowned and looked at him suspiciously. “Why?” Leo’s breathing had quickened and fear coursed through him. None of them even seemed to understand what this meant, that their smallest member could be Dead .

“So I can help! Please, they don’t have much time!” Blue stared at him intently as if trying to see into his soul. After far too long in Leo's opinion Blue gave him the small orange child. Purple let out a low churr of worry and Red sat protectively in front of the other two, growling and staring intently at the smaller.

They were so small, and so, so still. Leo felt like the infant would shatter in his hand if he wasn’t careful. 

When he and his brothers had been tots themselves there had been an incident where Raph got himself stuck at the bottom of a pond. While they were turtles and could hold their breath for a long time, Raph had swallowed a lot of water and by the time Splinter got him out of the water… Raph had gone still.

Leo didn’t like thinking about that but it reminded him of something important. When they were tots, freshly mutated, their Plastrons were relatively soft. Thanks to this they could perform cpr a lot easier than they can now. (They learned this with Mikey during a mission he definitely didn’t like to think about)

With that Leo took a deep breath and carefully laid orange on the dirt below. He tilted their small chin up, placing a finger on their neck, looking for a heartbeat…None. 

Very carefully Leo used one hand to keep the infant's head tilted up and and used the other to place a finger just above the center of their Plastron.                                                                                                                                                            With careful precision he began giving the child cpr. Leo was careful not to press down too far and to make sure he does the needed 30 compressions. 

The other tots looked on in confusion. Red was still growling, Purple was glaring, and Blue looked curious. Leo knew he had to ignore them for now, but knowing that these kids knew so little about the world that they didn’t even seem to know what it means for someone's heart to stop beating…

It made his heart break.

After the 30 compressions Leo stopped and quickly lowered his head. Making sure their head was tilted up to keep their airways open Leo pressed his beak over the tots mouth and nose, giving two rescue breaths before going back to the compressions.

…

3 minutes.

3 minutes.

3 MINUTES.

3. GOD. DAMN. MINUTES.

That's how long it took for Leo to get a response from the fragile tot. And who knows how long they’re heart had been still for before he got here.

But after 3 long, terrifying minutes, the tot took in a shaky gasping breath and began to spasm. Leo sighed in relief and stopped giving cpr. The other tots chirped and gasped at the sight of the smallest moving again. Red moved forward to grab them… but something was wrong.

The spasms weren’t stopping, they were getting worse.

Their breathing was desperate and erratic, like they were still only getting the bare minimum amount of air to keep moving.

Leo had brought them back… but they were still dying.

Leo picked up the gasping tot and held them close. Red growled and opened their wide beak wide as a threat, even Blue was glaring.

He couldn't just leave with the smallest and come back for the others… Fuck it, he had no time to worry about building trust. 

Leo quickly forced his way out of the den and stumbled to his feet. The other 3 followed quickly behind, chirping and screeching. Blue was on Reds shell, and Purple was holding the makeshift staff thing, and all were burning threatening glares through him.

Leo kneeled and spoke frantically to the protective tots. “Listen to me. I may have managed to get them moving again, but they won’t stay that way if you don’t come with me!” Blue narrowed their eyes angrily mumbled. “Don’t trust… give back.” 

The older turtle looked down at the gasping infant. Their small body spasmed and twitched. Little hands trying to grab at their throat and chest only for a violent twitch to pull at their body. The twitching and struggling made whatever wound the bandages were hiding to begin bleeding.

They were already dying! they couldn’t afford to lose blood as well!

Leo held the tot closer and locked eyes with Red. “Kid. I can tell you're the oldest, I can tell you're worried, I know you don’t trust me but you all have to come with me.” Little orange gasped and stilled for a moment, not breathing, before going back to wheezing… They were crying now.

Red looked at the smaller and whimpered. “Please come with me. I said I’d help and I did! They're moving again… but if I don’t get them more help, they will stop moving for good.” 

Red now had tears building in their eyes, and their spiked shoulders began to shake. Blue whispered something in their ear that caused Red to nuzzle Blue's head. 

Blue looked up at Leo and nodded. “Help little one.” Leo smiled in relief. “Good, now-” Looking at Red, Leo asked, “Can you carry the other two? We have to move Fast ” Red furrowed his brow and looked at Blue, who whispered into their ear

Red chipped and whipped away their tears before moving to hold Blue in their arms and gesturing for Purple to get on top of Their shell. Purple looked down at the wood staff and grumbled before tossing it to the ground and hopped on Red's shell.

Leo stood and tried to shush Little Orange, who was still gasping for air in his arms. “It’s ok little one, my brothers will be able to help you.” Leo looked down at Red “Keep up kid” With that Leo darted off into the thick of the wood.

Red chirped in surprise but followed quickly behind just as Leo hoped. Purple squeaked and hid their face in Red's shell, while Blue giggled at the speed. 

Rather quickly they made it to the sidewalk and while waiting for the other tots, Leo kicked open the manhole cover and pet Orange's head. The amount of times they were completely freezing due to lack of oxygen was becoming more and more frequent. 

Red and the others clumsily burst from the thicket looking around for Leo. “Over here!” Leo called. Red looked over and Leo jumped down into the manhole. Red followed and once again continued to sprint after Leo.

Leo had no idea what was happening with Orange. Spasms tend to happen after Cpr but they shouldn't be getting worse and Cpr shouldn't be leaving this kid clawing at their throat, desperate for air.

Leo may have no idea what to do but he knew Donnie would. He sprinted down the tunnels, making sharp turns and dashing past familiar landmarks. He cheeked behind him to make sure Red was keeping up, which he was! However he was clearly getting tired and was mostly running on adrenaline. 

Soon Leo spotted the railroad track of the abandoned subway tunnel and was about to speed up when he noted exactly how tired Red was getting. 

Leo cursed to himself and slowed down. Red chipped at him confused and then squealed in surprise as Leo scooped the other three tots up and went back to running. 

Red hugged Purple and Blue tight while growling at Leo. Luckily for Leo he could see the opening to his layer and he smiled in relief. He sped up and rounded a sharp corner. Finally he was home, and this time with the tots. But he couldn't celebrate, not when Orange was dying in his arms.

“DONNIE!! GET OUR MEDICAL SUPPLIES READY NOW!!!” 

Chapter Text

The two tots found in the woods had made life a bit… harder for Donnie. 

Not much has changed at the moment but they have been plaguing his mind and making it hard to focus on work.

First and foremost how were they even mutated? How long have the two been out there? Where do all those scars come from? Were they Human or Turtle before they were mutated? Why is Purple a soft shell and Red an alligator snapping turtle? Were they capable of complex thoughts? Or were they purely animalistic and working on instinct? How were they-

“Ow!”

And that endless thought train is how Donnie kept getting so distracted… and how he missed the door and walked straight into the door frame. 

Donnie rubbed his now acing beak and groaned before properly exiting the kitchen. Mikey was on the couch playing games on his T-phone, Raph was in his room, Sensei was most likely in the Dojo, and Leo was out getting food to the tots.

The turtle made his way to his Lab and sat down exasperated on his chair. Donnie rubbed his head and tried to remember what projects he’d been working on but he drew a blank. He was getting frustrated at how much of his Brain those tots were taking up. They either need to bring them home or simply forget about them if he ever wants to start getting work done again. 

Donnie was just going to tinker with his T-phone for a while to distract himself but was interrupted by a desperate shout from the entrance of the layer. 

“DONNIE!! GET OUR MEDICAL SUPPLIES READY NOW!!!”

The purple turtle shot up from his chair and ran out of his lab. “Leo!? What's happening?” Was Leo hurt? Why did he sound so scared? He never allowed himself to showcase fear in front of his younger brothers. 

Mikey sat up in surprise from the shout and looked around to see what was happening. Both Mikey and Donnie saw Leo sprint into the layer holding something in his arms.

“DONNIE! I SAID GET MEDICAL SUPPLIES!!” Mikey looked at Leo as he dashed past the two and into Donnie's lab. Donnie looked over at Mikey and held a hand up as Mikey went to stand up. “Stay here Mike, and tell the others not to interrupt”

At that Donnie rushed into the Lab after Leo. Mikey knew that Donnie and Leo were the most Medically minded of their family and didn’t want them getting in the way but Mikey was getting super worried.

Donnie followed Leo, completely confused as to what was going on “Leo! What's happening!?” the older placed what he was holding onto a counter in his lab. The Scientist quickly recognized the small scarred form of Purple and Red. They were holding on to each other tightly, Purple trembling and Red Hissing and growling at Leo.

