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Chapter Text

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It was dark and the room he was in was cold. It reminded him of the Prison Dimension which he did not like. The room had one light source and it was very faint along with an overhanging light above him. He was on a table of some kind that was cold to the touch along his fingers. The way he was lay down on the table was uncomfortable due to his injuries from Kraang.

His eyes roamed over to a small metal bench beside him with tools on a tray. He widened his eyes, recognizing some of them as surgical tools.

Where was he?

Why was he here?

The last thing he remembered was flying through the Prison Dimension, believing he’d get the sweet embraces of death when he fell through a bright orange portal instead.

It saved his life he’d thank it that much, but it had also put him in his current situation.

He passed out shortly after going through the portal, so he had no clue on who brought him here.

And judging by the surroundings they weren’t friendly.

The sound of a door opening caused the turtle to turn his head to where the noise came from. He couldn’t see who had come in as they were hiding in the shadows, going through files by a large cabinet in the corner by the door.

”T-04…” the voice was masculine, raspy and unfamiliar to the turtle. “Mutant red-eared slider….”

The turtle lifted a brow, frowning slightly at the way the man spoke. “Umm … what?”

The man turned his gaze to glance over to the slider; black shades glinting in the dark and causing a shiver to run down the turtle’s spine.

The man ignored the question, setting the papers down and approaching the turtle. He was a tall man with a lean frame, wearing a suit and a black trench coat along with the black sunglasses. His gaze narrowed at the turtle; who swallowed under it.

”My name is John Bishop and I will be supervising your stay here, T-04,” he spoke in a calm tone.

The tone unnerved the slider, but not as much as what he said had.

”Wait, stay? What do you mean by that?” He exclaimed, staring at the man with wide eyes. “Also I have a name. It’s Leo. L-E-O; short for Leonardo.”

The man didn’t even seem phased with the back talk and instead turned his back on Leo, causing the turtle to growl.

”Hey! I asked a question and I expect answers!”

The man turned his face to look at Leo, glaring at him. “That is classified information. You are now property of the EPF. That is all.”

With that he turned and left through the door he came from, leaving a confused and worried turtle behind.

Leo swallowed, clenching his hands into fists as he looked over to where Bishop went. “What’s that mean?”

August 5th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers - 9:31pm

His breathing was fast and ragged as he moved his body through the continuous maze of the New York sewer system. He had only just escaped from the EPF after being there for just over one year and having to go through continuous surgeries as well.

He knew what they were.

They didn’t need to abbreviate it for him.

He knew they were actually experimenting on him.

Why else would his physique change so much over the last few months?

He rounded a corner and stopped to take a breather, leaning on his knees and panting.

He didn’t look the same as he did a year ago.

He had brown and black spotted scales along his body like his stripes for being a red-eared slider, but the spots were from the experimentation. He has been unable to trim his nails, so they had grown out and become long claws. His tail which was usually tucked away and hides under his carapace was now long and serpent-like. The most drastic change would have to be his teeth which he now sported two pairs of long fangs that held a rather lethal poison within. Then there was his eyes; the eyeball had become a yellow almost orange colour while his pupils had become slits.

He was able to escape before he was mutated further, but the damage was already done to his body.

Through the last year, through all of the experimentation he had been teetering on the edge.

It was thanks to the memories of his brothers that he was able to stay sane.

He knew they probably thought he was either dead or still trapped in the Prison Dimension.

He hated that they didn’t know he was alive.

If they did … they would’ve gotten him out of there ages ago…

They wouldn’t have left him there if they knew … would they?

He knew he was the annoying brother, but would they actually save him if they had known?

These thoughts swirled around the turtle’s head, getting up off the wall and heading further into the sewers.

He really didn’t want to think about that right now….

The sound of feet splashing against the sewerage water caused him to freeze up.

Did they really follow him down here?

No, it’s got to be just his brothers out for a swim…

There was shouting and the splashing was rapid as if there was more than just three pairs of feet. He also noticed flashlights in the tunnels ahead and finally made up his mind.

He booked it back the way he came, remembering he had passed by a ladder to the surface earlier. He rounded the corner just as a light caught his scales and he caught sight of Bishop.

The cold glare aimed at him was enough for the turtle to pick up speed down the tunnel. He came to a stop by the ladder and climbed up as fast as he could, slipping  a bit due to nerves.

