Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It has been something that he would always feel. Especially when 'he' was around him. Whenever he was near, ever since they were kids, Leo would make him feel warm. It had started as a small-lit flame, but every day since then, it would gradually grow warmer and warmer.

Until it became the strongest, he's ever felt on the night of the invasion. Donnie had looked upon Leo as he declared that they would save Raph, that he's not giving up on him. It was so inspirational that he could have sworn that his heart beat a little faster, and he felt a bit warmer in his cheeks. Then, just before Leo could take off after the others, he stopped him.

"Leo?"

Leo turns towards him, raising one brow, "Yeah, Don, what is it?"

Donnie glances away from him with his cheeks a bit rosy, "Promise me that it will go alright."

Leo pauses but then reassures him, "Don't worry, Dee, we'll save Raph no problem. "

Donnie interrupts, "I don't just mean Raph! Promise me that you'll be safe too."

Leo doesn't respond right away, but then he answers, "Okay, I promise."

Soon, the twins took off to catch up with the others to enact their plan. Little do they know is that Leo might not be able to keep his promise.

Later...

The Technodome explodes after the portal is closed, with Leo on the other side...

Donnie could only look up at the sky in horror as Leo, his beloved twin, is trapped in the prison dimension. Eventually, he turns away, feeling numb, feeling the flame that reacts with Leo had been snuffed out.

He's crying, he realizes, he touches his cheek where he feels the tears, but nothing feels more painful than Leo not being there with them, with him.

But then, Mikey gave him hope; through their combined efforts, they got Leo out. Leo is home.

In the Med bay...

"Don't worry, everyone, Donnie says that in two weeks, I'll be healed. Then I'll be able to grace you all with my presence," Leo proclaimed with dramatic flair.

Raph looks relieved as do the others as he replies, "Get better, Leo."

Only Donnie was silent about the whole thing. However, over the next two weeks, he kept vigil watch over Leo's recovery; changing his bandages, giving his pain medication, food, etc. But he is noticeably silent most days that Leo notices; especially one day when April visited after her classes. 

"So, I'm almost healed; Donnie's been taking good care of me," Leo praised Donnie as he gave him another shot, causing April to smile.

April replies, "That's great, Leo."

She doesn't notice Donnie's quiet demeanor while he glances away.

Leo glances at Donnie in concern. He had noticed that he was a lot quieter than usual and he hoped that he could talk with him soon about it.

A few days later...

One late night, Donnie was about to enter the med bay, and the door slides open for him until he realizes that Leo is already up.

Leo turns to him in surprise, "Oh Donnie, I was about to go find you..."

Donnie responds flatly, "I already visit you every four hours; I would've come anyway."

"Oh, right... What time is it?"

"It's 2 AM. And you could've used the call button any time."

Leo looked chagrined, "Right... I guess I've been a little forgetful these days."

Leo pauses before he continues, "But I'm feeling a lot better now since you've taken care of me. I'm doing great now, I promise."

Donnie flinches, "You promise?"

Leo didn't notice his flinch and continued, "Yeah, I know it's been difficult..."

Donnie interrupts, "You made me a promise that you would be alright. Yet you went into that portal without consulting us!"

Donnie gives into that surge of anger as he glares at Leo, while Leo looks guilty. 

Leo tries to console him, "Dee... I did all that I could think of; it was the only way to make sure you all were safe and..."

Donnie cuts him off, "You know that I rate my feelings with a number system. With three being a mild criticism of my tech! And ten is..."

Donnie's anger drains away as quickly as it came, his lips quiver, tears gather in his eyes, "Ten is..."

And then that pain he felt that day came back tenfold as he let the tears fall. His hands clenched close to his heart.

"Ten is losing you. I felt a terrible pain that I don't want to feel again..."

Leo is shocked by Donnie's tears, and he doesn't like to see Donnie in any pain.

"Why don't you take care of yourself better? Why do I have to be the one to do it?"

Donnie was bent forward, his tears still flowing as his body shook.

Suddenly, Leo rushes forward and brings Donnie into an embrace. Donnie was so surprised, his knees buckled, sending them both to the floor.

"Donnie!"

Leo kept close, still holding Donnie.