Had this idiot just grabbed the two and ran!! “Leo what the shell have you done do you know-” That when Donnie saw a third pale tot held in Reds arms who was examining the surroundings.

“There are three of them!!!” Red spotted him and held the smaller two closer and backed away, clearly scared and distrustful. Leo was at another table and had placed something down on a smaller counter near the center of the lab before speaking frantically. 

“No, there's four! And I need you now.” Donnie’s eyes widened when seeing that what Leo had placed on the Table was another tot! This one seeming to only be an infant.

Shaking his head Donnie decided to unpack this later and joined Leo at his side. “What happened?” The little thing on the counter was wrapped in bandages, an orange bow and was trembling violently while gasping.

“Purple came to me asking for help and Led me to Orange here. T-they weren't moving and had no pulse or breath. I performed Cpr for about 3 minutes and bought them back but then they began having a seizure and couldn’t seem to breathe. It’s been about 17 minutes since I performed Cpr and it’s only gotten worse. Their breathing has already completely stilled multiple times and-and- Dee their dying, and I don’t know what to do.”  

Donnie felt a wave of emotions rush through him but he knew that wasn’t the time for that so he pushed aside his feelings and questions in favor of saving this small weak infant. Donnie pushed Leo out of the way and held a finger to the tots neck to check their pulse.

His brow furrowed in worry when feeling how fast their heart was breathing and how sharp and desperate their breathing was. Donnie quickly deduced that they must be having heart palpitations and the shortness of breath ethier bad a panic attack, asthma, something lodged in their throat ect.

Donnie also noted the bandages stained with fresh blood. “Leo I need you to unwrap those bandages, clean whatever wound the kid has and apply new fresh bandages” Leo nodded and rushed to action, digging through drawers for needed supplies while Donnie went looking for things to fix the breathing problem.  

After gathering the needed materials, removing his hand wrappings and washing his hands as fast as he could, while still being clean, Leo dumped them on the counter and carefully took one of Orange's small arms in his hand. He peeled off the old bandages, which was sticky and stiff from age, getting a look at the damage.

Their whole palm was red and tender, skin being nothing but a large scab all the way up to the wrist. The scars then break off into thinner lines that reach to their up to shoulder.

While in the middle of their seizure they must have broken open some of the scabs. Dark red-ish brown blood was smeared all over their wound and more was seeping from the opened scars. 

Leo carefully wiped off the smeared and dried blood before he took a cotton swab and dipped it in hydrogen peroxide and began gently pressing it to the scabs. They cried out in pain and the spasms and twitches got worse. Leo had to carefully but firmly hold them down to continue. “Shush shush, It’s ok I know it hurts but I got you.” 

Their breathing became worse but Leo knew he had to do this. Donnie would fix their breathing and everything would be ok. 

Leo finished one arm and quickly applied a cream to the wounds before he grabbed the roll of gauze bandages and tore them a few times. He carefully wrapped it around the arm and gently laid it down.

Their breathing was desperate and pained and Leo’s soul aced knowing all he could do at the moment was reapply bandages. 

Leo was just about to continue to the next arm but the child choked on one of their breaths and their breathing stoped entirely. He quickly forgot about their bandages and drew his attention to their breathing… or lack thereof.

Thinking fast Leo tilted their little head up, he pressed his beak to the tot and performed two rescue breaths… Nothing.

He tried again

…

Nothing.

Again,

…

Nothing

“Donnie! They stopped breathing!” Leo felt for a pulse and sighed in relief when he felt the far to fast heart beat. But Leo knew that their heart would stop within a few short minutes or even seconds if they couldn’t get air in their lungs.

Donnie rushed over a cart he had filled with medical supplies and moved in front of the twitching breathless child. Donnie performed a rescue breath on the child as well but nothing happened. 

Donnie had put goggles on at some point and pulled them on over his eyes. “Hold them down.” Leo nodded and did as was told while he continued to whisper comforts to the child, even if they couldn’t hear him.

Taking a deep breath Donnie took a device resembling a metal hook and inserted it into Orange's mouth and carefully opened it. He clicked a button on it and a flashlight turned on allowing Donnie to find what he was looking for. 

Using the hook Donnie found the epiglottis, a flap of flesh that separated the windpipe from your esophagus. Donnie used the hook to push open the flag and reached to the tray to grab the next tool needed but was interrupted by a sharp pain in his ankle.

“AHH!” Donnie removed the hook and looked down. Red had at some point crawled down off the table and had sunk their teeth into his scales.

Leo looked down and cursed. Letting go of Orange he dropped to his knees and grabbed Red's beak, trying to pry them off his brother so Donnie can go back to saving the kid's life. 

Donnie shook in pain and winced but he knew he couldn’t stop. He grabbed the tool again and placed it in the infant's mouth, finding the epiglottis again. With shaking hands he pushed back the flap and felt around for the next tool while staying focused on keeping a steady hand.

After a lot of growling and hissing from Red, a ton of blood on the two of them Leo managed to get Red off. “K-Kid stop! We're helping, you have to trust us!” Red only snarled and lunged at Leo.

He grabbed hold of their beak and made sure to keep it open and not biting down. However this meant Leo was well within scratching distance and the tot began tearing up Leo's hands, wrists and forearms. Whatever, Leo knew he could handle it. He just had to keep Red off Donnie while he worked. And besides it wasn’t Red's fault, he didn’t understand that what they were doing was saving Orange. Leo knew that in the eyes of a kid, medical treatments can look scary.

Donnie was beginning to feel light headed but he pushed forward. He slid a tube down next to the hook and pushed in past his vocal cords and down his windpipe. Donnie pressed a series of buttons on the side of the goggles and his vision backed out.

Gradually the pale blue light of the kids X-ray appeared. Donnie could see the outline of the tube and moved it carefully in order to place it properly in the windpipe. Orange’s body jerked and turned as their legs spasmed. 

Donnie wiped sweat off his brow, ignoring how dizzy he was getting in favor of getting this kid breathing again. 

Finally the tube was situated properly and Donnie pulled out the hook and left the tube in. He yanked the goggles off his face and threw them to the ground as stubble on his feet, the blood loss getting to him. Donnie had forgotten exactly how powerful a snapping turtle's bite was.

But he wasn’t done! He still had to tape the tube in place and get the ventilator on or this would all be pointless. Donnie clumsy grabbed some random scotch tape that was on the cart and shakily pulled off a piece of tape and secured the tube.

Leo was still on the ground holding Red back while said tot tore up his arms. “I’m sorry kid I’m sorry-” 

“Leonardo!” Leo's head snapped over to the door of Donnie's Lab to see Splinter standing tall in the door frame taking in the scene.

Splinter was very confused when Mikey came to him saying Leo and Donnie had run off into the lab, but now that he was here he understood Mikey’s concerns. 

Leo had apparently brought the tots home without consulting him and it didn’t seem to be going well.

Splinter quickly took note of the fact that he had been told that there were only two tots, but despite this he could clearly see the one he presumed to be Purple holding an albino child close while hissing. Leo himself was currently holding off an angry Red while Donnie was slumped over a metal counter.

Splinter quickly kneeled behind Red and pulled their head away from his son and forced their beak shut. The child trashed but Splinter held them close, pining their arms to their side.

Leo scrambled back and gasped in relief, being freed from the endless attack of Red’s protective fury… Now It’s his Sensei's fury he needs to worry about.

Splinter glared accusingly at his eldest son. “Leonardo. Why have you brought them here so soon?” Leo flexed his bleeding hands and breathed in sharply through his teeth 

“I went to bring them f-food and-and- owww” Leo grit his teeth. “-One of them wasn’t Breathing… I-I had to help- geez Red’s got some claws” 

Splinter's eyes wandered up to the two tots on the counter. Purple was still hissing while the Albino stared intently at Donnie. Both seemed fine… The ninja master turned to his second youngest. He was hastily activating a machine that had several wires extending to something on the counter.

From his spot on the floor, he could see on the table the form of a small child, trembling slightly. Splinter furrowed his brow as he did his best to examine the small tot from his vantage point.

Sighing, Splinter responded. “I understand… So there are four of them?” Leo nodded. He had crawled his way to the sink in Donnie's lab and was running his burning arms under the water, to  try and clean them. 

A beep from the machine and fan inside began making a soft humming. The ventilator was on! Donnie looked down at Orange… it was working! Donnie breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of the fragile tots chest going up and down. 

Wiping more sweat from his face Donnie cheeked the tots pulse and found it had slowed to a more steady pace. The kids' spasms had mostly stopped, now it was only faint shaking. “They’ll make it… I just have to change… the… rest of the…” 

Donnie slumped to the ground and moaned. “Wow… I need to pass out…” Splinter, still holding the struggling Red, looked over at Leo who was wiping up his blood with towels. “Leonardo, tend to- Oh!” 