He was not going back there.

Leo hurriedly climbed up the ladder to the surface, pushing aside the manhole and running further into the alleyway. He rounded another corner to take another breather, eyeing his surroundings with a critical eye. There was a ladder nearby to a rooftop which he could use for a quick escape.

He pushed himself further into the trash and dumpster to make himself hidden, watching for those after him.

He could hear the sounds of cars from the street and it was … nice to hear that again after being isolated for a year.

He was too busy watching the alley he came from to notice someone come up behind him until they put a hand on his shoulder.

The gesture caused the turtle to whirl around and bite whoever touched him on reflex. The person didn’t seem phased, but rather surprised by the sudden hostility in the turtle.

”Pepino?”

Leo blinked, noticing that it was a boney hand on his shoulder not one covered in skin. His eyes lifted to the skeleton behind him; who looked at him in concern.

The skeleton seemed surprised to see the turtle. His eyes drifted over the new mutations on the slider’s body with a curious yet also concerned eye. ”Where have you been? Your brothers believe you to be dead, Pepino.”

Leo let go of the skeleton and looked down at the ground.

He knew from his expression that the skeleton wanted to ask about the mutations, but held his tongue.

He realized it might be a sore subject for Leo.

The turtle kept his attention away from Heuso. He didn’t want to look at the skeleton and show just how pathetic he was.

”Come inside. I’ll make your favourite pizza while we also wait for your brothers,” the skeleton tried to soothe the turtle.

That seemed to shift whatever thought process Leo had been having until then. 

He twisted his body into a low crouch, fangs bared and eyes wide as he hissed at Heuso.

The skeleton seemed stunned by this behavior just as the previous one.

The turtle didn’t know what had triggered him to react that way.

But he realized maybe … he wasn’t ready for his brothers to see him like this.

To see the grotesque mutations on him thanks to the experimentations he endured for a year.

His brothers shouldn’t have to see him like this at all…

And so his mind went to the first thing it could think of … flight.

He scuttled backwards like a crab, keeping his full attention on Heuso as he pulled up under the ladder. He let out one final low hiss before jumping up onto the ladder and pulling himself up to the roof.

Chapter Text

August 5th, 2020 - Staten Island - 5:48pm

The three turtles stood on the edge of the island, staring up at the sky with wide, teary eyes as the sky exploded in a loud explosion of cloud and pink and orange confetti. Their blue brother had just sacrificed himself to stay behind in the Prison Dimension with the last of the Kraang.

Why had he done that?

That wasn’t Leo’s responsibility…

Sure, he was the leader now, but he shouldn’t feel obligated to do that.

The tears fell faster down the youngest turtle’s face as he held his arms out, trying to create a portal to the other dimension.

A spark.

Anything.

He just wanted to be able to bring his brother home.

”Mikey, that’s enough…” Raph spoke up, lifting his head up and looking over to his orange brother.

”Leo never gave up on us! I’m not giving up on him!” The box turtle exclaimed, feeling the tingle of mystic energy crawling up his arms.

It was working!

He was doing it!

He just has to keep doing it to be able get Leo back!

To get him home!

He felt the familiar touch of his older brothers grabbing his shoulders on either side of him as they made sure he didn’t take the full brunt of the mystic energy.

They could tell that opening the portal had been hurting the youngest.

”We’re right here with you, Mikey!”

The three watched as the bright orange, swirling vortex started to open and the turtles became even more determined to get their brother back.

But, it didn’t last long as the portal fizzled like static on a television screen before dissolving into nothing soon after.

The three stared at where the portal had once been with wide, confused eyes.

”No! No no no no no no!” Mikey exclaimed, keeping his arms outstretched and trying once more to call upon the power he had somehow just unlocked.

This couldn’t be just a one off!

He had to do this!

There was no way he was going to give up on getting Leo back!

It wouldn’t be fair on Leo!

It wouldn’t be fair to just leave him there!

However, the portal only fizzled this time. It showed no signs of opening up a full one.

”It was worth a try…” Raph patted Mikey's shoulder as the box turtle lowered his arms, finally realizing he would never see his blue brother again.

He sniffed, wiping his eyes, “I don’t want it to be just a ‘try’. I wanted to help him! I want Leo!” Mikey fell onto his knees with his two older brothers following behind, giving the younger a comforting hug.