Donnie whispers, "I'm fine. My legs just..."

"I get it," Leo interrupted, holding him tightly.

Leo reassures him, "It's alright, it's alright. I'm right here; I'm not going anywhere. I'll be more careful from now on."

As Donnie relaxes in his embrace, he whispers again, "Leo, you're so special to me..."

Leo peeked an eye open and asked, "Special? How?"

Donnie slowly reciprocated the hug before answering, "You make me feel... so warm."

Leo's eyes widened, and there was a rosy blush to his cheeks. He pulls away to hold Donnie's face.

"Donnie!" Leo stared down at Donnie.

"What?" Donnie stares up at him with a look that Leo doesn't recognize. But it makes his heart flutter.

"What's wrong, Leo?"

Leo stutters, "I... Donnie, you..."

"Leo!!"

Mikey suddenly bursts into the med bay, breaking the spell between them that they practically leap apart.

Raph follows close behind, "What's wrong?! What was that noise?"

Mikey exclaims as he wraps his arms around Leo, "I had a horrible nightmare about you and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Leo stumbles to answer, "Y-Yeah, I'm okay.  I'm fine..."

Donnie turns away with rosy cheeks as Leo looks at him with the same predicament.

He wonders to himself, "What is this feeling?"

Chapter Text

"You make me feel so warm..." The phrase echoes in his mind as he wakes up in his own bed, in his subway train room.

He instantly blushes as he is flustered from what Donnie told him a few nights ago, alone, in the Medbay. 

He doesn't know why he's so flustered when he thinks of those words, only that he has a warm, fluttery feeling in his chest. Sometimes, it feels like a small flame flickering to life, and then it slowly burns more when he thinks of that incident; it makes him nervous. 

And yet, on the other hand, it feels really nice; like a warm hot chocolate on a freezing day.

Even though he doesn't know what to make of this feeling, there is something that he should do now, and that is that he should apologize to his family.

So that morning...

He gathered the whole family sans Draxum because he has work and Casey because he was exploring New York with Cassandra, or his mother in the future.

He stands before them and speaks, "Everyone, I owe you all an apology; my pride and stubbornness had not only endangered you all but the world as well. From now on, I'll take responsibility for my actions and be a better leader."

As he gauges their reactions, he sees that they all have the same surprised faces.

Then he turns toward Donnie to speak to him directly, "And thank you, Donnie, for helping me heal during the last few weeks."

Then he turns to everyone else, "So, how about some training?"

Splinter enthusiastically exclaims, "That's the spirit!"

However, Raph has a different thought, "Are you sure you're alright, Leo? You're acting different..."

Leo answers, "I'm fine, I'm just really pumped."

Donnie, on the other hand, knows that something is up with Leo, but he's not sure of why that is.

"What's wrong with Leo?" Donnie thinks to himself.

So it was like that for a while, when there weren't any mutants or yokai causing trouble, they would train and then hang out together afterward. 

But on some nights, Leo would be restless, and his insomnia would kick in, so he would sneak

away with a thought in mind.

Right now, he's traversing the rooftops, swiftly sneaking around until he stops and crouches down to keep hidden.

He looks down from his spot when he suddenly hears, "Didn't know you were sleepwalking."

Leo is startled until he looks up to see his twin, Donnie looking down at him with his usual frown. 

"Or... you're up to something."

"Donnie! Geez, you scared me."

He takes a deep breath to calm his heart, and then he asks, "How did you find me?"

Donnie gives a blunt answer, "I can track you, remember?"

Leo feels a little unnerved, he murmured to himself, "Oh yeah... I forgot that creepy detail."

Donnie lightly jumps down to crouch next to Leo.

He inquires, "You're following someone?"

"Sort of."

Leo points across the street, "Look over there."

Donnie brings his goggles down over his eyes to see where Leo was pointing to, across the street, there were three men wearing black masks coming out of a van parked in front of a bank.

"They look like robbers. With stupid masks." Donnie observed. 

Leo confirms, "They are; they're planning to rob that bank over there. They did it before with the one on the other street."

Donnie then states, "And you're going to them."

Leo answers, "Yeah, I still am."

Donnie brings his goggles back up on his head to turn toward Leo while looking confused.