Purple had leapt from the table they were on and dashed over to Donnie. The tot clambered up Donnies limp form and made it to the metal counter Orange was on. “Ohhh my goddd” Donnie mumbled in pain.

With great effort Donnie forced himself to his feet despite the world spinning. Purple was shaking Oranges now sleeping form and reached to grab the breathing tube in their mouth. “NO stop!!” 

Purple churred in confusion, glaring at Donnie, “K-Kid listen they weren't breathing. This is keeping them alive so don’t touch that.” Purple pulled Orange closer and narrowed their eyes. “breathing?...” Donnie looked at Purple baffled, Does the kid not know the word breathing? “Uhhh you know when your chest goes up and down?” 

Purple looked down at Orange and pressed a small hand to Orange’s small chest, feeling the shallow breaths of the tot. “Up… down… up… down…” they mumble this quietly to themselves over and over.

Blue drags themselves over to the edge of the table to try and look over at Purple and Orange. “Breathing is… Up, down? Alive is what?” Donnie didn’t answer however because he was too busy making sure Purple didn’t pull out Orange's breathing tube and also doing his best to not pass out due to blood loss. 

Splinter felt Red’s struggling stop. They looked between Blue, Donnie, Purple, Orange, and Splinter. Splinter loosened  his hold on the tot and they looked up at Splinter confused. 

“Alive, Is when someone is with you, moving and happy. when they go still they are dead.” Splinter answered Blues' question in soft and simple words so the child could understand. They tilted their head and placed their chin on the table, gaze shifting to Oranges barely breathing form.

Red slowly crawled from Splinter's lap. They eyed Leo as he wrapped gauze around his arms. He looked back and smiled at them… Red just growled.

Donnie had successfully convinced Purple not to take out the tube and was about to begin patching up his ankle but the world didn’t seem to like Donnie today. Red latched on to Donnie’s leg and began crawling up him like a bleeding out turtle shaped tree. 

Just as Red made it up to the metal counter Donnie finally lost the battle of consensus. “Ok… fuck this… I-I… I’m out….” and with that Donnie fell to the ground. 

Splinter sighed and ushered Leo over. “My son, please take care of Donatello. I will stay with the children, and I will talk with you and your brothers later” Leo groaned and picked up a med kit on a shelf. He Gripped the handle of the med kit in his mouth and scooped up Donnie.

Splinter watched his sons leave and stood. He saw how the blue clad Albino looked longingly at the other tots. The Rat stood and turned to them. Slowly, Splinter raised his hands and gently lifted little Blue.

They squeaked and squirmed for a moment but stopped the moment he was placed on the same counter with the others. 

Blue dragged themselves over to Red and rubbed their head lovingly on their Leg. Splinter finally took a moment to examine the four… and despite having already been told the state of Red and Purple his heart still broke at the sight of them.

Red, Purple and Blue all had badly damaged shells. Red as holes in their, Purple had 3 longclaw marks that had ripped through the sensitive softshell, and Blue had a newly healed crack that went from the top to the bottom of the shell right in the center. 

Blue had deep scarring on both legs that seemed to severely hinder their ability to walk and move their legs. And that's not even to mention the scarred stump of an arm.

Little Orange seemed to be asleep finally and only trembling slightly. Purple was carefully holding Orange as Red hovered over them. Red kept trying to grab Orange's breathing tube but kept being stopped by Purple who slapped away their head while saying “no! Up down” 

Blue had curled themselves up on Red's lap and was gently holding Orange’s small hand while mumbling softly “don’t be still…” 

Splinter grabbed a stool and sat down. He would leave them alone for now, letting them have time to calm and adjust. 

Red was the largest and about as tall as his own boys when they were newly mutated. The rest were considerably smaller than Red and even more fragile. Splinter couldn’t stop thinking about how they ended up like this to begin with.

But that didn’t matter right now, what mattered was helping them. Helping them heal. and preventing them from being hurt further.

Now that they were home, Splinter would do everything in his power to save them from whatever had hurt them.

Nothing would hurt them again.

Nothing .

Chapter Text

Splinter and the turtle brothers once again sat in the Dojo. It’s been a day since Leo brought the Tots back. Splinter had made sure they all stayed in the Lab, putting them all to bed last night. 

Leo’s arms were properly cleaned and wrapped, Donnies leg stitched up. And it was finally time to have a talk about this as a family.

“So, let me get this right-” Raph said “The two of you… got beat up… by some freaking kids!” The two glared at Raph while he laughed, Mikey was also chuckling. Splinter should in theory step in but even the wise master had to admit it was rather funny.

“Yeah, Ha Ha very funny Raph” Donnie clenched his teeth and fists “When was the last time you got bit by an Alligator Snapping Turtle, huh?” the Red themed brother rolled his eyes “Well I probably wouldn't be whining about it nerd.”  

Splinter decided now was a good time to step in, considering Donnie looked ready to bite Raph’s entire leg off to see how he liked it. The Rat cleared his throat “Boys, back to the topic at hand.” 

The four returned their attention to sensei. “Now, if you hadn’t noticed there are 4 tots rather than 2. The two new ones are more grievously injured then Purple and Red. Little Blue is missing an arm and struggling to walk, and little Orange seemed to have breathing problems, and their heart had stopped beating for a considerable amount of time.”

The boys grew more serious when reminded of the condition the tots were in. Donnie spoke up, his medical knowledge rearing its head. “Leo had said he spent about 3 minutes trying to get Orange's heart beating. We also don’t know how long their pulse was out before Leo got there, but it realistically couldn’t have been more then 5 or 2 minutes at most.- we should also take into account the amount of time between Leo getting them here and me getting them hooked up to the ventilator because while their heart was beating during that time, they had stopped breathing multiple times which could affect their-” 

“Donatello.-” Donnie stopped his rambling and looked up at his Sensei. “If you don’t mind, could you simply get to the point?” Donnie blushed in embarrassment and nodded “U-uhm right. It just means that Orange most likely has brain damage, ideally they were only out for 5 minutes which should only be minimal to mild damage… however there is a rather likely chance it could be worse.”

Splinter hummed in understanding and paced for a moment. “What are the most likely symptoms to look out for?” Donnie paused to think before shrugging “Seizures most likely, but with brain damage, you never know until you have to deal with.” Mikey finally decided to be relevant to the plot and waved his hands in the air “Then we gotta be there to support the little Dude!”

“I’m not sure that's a good idea Mikey, their very skittish and protective” Leo warned, but Mikey just scoffed “Yeah well we haven’t scared the shells off them, unlike you guys, so me and Raphie will probably have a better time than the two of you” 

“Wait me??” Raph questioned. Mikey elbowed him and grinned “Yeah man! I need your animal care expertise if we want to become their favorites!” Splinter raised a brow at his youngest “They are children Michelangelo, not pets, you know that… right?” Mikey just blinked and tilted his head. “What's the difference?”

Splinter opened his mouth to retort but figured It would be like arguing with a brick wall. “... Fine you may go see them. But do not touch them, keep your voice low so you don’t scare them and keep your distance in case Red feels the need to defend their siblings”

Mikey gave Splinter a salute with the wrong hand, grabbed Raph by the arm and dragged him across the layer to Donnie’s Lab.

Leo stared after the two for a while. “Sensei, is it a good Idea to send them alone?” Splinter simply nodded with a small smile. “Yes.” Donnie looked at his Sensei skeptically “Mikey thinks Kids are pets and vice versa.” Splinter responds with a sly grin “Yes well if they rile up little Red, they will most likely wipe the floor with those two and you both can have your payback for their teasing.”

Mikey carefully opened the door to Donnie’s lab and scanned for the Tots. They all seemed to be awake, even Orange! The smallest was flapping their little arms while in Blues hold, they seemed to be trying to grab the breathing tube but Purple kept stopping them with a chirp. Red had their spiky head resting in front of Orange who was Bapping their forehead in between the flapping.

Mikey felt his heart melt “Awwwwww” he looked to Raph, who was just behind him “Even you have to admit that's adorable” He hit Mikey on the back of his head, but didn’t contest Mikey's statement. 

The brothers opened the door farther and caught the attention of the tots. They all turned to face the two, becoming alert. Blue pulled orange closer, Raph bared their teeth and Purple stood in front of them all. 