”I know, Mike…” Raph mumbled out, trying to sound strong, but was just as distraught. “I hate that we couldn’t help get him out either…”

Donnie stayed quiet, hands on both his brothers shoulders as his eyes looked over to where the portal had once been.

Why did this have to happen?

Why did Leo have to sacrifice himself?

So many questions swirled in his mind as the three sat on the island and mourned the loss of their brother.

The brother that they would never hear the stupid puns from anymore…

The brother that was just as loud as Mikey…

The brother that even though he was annoying he truly cared for them…

Once the three were able to they met up back at the lair where Casey, April and Splinter already were. The three had shook their heads and explained how Mikey had tried to open up a portal to the Prison Dimension to allow Leo to escape, but it didn’t work.

It was then noted how the portal had created cracks along all three brothers arms; the worst being on Mikey. He was taken to the medbay to rest and have his arms bandaged up by Donnie.

Raph stayed with his Dad and the two humans in the main room as Casey took something off of his back.

Raph recognized it instantly.

It was Leo’s sword.

”I … found this after…” he swallowed, trying to find words to say. “…the portal closed. I brought it to you in case you wanted to … keep it. I’m so … sorry….”

The teenager trembled as he said those words, not able to look anyone in the eyes.

He’d been the one to pull the key, so they should blame him for Leo not being there.

”Casey….” The human lifted his head to look at the rat. “…you’re mourning Leonardo just as much as we are, but I believe it’s a long overdue grief you’re feeling…”

Casey stiffened, tightening his hold on the sword and swallowing.

The boy wiped at his teary eyes as he turned his head away. “I guess … I never got to fully mourn Master Leonardo…” He swallowed, lips quivering. “The mission came first…”

”You have time to now, child.” Splinter nodded at the human boy. “For both the Leonardo you knew and my son.”

That seemed to cause Casey to break as a wall of tears burst forth from his eyes.

April soon joined in on letting out her own sobs while Splinter watched the two teenagers cry with sad eyes.

Raph swallowed, turning his head to the medbay, heading over and peeking in. He saw Mikey napping on one of the beds while Donnie was playing on the keyboard on his wrist.

”Don?”

The purple turtle turned his head to his red brother and let out a small sigh. “I had hoped I’d get a signal from Leo’s tracker. That maybe Mikey’s portal changed trajectory…”

Raph blinked in surprise at this information.

Donnie had put trackers in them?

When did he do that?

”And?”

”There was a blip for a second, but then nothing. Maybe it was a malfunction…” The purple turtle let out a small sigh, brows knitting together. “I’ll have to look into it more later…”

”Yea, later, because you need to rest too.”

Donnie rolled his eyes, but let out another small sigh as he headed over to one of the beds beside Mikey. His eyes still looking at his wrist with a frown on his face.

Did Leo really come through?

Or was it just a glitch in his perfect system?

August 5th, 2021 - New York City, Junkyard - 10:08pm

It had been a full year since Leo had sacrificed himself to keep the Kraang inside the Prison Dimension.

A full year since their attempt at trying to bring their brother back from that terrible place using Mikey’s portals.

The youngest turtle had continued to try and call upon that ability ever since Staten Island, but he wasn’t able to regain the same power he had that day.

He had the determination, but lacked the confidence and concentration.

Casey had explained to Mikey that those were key to learning the mystic art, especially portal-making and considering Mikey was always emotional when doing it…it never went his way.

Casey had started to slowly adapt to today’s society, but even a year later he still found it hard to understand a lot of things. He seemed to drift between the lair and April’s place, unsure where to really stay. He did go to school, but was unable to focus half the time.

He was probably still thinking about what happened a year ago…

April had finally started her journalism major and had started a blog online. Right now she was targeting the government about deforestation and using the funds to create industrial houses. 

Splinter had mounted Leo’s sword in the main room and even if it upset the three brothers it still gave them a feeling that their brother was still with them. Donnie had found either his Father or his older brother standing before the sword; talking to it.

Donnie could tell it was their way of coping.

Raph felt guilty for being unable to protect Leo; being the big brother and all.

And Splinter felt like he failed as a Father.

It was so wrong.

The lair was so quiet without Leo.

Thats why when it got too much; Donnie went to the junkyard to search for new materials for his inventions. He usually did this with Mikey or Leo before the Kraang, but now it was just him.