"But why? Why are you doing this?"

Leo sighed, "I'm not sure myself, I thought... Maybe we should prevent crimes like this from happening sometimes. Not just fighting mutants and yokai."

Donnie declares, "I have theories."

"I'm listening."

Donnie continues, "I assume you're doing this out of guilt. And you have insomnia, and it's also one of your personal training methods. You're also probably letting your emotions out this way. Or you're bored."

Leo let out a chuckle as he admitted, "You got me, Donnie-baby."

Suddenly, Donnie demands, "Let me help you with that!"

Leo refuses, "No. This is my way of dealing with my problems; it has nothing to do with you. And it could be dangerous."

Donnie won't back down, however, "That's why I can't let you go alone!"

"I am your leader; that's an order," Leo commands.

Donnie persists, "What about my feelings? I'm afraid of losing you, Leo. You're special to me. Remember that?"

Leo flushes slightly while mumbling, "How could I forget...?"

Then Donnie abruptly grasps Leo's hand, causing him to shiver in surprise; Donnie holds his hand firmly. 

"Please... I'm not a fan of touching, but I'm even willing to touch your hand to ask permission."

Donnie's cheeks are blushing as he admits, "Even though your touch actually feels nice..."

Leo's heart was racing as his hand was held, along with red cheeks.

So he conceded, "Okay. Okay, we can do it!"

Donnie implores, "Together?"

"Especially together."

So, like a well-oiled machine, the twins worked together in tandem. Leo created a portal for the robbers to fall through while Donnie used his mystic-tech arms to trap them, hanging them upside down in the process.

Leo calls the police while one of the robbers exclaims, "It's them! Some hideous creatures!"

Donnie's jaw clenches as he thinks to himself, "Hideous? They call my Leo hideous? This pretty flower? How dare they? For Leo's honor!" As he is imagining Leo smiling with a flower crown on his head.

Donnie shouts at them, "Says the guy who's wearing the freaking mask!"

Leo intervenes,  "Dee! It's okay, the police will be here soon. We gotta go!"

Soon, they leaped away from the area, landing on the roof they were previously perched at. Then, the police arrived and apprehended the thieves.

Donnie looks down at this with such smug satisfaction that he gloats loudly, "Ha! In your hideous faces!"

Leo couldn't let Donnie blow their cover, so he quickly shoved him down onto the rooftop to hide.

Thankfully, the police didn't see them. Donnie had covered his mouth, realizing his mistake, and he was on his back while Leo was on top of him, pinning him down.

Though, due to the suddenness of hiding quickly, Leo and Donnie stared into each other's eyes, sharing the same breathing space since they were so close in proximity.

They were silent for a few seconds, with Leo lost in his twin's eyes that mirror his own, one blue eye and one purple eye.

Then Donnie whispers, "I wanna do it with you. Every night."

Leo flinched slightly while his cheeks turned pink, he asks, "Uhh... Do what?"

One part of his mind thought of something else when Donnie said that; he's not going to let him know that.

Leo moves off of Donnie while he sits up.

He answers, "I mean preventing crimes with you, dummy! I want to do it again!"

Leo is hesitant, "But...It's still dangerous."

"More dangerous than fighting mutants and yokai? Really?" Donnie retorts.

"I still don't know. I'm worried about you too," Leo explains.

"You think I'm just gonna sit back and let you run away at night?" Donnie has a hand clenched to his heart with a worried expression.

Then he realizes what he's doing, and he pulls his hand away, chagrined.

He grumbles, "You see what you're doing to me? I started putting my hand to my heart like a worried anime girl."

Leo had let out a puff of laughter, watching Donnie look disgruntled. 

He smiles as he exclaims, "You're such a weirdo. I love it."

Donnie watches his twin smiling; he loves when he can get him to smile.

He smiles as well,  his cheeks blushing as he thinks, "And I love you."

Finally,  Leo conceded, "Okay. To be honest, it was fun.  But don't tell Raph and Mikey! It will be our secret."

"Of course. Thank you, Leo."

"Sure. Let's keep this city safe, even the small things, together."

"Yeah, especially together."

So, the twins start their secret crime fighting together, each unaware how much closer they’ll become.