Mikey winked at Raph and lowered himself a little before scooting closer to the counter they were still on, but not to close “Hi little guys, I’m Mikey” Purple titled their head and churred in confusion. “Aw I like your shell purple, It looks so pretty!” Purple looked even more confused so Mikey turned a little and patted his own shell. “This is a ‘Shell’ the big thing on your back” 

Purple chipped and mimicked Mikey's motion. They looked a little surprised when they felt their own shell. They turned in a circle, similar to dogs trying to chase their own tail, in an attempt to get a look at their shell. 

Raph raised a brow “I guess they are a bit like pets…” he muttered

Purple gave up on trying to see their own shell when Blue started giggling and Orange started clapping. Now they seemed determined to say it “sh-sh-ssshhh” their face scrunched as they struggled through the word “Shhhh-shheee-sheeell” 

They turned to Blue who chirped and then to Mikey and Raph. “Good job little dude!” Mikey congratulated with small claps. Raph nodded and made a little turtle churr.

Mikey gasped and turned to his older brother “Dude you can speak Turtle!” Raph just rolled his eyes “We both can! They're just little noises of confirmation used by turtles, we’re both capable.” Mikey looked like he just discovered the answer to true happiness and world peace.

He took a breath in and out, stretched his jaw a bit and made a similar churring sound to Raph. His was more high pitched but it got the point across. Raph scoffed but responded with a found purr, a purr that Mikey repeated. He was grinning like an idiot and flapping his hands and shaking his head. “DUUUUUUUUDE!!!” 

While Mikey was distracted Raph’s gaze softened, allowing himself to express something other than being annoyed for a second.

Raph glanced at the tots and snorted out a laugh “Mikey look” all the tots were staring at them in shock. Orange kicking their legs and flapping their arms even faster, and if the breathing tube would have let them, they probably would have been squealing.

Blue chirped at Mikey and Raph while petting Orange. Mikey shuffled closer to the tots and didn’t get growled at by Red! They just watched Mikey with narrowed eyes. He chirped happily back at Blue. They smiled and the two chipped back and forth.

Raph slowly walked closer to the tots. Red eyed him nervously so Raph lowered Himself to be at eye level with them. Raph let out a low soft chur which was hesitantly returned by the tot. Raph gave a short happy chirp in response, which had Red’s thick tail thumping on the table.

Seemingly getting jealous from a lack of attention Purple chipped loudly at Mikey. Mikey turned his attention to Purple and smiled. They flapped their hands a little before saying actual words. “W-what that?” they pointed to the tube in Orange’s mouth. 

Mikey walked even closer to the tots and was happy to see the lack of flinching, fear, or anger. “It helps the little guy breathe-”“Up Down!”“Yup! Up Down keeps them Alive” Blue perked up and looked down at Orange who was making grabby hands at Red’s wagging tail.

“I like Alive… still is s-s-sc-scaryy” They struggled to say ‘scary’ but got it eventually. Mikey purred at Blue “I agree, and good job! That's a big word” "Big word…” Blue mumbled, nub tail wagging.

While Blue was distracted Orange crawled out of their lap… or tried to anyway. They ended up flopping onto their belly, they tried to push themself up but their underdeveloped wounded little arms and legs wouldn't let them. 

Tears welled up in their big yellow eyes and they began crying. They probably would have made noise if the tube wasn’t in their vocal cords. “Uh oh” Mikey said.

Red turned their attention away from Raph and chirped in worry at the sight of their crying sibling. Red scooped up the tot and chirped at them, They only continued to cry. Red reached for the breathing tube and seemed ready to pull it out. But before Purple or Blue could step in Raph grabbed Red's offending hand and hovered his other hand over Orange's mouth.

Red growled and slowly opened their beck. Raph quickly realized how strong Red's jaw was but Raph wouldn't let Them unintentionally hurt the infant they were clearly protective of. 

Pulling from his knowledge of animal care Raph kept himself low to the ground and softly shushed the two. He let go of Red’s hand to move his own hand under their jaw, and began softly scratching the tot. 

Red froze, a small shiver ran up their spine before melting into jelly, purring loudly at the motion. Mikey reached over and carefully lifted Orange into his own arms.

Blue and Purple watched intently as Mikey rocked the crying tot while Purring rhythmically. The crying gradually slowed until it was just sniffling, then they slowly drifted to sleep. Raph cocked a brow and churred at Mikey, rather Impressed. Mikey just smiled smugly.

Blue grew stiff. “Small one still…” they mumbled fearfully. Mikey waved a free hand dismissively “Don’t worry, Little Orange Isn’t dead, see-” Mikey held Orange out “Their chest is going Up and Down, That means their alive, just sleeping” Blue breathed a sigh of relief and rested a hand on Oranges plastron to feel the infant's breath.

They all sat in silence with only the sounds of purrs and churring to fill the room. Raph was still petting Red but he was lost in thought.

These kids were still hurt and they had know idea about the extent. They could have some kind of internal sickness, deformity, or injury. Donnie would need to give them a cheek up or something. 

He glanced at Orange sleeping soundly in his brother's arms. Raph was reminded of Donnie's warnings of Brain damage and seizures. 

Casey had once told him about how one of his teammates got a really bad head injury. Due to that, the guy now has seizures from time to time.

Apparently the seizures make him freeze up, even if he’s in the middle of something. His eyes go far away and he collapses. Casey was appointed as the one to time how long they're out, to make sure they're ok.  

When Casey told him about that all he could think about was how scary that must be. Seeing your friend randomly freeze and collapse…  

Raph gave a final scratch under Reds jaw before stopping. They chirped in confusion and pawed at Raph to get him to keep scratching. Raph gave the kid a pat on the head and turned to Blue and Purple. 

“Hey kids.” he said after a short chirp. The two turned their heads in unison, which was really creepy but he ignored it. “Do you guys know what a ‘Check up’ is?” Blue tilted their head and Purple smiled “What? What?” Mikey realized what Raph was leading up to.

Mikey bopped Purple on the nose before answering in Raph’s place “It’s to make sure your body works rights!” Blue looked between a curious Red and Purple “We work.” Raph chucked “Well we just got to be sure” 

Blue puffed out their cheeks in frustration and if they had the correct number of arms they would most likely be crossed. “We work, I know!” Mikey gave them a little pat on the head “I trust you little dude, being extra sure!” 

“When check?” Purple asked, a hand still on Orange's plastron. “Uhmmm” Mikey looked to his older brother for an answer “How about when Baby Orange wakes up?” Mikey nodded in agreement and carefully handed Orange to Blue “When The small dude opens their eyes, send the big dude to get me and Raph” 

Blue took a moment to chew on the words. They nodded slowly but paused. “What’s Raph?” Raph himself bit back a laugh while Mikey Purred fondly. He pointed to his brother, “He’s called Raph and I’m called Mikey. ” 

Going back to thinking Blue took another moment before speaking again “Small one’s eyes open, big one get r-raaph and Mik-ey” 

Even Raph couldn’t hide how his heart melted into a puddle when hearing the tot say his name. “Oh my goooossshhhhh my heart!” Mikey squealed, shaking Raphs arm. Raph himself was just letting out a long deep purr that bubbled from his chest.

Red Returned Raph purr and crawled over to their siblings. They pulled them all in closely and hugged them. 

“Come on Dude we gotta get outa here before we die of cuteness overload.” 

Leo and Donnie were watching space heroes on the couch when they heard the door to the lab open. They smirked at each other, ready to stick it to their brothers. But when they turned to face them not only were they unwounded but Mikey was stimming happily and raph was… chirping??? 

Donnie looked between the two suspiciously. “Sooo how’d it go? Looks like you only just avoided Reds protective wrath” Raph vaulted over the couch to sit with his brothers while Mikey continued to stim and run around. 

“Yup, just barely though. I had to stop them from pulling out Orange’s breathing tube, luckily it was easy to get them to stand down” Leo wiped his head around and grabbed Raphs shoulder “Did you hurt them!!” 

A shit eating grin cut across Raph's face as he shrugged “I had to do what I had to do. The kid wouldn't have backed off if I didn’t give ‘em a big scratch-""RAPH HOW COULD-""just under the jaw, made their big old tail wag. the head pats seemed to help too.” 

Still bouncing on his toes Mikey shouted “Their so cuuuuuute!!!” Leo and Donnie looked at Raph completely baffled “You… you pet Red???” Donnie asked in complete shock “Yup” Raph answered, popping the ‘P’ rather loudly “Turns out they are kinda like pets”

Leo sighed in relief while Donnie just looked between Mikey and Raph completely bewildered “Oh good, Don’t joke about that. But anyway, how are they?” 

“They're all fine, the only thing that happened was Orange falling on their face and crying. But Mikey got them asleep rather quickly” Donnie groaned into his hands, being reminded of the stitches in his ankle and itchy bandages.

“Oh by the way!” Mikey called out. He jumped over the couch and landed on the floor in front of the couch before plopping down crisscross “Red is going to come get us when Orange wakes up.” “Why?” Leo asked.

“So Donnie can perform a check up!” Donnie only groaned louder banging his hands on his forehead in frustration.

Mikey and Raph swapped looks. Mikey Purred happily and Raph chirped back.

“This is so funny!” 

Chapter Text

Hi all my fanfictions will be moving to my new account Hyacinths_Tears. nothing will change except the name of the author on the fic, you won't need too re-find this story, it's still me and still the same post. 

I have a Deviant Art and Tumblr if your interested. my DA has my art and comics, I'm working on a original Undertale AU comic over their called Undertale: Mutilate and Modify. also plenty of Tmnt and Undertale fanart and comics. my tumblr will be a lot more Fanfic orientated, that's where you can ask any questions about my ao3 stories and my writing. you can also see art and refs for my fanfic if anyone wants those in more details. My DA is under the name Hyacinthstears (no underscore) and my tumblr is hyacinththetmntfan. so if you want to see more of my junk go cheek that out if you want <3

anyway, a new chapter will hopefully come out soon I've just been super behind in school and I've got an essay due so I haven't have time to write lately.

so yeah, if you want to learn more about any of my fic's ask on Tumblr and if you want to see more of my art head over to DA <3 I can't wait to show you more of this story and more of my other stories!!

you will see more of the scarred turtle tots soon! 

Chapter Text

It’s been about two hours since Mikey and Raph left the tots. Leo and Donnie had calmed down from the shock, Though Donnie was still grumpy.

Mikey was off in the bathroom, Raph was in his room totally not drawing in his totally nonexistent sketch book and Donnie was doing what Mikey called “Girl dinner” and what Raph called “Sleep deprivation foraging”. So Leo was still in the Living room, still watching reruns of space heroes. 

And of course stuff started going down when he was alone trying to chill.

Captain Ryan was going on one of his super cool adventures. It was one of the more action packed episodes so it had Leo’s full attention, so much so that he almost missed the creaking of the door on Donnie’s lab. 

At first Leo just thought it was the Tv until he realized that a sound effect like that had never been used in space heroes before. So he turned to look behind the couch and his eyes went wide when he saw Red slowly creeping out from behind the door, scanning the room for threats… and before Leo could react, Red's yellow pupil-less and iris-less eyes landed on Leo.

Red stared at Leo, head lowering a little but didn’t growl. Remembering how Raph and Mikey were making weird turtle sounds Leo decided to try and do the same.

Evidently chirping wasn’t his strong suit because his “chirp” was more like a fusion between a squeak and croak, but it seemed to do the job. Red tilted their head and relaxed, confused about whatever the hell just bubbled from Leo's throat but recognising it as a friendly sound non the less.  

Red trotted over on their stumpy little feet (still keeping a distance). They looked around the room confused. It took Leo a moment to remember why Red was out here, but he quickly remembered Mikey and Raph saying Red would come get them when it was time for a check up.

Leo gave a little wave to the tot but they only stared. Sofly, Leo spoke up “Hi are you looking for Mikey and Raph?” they narrowed their eyes in suspicion but notably perked up when Leo mentioned his brother's name. The tot continued to examine the room, still keeping Leo at considerable distance. 

The confused searching eventually just got sad when Red looked under a cardboard box that only reached their waist and chirped, calling out for the two brothers. To hold in his laughter and stop the pathetic display Leo stood slowly and called out to the tot with his weird weak chirp. Red turned their head to him and churred instinctively.

Leo gestures them over, hoping to at least lead the kid to Raph. Red narrows their eyes and takes a step back. Leo lowered himself to one knee and smiled at the kid. “Raph and Mikey? Help?” He used simple words that Red knew, just to make sure he would catch their attention.

It worked cause Red perked up. Once again Leo tried to wave him over and this time Red hesitantly walked forward. They kept their body low to the ground, little claws sometimes grazing the ground creeping towards the teen. 

Leo once again stood and began walking backwards, Leading Red to Raph’s room. Red followed slowly looking up at Leo with big curious eyes. It took everything in Leo’s power not to scoop up the tot and smoother the cute baby in hugs but he knew it would unfortunately scare the poor thing.

When it was clear Red was following Leo turned around and walked normally, still moving slowly to make sure Red didn’t stop following. It was going fine until he heard a low churr behind him. Looking behind him, he saw Red disappear into the kitchen. 

Cursing under his breath, he rushed to the kitchen to see Donnie sitting on the kitchen counter sipping coffee innocently. Red had his head pressed up against the wall of the counter with his little claws digging into the wood. 

Before Leo could do anything Donnie noticed the tot. He yelped in surprise and instinctively pulled his injured leg up and close to his plastron. Leo winced as Red starred up wide eyed and unblinking at Donnie, a low growl bubbling from their throat.

Leo gulped in nervousness and took an awkward sip of coffee. Leo crept into the kitchen and waved awkwardly at Donnie. Said turtle was glaring at Leo while frowning deeply. He mouthed quietly to Leo saying something along the lines of “Get. Them. away.” 

Sighing at his younger brother's fear he called out to the tot “Hey Raph and Mikey are this way.” Red looked at Leo and blinked before giving Donnie a quick glare then backing away from the counter. 

Leo smiled at the kid and tried to get them to follow him again but Red seemed thoroughly distracted. They appeared to have caught a smell and were now rushed over to a cabinet.

Both Donnie and Leo realized that was where they kept their granola and trail mix stuff. Donnie took the opportunity to edge across the counter, away from the tot who was now opening said cabinet. 

“Come on kid let's- oh come on.” The tot had crawled into the cabinet and was now digging through the contents. Leo crouched in front of the open cabinet. Red was ripping open bags of food and digging through them. They grabbed handfuls and sniffed it before putting it aside and ripping open more bags and jars.

At first Leo was confused until he realized that the kid was taking food for their siblings. Leo smiled warmly in understanding and reached a hand out to the tot. “Let me get you some real food kid.”

Red tilted their head at Leo and Churred, unaware of what the teen wanted. Being patient with the tot he simply kept his hand out and said something he knew they would understand. “Help.” 

They perked up at that and their tail curled around them a bit. Slowly Red rose to a crouch and began to exit, avoiding Leo’s outstretched hand. Standing back up Leo thought for a moment, wondering what would be best to feed the tots. 

Donnie, who was still huddled up on the counter, was burning a hole in the side of his head with a piercing glare. “Leonardo, I swear if you are the cause of another kitchen appliance related disaster I will become Dr, Malpractice and end you.” Donnie whispered loudly and angrily to his older brother.

‘Ok, he’s in a bad mood,’ Leo thought nervously. Red was standing awkwardly in the center of the kitchen scratching and picking at the bumpy rough healed over scars on the back of their right hand. 

While deep in thought about what would be best to feed each tot (of course any ideas could not involve the oven, stove, microwave, toaster, any appliance that involves technology… other than the fridge). Because of how focused he was on this line of thought he failed to notice Mikey exiting the bathroom and walking though the living room. 

He did however notice when Red chirped and ran from the kitchen. Donnie breathed a sigh of relief and Leo’s head darted around. “Red??” After leaving the kitchen he saw a heart warming sight.

Mikey was crouched down in front of the tot and was purring softly while Red chirped and wagged their thick tail. “Hi little dude, your siblings ready for their check up?” unsurprisingly Red didn’t seem to understand what he was saying but by the way Red was pulling on Mikey’s hand they clearly remember they had to bring Mikey and Raph back to their siblings.

Mikey looked up at Leo and grinned “Hey Leo! The tots are ready for their check up, can you get Donnie?” From in the kitchen Leo heard a groan. He turned his head to see Donnie hitting his face on his knees at the prospect of having to give a check up to Red and their siblings while said tot watches him with an overprotective eye. 

Leo chuckled and Leaned on the door frame “Oh Donnie will be there, I’m going to make them something to eat. How about you and Red get Raph.” Mikey gave his older brother a thumbs up and smiled down at Red “Want Raph?” Red chirped, recognizing Raph’s name. He leaned down and pointed to the Door of Raph's room “Get Raph!” Red squinted at the Door, before churring happily and falling to all fours to sprint to Raph’s room.

Smiling fondly after the sprinting tot for a moment, Leo wondered how the others were doing. Leo could imagine Blue holding a sleepy orange who had only just woken up, chirping back and forth with purple who was trying to patrol the edges of the table like it was a tall wall and he was a knight protecting it. 

The wholesome mental image was interrupted by the creak of a door. He turned to see a suspicious looking Donnie trying to hide inside the large snack cabinet. They made eye contact and Donnies sweet dropped. Leo raised an accusing brow. 

"Hey Donnie, what're you doing?” Leo knew what Donnie was doing but the eldest seemed to have woken up and chosen sass. 

The younger one narrowed his eyes and looked off to the side. “Can’t I do this when they're asleep?” he questioned hopefully. Leo shot him a glare and Donnie felt himself shiver under the intensity. “No, we need their informed consent before performing any medical procedures. even  if they are just kids they have a right to know what's happening-""-But on the other hand they don’t like me and Red wants to use me as a chew toy!!” Donnie contested, raising his voice.

Leo responds frimley “you just need to show them they can trust you. Purr at them, pet them- I don’t know man! You just gotta get them a check up.” The leader left no room for argument and Donnie slumped before sighing. “Fine… but If Red bites my face it’s on you” Leo shrugged “I can live with that.” 

Footsteps could be heard going through the living room, the eldest and second youngest looked to see Mikey and Red, this time with Raph in toe. Mikey was chirping and purring to Raph (Leo felt like that now that Mikey had learned he could chirp and purr the youngest would somehow find a way to use it nefariously). Raph was bent over awkwardly so Red could properly hold the teen's thumb and drag him to Donnie's lab. Raph seemed surprisingly unbothered by Mikey and the tot, even chirping back to Mikey occasionally. 

Leo looked back at Donnie and cocked his head to their brothers “Go on don, it’s bonding time. I got to make them food.” Donnie nodded with a huff and began to make his way out of the kitchen. Before he left however he turned on his heels and pointed to Leo “Stay away from the toaster!” Now it was Leo turn to look away nervously, being very aware of his history with said piece of technology.  

Donnie waited for the others to enter the lab before he followed, dragging his feet. Now Leo was alone in the kitchen. The readiness and confidence he felt when talking with Donnie had all but disappeared and now he was left with the question ‘What the hell do baby turtles eat???’ Red liked to bite things so maybe they’d like something crunchy? They didn’t have much, just bread, junk food, lettuce, and blueberries. Maybe he could do something with the bread? But bread wasn’t crunchy… Leo’s eyes slowly drifted to the forbenin kitchen appliance, a dark thought formulating in his head. 

After a lot of hyping himself up Donnie finally limped into his lab. Red was back up on the table with their siblings. Blue was holding a tired looking Orange, who kept making grabby hands at nothing. Blue themselves chirped at Purple smugly while the others had their arms crossed in frustration.

Red themselves was trying to nip at Raphs hand to get his attention. And Raph himself was giving the tot gentle scratches on the head in between the nips and chatting with Mikey. 

When walking in, the others turned their heads to him. Raph and Mikey just looked over like normal people but the tots, even orange, turned their heads in perfect unison. Donnie gulped “Ok I don’t like that.” Mikey laughed and waved Donnie closer.

He smiled down at Blue and cocked his head to his nervous brother. “That's Doctor Donnie! He’s going to double check that you little guys are working!” Blue narrowed their eyes at Donnie and huffed, holding the now slightly more awake orange closer. “We work… I know…” 

Finally shuffling close enough to be within arms’ distance Donnie took a deep breath and turned on “Medic Mode” as Mikey Likes to call it. “Ok. I want to start with Orange first, hopefully I can take that breathing tube out. If not they’ll need an IV so they can get nutrients.” Mikey nodded and cupped his hands in front of Blue.

“Hey little dude, can we have the small one for a sec” Blue seemed to be debating this in their head but eventually gave in. Mikey scooped them up and placed them in front of Donnie. Purple pulled Blue forward to crowd around Orange and Donnie. The genius glanced at Raph to see he still had Red distracted with pets. He breathed a sigh of relief and began.

So far it was going smoother than he thought it would. The smallest tot wasn’t complaining or squirming, allowing Donnie to move their body as needed. Shelving some of what he learned in the back of his head for later, he noted something about the tots eyes and tail. 

“Hey guys, Orange is a girl.” Mikey perked up and Raph looked over. “Really how’d you find that out?” Donnie pointed to the tots bright yellow eyes. “Female box turtles have yellow eyes, the short tail is also an indicator” “Ohhh” Mikey mumbled rubbing Orange under their- her chin. She looked like she wanted to Purr but the tube wouldn't let.

Raph was at this point just straight up putting Red to sleep at this point. They were slumped against Raph plastron Purring softly as Raph scratched the back of the tots Shell, watching out for the holes. “If it has to do with tail length then I guess Red here is a little man” Donnie nodded and moved on to the final part of Orange's examination. Removing the breathing tube.

“Uhm, hey can one of you hold her up?” Donnie asked the two other tots who had been hovering over the tots shoulder. Blue chipped and sidled up behind Orange, propping her up. Donnie reached over to another table and picked up the hook he used when he first put the tube in, and now it was time to remove it.

Inserting the hook into her mouth he gently opened her beak. Blue tilted their head and looked up at Donnie and asked a question “But, tube goes up, down… needs it?” Donnie smiled softly at the curiosity and care for their sister “She doesn't need it anymore. She can breath on her own now” Purple leaned closer and looked over the hook. Orange kept trying to bit on the hook so Purple pushed on her nose like a button. “Bad! Open.” Purple looked up at Donnie expectedly, thin tail wagging. it took Donnie a second to pick up on that Purple was waiting for approval. When Donnie figured that out he smiled and pat the softshell with his free hand “Yeah, thanks kid.” 

Purple's tail wagged faster and they kept poking the now very confused baby tots nose. Donnie chuckled at tot’s antics “Ok kid that's good, you can stop now.” Donnie carefully grabbed the breathing tube. He waited for the tot to take a deep enough breath in, at which he maneuvered the hook to push against the tube. Then she exhaled and Donnie quickly, but gently, pulled out the tube. 

Orange began coughing, but that only helped the tube come out faster. Grabbed at her throat and coughing harder. The tube is finally out. 

Donnie sighed in relief and placed the tube down. Blue and purple were trying to calm the smaller down but eventually the coughing morphed into crying and she retreated fully into her shell. 

This had finally caught the attention of Red who seemed to wake from his trance when he heard the sounds of one of his siblings crying. He sat up with a chip of confusion, and before Raph could do anything he was scrambling to his siblings. “Shit” Raph muttered.

Donnie’s eyes went wide at the familiar sound of claws on metal and protective growles. “NO NOT AGAIN!!” he shouted as he jumped away from the table before Red could reach him. 

Just in time on Donnie’s part as Red was quickly at the edge of the table, beak gapping and ready to bite. When Red realized his target was out of reach he turned to face his siblings. Muffled cries could be heard in the shell and felt his heart break a-little “Aw poor dude, she’s so scared.” Raph was trying to work out how best to get Red calm again when we glazed over at his genius brother. 

“Any way to get the kid out of her shell so we can calm her down?” Donnie shook his head “Not unless you feel like damaging her arms and legs even more.” Red winced “Yeah not down for that.” 

The three brothers were going back and forth on how to deal with this situation. In fact they were so distracted they failed to notice how the four tots had quieted, even Orange. 

It was Donnie who finally realized. Furrowing his brow at the lack of chipping and baby cries. His gaze shifted to the table where the tots sat… he screamed. 

“HOLY SHIT!!!” Donnie stared at the tots, mouth gaping in shock and confusion. Mikey and Raph turned to see what had caused such a reaction from their brother. The reason became very clear, very quickly.

Orange's head was out of her shell and she looked up at Blue with a far off expression. The other 3 stared down at the smaller calmly, almost blankly. But what caught their attention was something very specific.

All of their eyes were glowing Red. 

Now, due to Blues Albinism their eyes were an unnatural shade of red. This red however was like that of blood and blaring alarm lights. Their eyes glowed bright, illuminating each other in the red hue. All were still as statues, staring into nothing, both completely out of it and intently focused.

Mikey was the first to speak up. “Ohhhh Okaaay… What the hell is happening?”  he asked, eyes wide in confusion. Donnie just shrugged stiffly and watched on silently. 

Just as suddenly as it seemed to start, it stopped. The glowing faded and their usual eye color reapered. As if nothing happened the Larger 3 three chirped happily now that the smaller had emerged from her shell. She emerged fully and sniffed, whipping away her tears. She reached her little arms up and made grabby hands at Red, purring softly. 

Red whimpered and gently lifted his small sniffling sister. Blue and Purple scooted closer purring happily. Purple looked up at Donnie and Pointed at Orange “Up, Down! No help!” It took Donnie a moment to shake off the shock but he eventually calmed down enough to give Purple a Thumbs up.

Orange seemed to have fallen asleep again, this time cradled in Red’s large arms. The brothers looked at each other and finally snapped out of it. 

Donnie took a breath in, and then a breath out before speaking “Ok let’s unpack… whatever that was later. Orange is ok, and I have to finish the rest of the check ups.” Mikey and Raph nodded. Calming down from the shock. Donnie stretched to ready himself to face the over protective tot. “Raph can you try and keep Red calm, and Mikey can you help me with Blue and Purple?” Raph nodded and Mikey said “Yup!” 

Taking a breath in, Donnie entered Medic Mode “Hopefully I should get this done quickly so we can get the kids eating whatever Leo’s making” Fear flashed in Raph’s eyes and he held up a hand “Uhmmm you left Leo ALONE in the KITCHEN??? ” Donnie waved a dismissive hand “don’t worry I warned him, he’s smart enough not to do anything with the Toast-”

BOOM!!

The sound of something exploding echoed through the layer. The three brothers knew immediately where the explosion had come from. Donnie felt something in him snap, his eye twitched and he clenched his fist. Mikey and Raph took a scared step back from their brother who was very quickly losing his composer.

“ LEONARDO!!!!” 

Chapter Text

The four young siblings were on the floor in the living room pit. A children's gate that hasn’t been used since the Hamato brothers were tots themselves was set up in a circle around the kids. 

Blue was laying on top of Purple’s shell and bapping their hand on top of Their siblings head while Purple complained and hissed. Red was chirping softly at Orange, trying to get her to eat. A plate of blueberries and burnt bread crusts sat at the center of the gated circle.

Orange was still half asleep and groggy, not really aware of what's happening. Red was poking at Orange's plastron softly and churring in worry. 

The 4 teens and their father sat on the living room couch observing the tots. Donnie was nursing a newly bandaged finger and glaring daggers at Mikey who was stifling a laugh. Red had been tolerating Donnie during his check up, but when he tried to take Orange Red bit down HARD on Donnie's finger.

Leo was still wiping gross black dust off his face. He had in fact tried to make toast and just like the other times it ended with the early death of a reliable toaster. It also ended in a very scorched counter and a very pissed Donnie

Splinter observed the tots play, eyes glazed over with nostalgia. Remembering when his boys would spend their time playing in this same play pin. Realizing they needed to get back on track Splinter coughed and gestured over to his purple banded son.

“Donatello, how did the examination go? What is their health situation?” Splinter asked. Leo sat up straighter and looked over to Donnie, wanting to make sure the tots were okay. Donnie sighed and sat up as well.

“Well, it’s complicated. For starters, Orange most likely had asthma. At least considering her breathing patterns when stressed, she might also have heart palpitations but the irregular heart beat could very well be the product of a panic attack.” he Paused for a moment and sighed “so far there is no sign of side effects from brain damage but with how long she lacked oxygen to the brain, she will most likely have to deal with seizures.”

They all looked over at little Orange. She was tugging at the bow around her neck while messily eating the blueberries Red was squishing and then feeding her. Splinter felt sadness well up inside him, knowing such a small child will have to suffer through such experiences at a young age. 

Donnie glanced at his brothers and father nervously before continuing “A-any way. Orange also has wounds of unknown origin going up both legs and arms. They should heal but the scars are deep and she may have to deal with nerve damage.” Leo shuddered, remembering seeing the massive bloody scab covering her skin from her hands to shoulder.

Splinter nodded in understanding. “Is there anything we can do to fix it?” Donnie tilted his hand back and forth “Maybe, I would have to get a more in-depth look at her hands. If the severed nerves are close enough together they should grow back, but if not then she would need surgery” 

Looking closer at Orange's small hands, Splinter took note of how they trembled and never seemed to be able to fully close around anything. Raph examined the tots himself and frowned as he looked at Blues legs. “Does little Blue over here got nerve damage too?” Donnie nodded “Ohhh yeah her legs are a mess.” 

Splinter smiled softly “Two little girls?” he asked, fondness growing deeper every moment. “Yup!” Mikey affirmed “Donnie said it’s ‘cause their tails are super short!” the genius nodded and decided to try and get back on track.

“Just based on how deep those cuts go, there's no doubt about whether or not she’s got severed nerves. Walking is just about impossible, I'm surprised she can support even a little bit of her weight.” Raph smirked and jabbed a thumb over at Blue “Cause she’s a fighter, just look at her.”

Blue was holding Purple down and gnawing on their arm playfully, the severed arm stump keeping her propped up and her normal arm keeping the angry tot down. Raph chuckled at the play fighting. Finding it funny how early in life sibling rivalries start. Splitter himself however found himself frowning.

“Her arm. Can you tell how she lost it?” Donnie winced and rubbed the back of his neck “Well based on the scarring, it appears to have been… ripped off.” Leo’s expression quickly changed to one of horror. Fear for the small and playful albino building in him. Raph stood, teeth gritted and shoulders stiff “Who the hell would do that! That scar looks old too, she would have been even younger!” Raph’s knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist tighter and raised his voice “What kind fucking MOSNTER-” “Rapheal!” Splinter called. His voice raised but he didn’t yell, not wanting to scare the tots. “Watch your language.” Raph glared at the floor but sat back down with a huff. Donnie tried to elevate the tension "Yeah calm down, it could very well have been an accident! like machinery, necessary amputation or..." Donnie quickly realized non of that was much better so he cut himself off and decided to shut up.  

Silence over took the family for a few minutes before Leo spoke up “What about that crack on her shell? How'd she get that?” Donnie cleared his throat and answered “Right. Well from what I can tell the crack is from blunt force trauma. She was honestly really lucky that a crack that split her shell straight down middle did so little damage and healed so well.”

Leo let out a collective sigh of relief hearing that such a brutal injury left minimal damage. Mikey raised his hand and tilted his head. “Speaking of shell injuries, what's up with Red?” the family again turned their attention to the tot, noticing the multiple gaping holes in his shell. Donnie sighed, looking away. 

“To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. Based on the crevasses on the walls of the holes, it almost looks like something forced its way out from the underside of his shell. But that makes no sense. The wounds seem old-ish but for some reason it’s hardly healed and the flesh inside is a weird gross shade of pink… oh and his right eye? Completely blind.” 

The family had mixed feelings. On one hand they were grateful that the damage on Red's body wouldn't hinder movement or cause disabilities like his younger sisters, but the unknown nature of it all left them all nervous.

Wanting to get this explanation over with, Donnie moved on. “And last, we got Purple. I couldn’t determine their gender but that's not really important. What is important is the weird patches of inflamed skin.” Leo furrowed their brow “Inflamed skin? It looks more like gross pink sponges got glued on them.” 

Donnie crossed his arms and leaned back, observing Purple and Blue rough house “Nope, That stuff is very much attached to them. I wasn’t sure what it was at first but it does just seem like gross inflamed masses of skin. Luckily those should be manageable, however the ones on their feet make it hard for them to walk. Also the claw marks on their softshell aren't that deep, and it’s just an ugly scar.” 

Donnie fell silent, having finally revealed all his findings in terms of their health. They were unsure what to do now. They had them here, they knew their health conditions, they had gotten them food, they saved Orange… but what now?

They had no choice but to keep them here… but were they really able to care for them? Splinter knew his sons were getting into trouble on the surface, what would happen if these children got involved? 

Leo stood. He walked forward and kneeled in front of the gate. Red looked up and Leo smiled at him messily squishing blueberries and trying to shove them in Orange's mouth. Without looking away he spoke to his family “Donnie can you grab some applesauce? Red’s going to get these blueberries everywhere.” The genius rolled his eyes but didn’t complain, leaving to get the baby friendly food. 

Leo chipped softly to Red, and Red chirped back. Mikey kneeled down next to Leo and Rested his head on the top of the gate. “You know, Orange isn’t a very good name for a little girl” Mikey muttered holding his finger in front of the tot.

The infant babbled and reached up to hold Mikey's finger with her scarred hands. “And besides, Orange may be the color of her bow but her spots are yellow-ie” Raph stood and kneeled on the other side of the gate, near the rough housing tots. “Well you're the naming guy, why don't you pick something?” 

Blue looked up to Raph and grinned, still pinning her sibling. Raph smiled back “better keep you guard up kid, or Purples gonna get you back.” she tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the teen. Her being distracted allowed Purple to push her off them and ponce on her plastron. He hissed and bit Blues arm, not hard enough to bruise, but enough to make her squeal. 

Raph laughed “Oh! Little Purples got some fight in them after all!” Leo looked on disapprovingly as Raph cheered them on. His gaze shifted over to Mikey and he had to hold in a laugh. He appeared to be in an intense staring match with the youngest tot while Red looked back and forth between the two concerned. What was great about it, other than Red confusion, was that Mikey appeared to be losing.

Donnie made his way back in the living room with a small plastic cup he had filled with applesauce and a small spoon. He handed them both to Leo and sat back down next to his father.

Taking the food Leo had Mikey scoot over so he could reach the smallest easier. Red had a small fist full of blueberries, but before he could get to crushing them Leo scooped up a spoon full of applesauce and held it in front of the tot. 

She looked at the new food intrigued, sniffing it before opening her mouth to be fed. Leo fed her and she chirped in satisfaction, opening her mouth for more. Red looks on in awe, dropping the blueberries. He held her up closer to Leo and watched as his younger sister ate happily, his tail beginning to wag. 

While Leo was still feeding the infant Mikey gasped dramatically. “I got it!” Not looking up Leo responded, “What’d you pick?” Mikey leaned on the gate and reached out to scratch Reds head. “Amber! Like the color of her cute spots.” he explained.

The infant chirped and flapped her hands. She was most likely just happy about the food but Mikey took that as acceptance of the new name. “Amber it is.” Leo chuckled.

Mikey smiled and observed all the kids happily. However as he looked at them all he realized something. “Hey did you guys notice these little guys have our colors?” Raph looked up at Mikey with a furrowed brow, then looked back down to the tots. “Oh yeah they do! Man that's weird…” Raph exclaimed. 

Mikey giggled and chirped. “Dudes we were meant to find them! It’s destiny!” Donnie rolled his eyes. “Mikey there's no such thing as destiny, it's just a coincidence.” Splinter hummed quietly, a small smile on his lips as he stroked his thin beard. “I’m not so sure Donatello, these children may just continue to surprise us…” he muttered cryptically. Donnie didn’t contest his father, but didn’t agree either. “If you say so Sensei”

Donnie suddenly perked up, remembering something. He leaned his head closer to splinter and spoke in a low voice as to not interrupt his brothers and the tots. “Well speaking of surprises, the tots did something… weird during the check up.” 

Splinter's expression hardened in worry . He turned his attention to his second youngest. “What is it? Is something wrong?” Donnie’s face scrunched in thought “Maybe?? It’s weird.” Donnie leaned forward as if telling a story by the campfire.

“When I removed Oran- Amber's breathing tube she got scared and hid in her shell so her siblings came to try and comfort her. Me, Mikey and Raph were trying to figure out how to get her out of her shell when we saw… that their eyes were glowing.” “Glowing?” Splinter questioned. Donnie nodded. “All of their eyes, even Ambers! They were all glowing a bright red. They were all quiet and stiff, just staring at nothing… but then they snapped out of it, Amber was feeling better and the tots were happy- it was like nothing happened.” 

Splitter leaned back, stroking his thin beard in thought. “That is… strange.” Donnie tapped his knee waiting. “Soooo any idea on what’s going on with that?” Splinter shook his head “I’m afraid not, I will meditate on this tonight. Keep an eye on such behavior for me Donatello-” 

“Guys! Ambers having a seizure!”

It happened so suddenly. Raph was just playing with the (presumed) middle kids, making sure they didn’t go too far with their play fighting when he heard Leo saying the youngest tot's new name. “Amber?” Raph looked up to his elder brother.

Red was holding Amber closely and chirping at her. Leo had put down the now mostly empty applesauce cup and was rubbing her cheek gently. Craning his neck to see around his brother's hand Raph got a look at Amber. 

Her eyes were open, but glazed over. Her arms and legs were twitching even more than before, and her breathing was slower than before. At first Raph wasn't sure what was going on… until he remembered Casey's stories of his friends fainting spells and blank stares. 

“Guys! Ambers having a seizure!”

Raph jumped over the gate and crouched down next to Red. The tot chipped in confusion and held Amber closer. Leo and Mikey had both sat up. Leo Turned to Donnie, “Don-” “Right here.” the Genius was already already stepping over the gate and kneeling next to Red.

Red hissed at Donnie but Raph chirped at the tot to get his attention. He held his hands out in front of Red and Chirped. Red looked at the older skeptically, but Raph smiled softly and purred gently. 

A low churr bubbled from the tots throat and he carefully placed Amber in Raphs hand. The loss of contact made Red whimper and he huddled closer to Raph. 

Purple and Blue made their way over. Blue was leaning heavily on Purple's side and was basically being dragged, taking slow jerking steps with shaky unsteady legs. Blue left Purple's side and fell into Raphs leg to look at Amber, Red eyes wide in worry. Her voice trembled and she pawed at Raph’s leg trying to climb up. “Breathing? A-Alive?? Needs tube! Up down-” Mikey placed a gentle hand on her shell and pet. She flinched at first but relaxed when realizing it was her new friend “Your little sis is breathing fine Baby Blue, this is… something else.”

Leo’s breathing picked up as fear washed over him “What's going on? Did I do something wrong?” Donnie responds to his older brother without looking back at him, hovering over Raphs shoulder to examine Amber's small shaking form “No it’s not your fault, a lot of time seizures are random.” Leo didn’t know whether to be happy he didn’t hurt the infant, or be scared knowing this could happen at random without warning. 

Splinter had stood and looked down at his sons. He had never dealt with anything like this before. If this happened to his Miwa or his boys when they were so small he would have been in complete panic. His son's collective calm and quick thinking filled him with pride.

However if the ninja master could see Leo's mind, he would see the normally level headed leader was freaking the hell out.

Doing his best to steady his breathing Leo spoke up. “Donnie, is there anything we can do?” The genius leaned away from Amber and said “Nope, nothing we can do. You have to wait these things out. For future reference we need to make sure we time her seizures” Leo furrowed his brow and pressed Donnie for more. “Why do we need to time it?” “If it’s longer than five minutes it could become a full on medical emergency, it also helps us build a base line of what to expect and not to expect, but at this point it's too late to start a timer”

When Donnie finished his explanation Raph raised his hand to get his brother's attention. Apparently he had started a timer on his own, counting the seconds under his breath.

Luckily the seizure didn’t last too much longer after Leos the frantic questioning. Amber blinked, her trembling died down and her breathing picked up. Her eyes came back into focus and she looked around confused. A whimper slipped from her beak and she started struggling in Raphs arms. 

Donnie elbowed Raph and whispered to him “Give Amber back to her siblings. It’s pretty common for seizures to lead to panic attacks” Raph nodded and held Amber out to her worried siblings. 

Red quickly took his little sister in his arms, Purring gently. Blue stumbled/fell in order to get to Red and Amber. Purple caught Blue before she face planted. Rolling their eyes, Purple helped her up and led her to Red's side. She gripped onto Red's arms and rested her head next to Ambers. 

Blue purred softly and muttered to Amber “Small one okay… we’re here.” Amber was clearly scared from the seizure and her breath was quick and heavy. However the comforting presence of her big sister visibly calmed her. Amber whimpered and leaned over to hold Blues beak in her small trembling arms. 

The brothers sighed in relief. Leo smiled, resting his head on top of the gate. Mikey could feel his heart completely melt into a puddle, his wide grin reaching his eyes. Raph’s heart hasn't entirely melted but his worry has, leaving him tired. Donnie on the other hand was working out his head to the best way to handle this in the future. Working out the best, most efficient system to help Amber as soon as they’re able.

Raph was leaning back on his hands watching the tots. “Amber was out of it for a bit over 90 seconds”. Donnie nodded, “Rounding up, let's say her seizure lasted about… 2 minutes.” He muttered this under his breath, mostly to himself. 

Splinter heard Donnies muttering and felt pride fill him once again. Proud of his sons for how well they handled things. He sat back down on the couch and spoke up. “So, are you ready to care for them? Are you prepared to help take care of four children?” 

The brothers shared looks between them. The quadruplets had a silent conversation, looking at each other and the tots before coming to the conclusion they all came to the moment Leo brought them home. 

Leo reached a hand out and gently scratched Red’s head, making the tot flinch and then purr. That was all Leo needed to give his father an answer without a hint of hesitation. 

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

So to anyone who hasn't seen my tumblr, Lost and Scarred is being rewritten! there aren't to many changes, mostly just foreshadowing and grammar fixes. so all new chapters are going to be in the next work in the series which is the rewritten one. like I said, its very similar, a lot of it is literally copy pasted but still.

anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, NEW new chapters will be soon!