They had all just drifted a part over the last year.

The softshell couldn’t even remember when they had had a movie night together.

Probably before the Kraang…

A sigh left the softshell as he ruffled through the trash pile. Whatever he found uninteresting he chucked aside and whatever he wanted to keep he put in a neat pile beside his feet.

However, when Donnie threw a large piece of normal, uninteresting metal away from him it hit against an overturned car. The noise resounding within the car and causing whatever was inside to let out a loud and angry hiss.

This caused Donnie to turn his head to the sound. He cautiously made his way over to the sound, grabbing his Bo staff in the process. As he got closer to the hissing it seemed to get more aggressive causing his brows to furrow.

Donnie kept a distance from the broken window of the car where the hissing was emanating from. He took out his phone and turned the flashlight function on and immediately froze.

There in front of him was what he believed to be his long-dead twin only … his eyes drifted over the claws, spots, tail and eyes.

This was definitely Leo.

But, what happened to his brother?

”L…Leo?”

Chapter Text

August 5th, 2021 - New York City, Junkyard - 9:46pm

Leo ran across the rooftops of buildings, trying to get away. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take Heuso’s offer. He honestly wanted to … but the fear gripping him if his brother saw him like this.

It outweighed his need…want for food.

He was oh so hungry and yet he’d rather go hungry than have his brothers see him.

He was hardly ever fed while at the facility.

He was given the bare minimum to survive long enough for them look over him, inject him with weird serums or cut pieces from his body off.

He was missing a piece of plastron because of the scientists want…need to learn what made him tick.

How a being such as him was even possible.

He was lucky enough they never opened him up, but the fact they still tried to see how hard his shell was…

Let’s just say the poison was the first thing to kick in from his new mutation…

Leo jumped down from the building he was currently on, landing behind a large wired fence and within the area of the junkyard. He sniffed the musty air around him and shivered at the cool wind blowing by him. His belongings had been taken from him while he was captured including his remaining sword, mask, belt and pouches with medical supplies inside along with the photo Casey had thrown at him. 

He had never been able to get anything back.

He was too focused on escaping that going back for his things didn’t go through his mind at the time.

He just wanted to leave.

He wanted to get away.

He never wanted to go back.

He just wanted to go home.

The turtle walked through the junkyard that he had landed in, eyeing his surroundings with a cautious eye and letting out a growl-like hiss when he saw something move from the corner of his eye. 

It was only a ripped up t-shirt stuck under the roof of an overturned car that was half buried under the trash pile atop of it. Leo approached the vehicle, sniffing it to make sure no one was inside of it.

He needed shelter.

He needed a place to hide out.

Just until he could find some place safer away from them.

He looked in before crawling inside and curling into a ball, tail wrapping around his form.

It wasn’t the best place to hide out, but he was tired from all the running.

He needed a nap.

He’d think more on where to go tomorrow when he was thinking straight.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift into a calm sleep.

A sleep where he wasn’t awoken to the sound of someone banging on his cage door.

A sleep where he didn’t need to worry about when he’d be taken to the scientists again.

He was finally able to get some shut-eye away from that place.

And away from the monsters there…

It wasn’t until twenty-two minutes later that he was awoken by a noise hitting the top of the overturned car that he was hiding inside. The sound reverberated around the inside of the car causing him to wince in pain at the high-pitched sound. That either meant that something had fallen from atop one of the trash piles onto the car or someone was inside the junkyard.

He didn’t have anywhere to go since the other half of the car was half-buried. It would take too long for him dig through the trash pile. The window in front of him was also the only one broken. He could break one of the others, but risk drawing attention to himself and hurting himself in the process.

The only thing he could do was let out a low hiss, trying to make whoever it was leave.

Like a threat.

It didn’t seem to work as he heard footsteps in front of the car before he saw two feet with three digits; two in the front and one in the back.

Leo noticed the colour of the feet as well, but continued to hiss; aggression rising.

Whoever stood before him, kneeled down, took out an iPhone and shined the light in his face. Leo backed away from the light, showing off his fangs as a threat. His back arched and tail poised as if ready to attack.

He was finally able to see who was shining the light in his face. 

It was his twin.

Donatello.

Donnie.

DonTon

It didn't help that the softshell was shining a light in his face.

He did not like that.

Another hiss left his beak as Donnie’s eyes seemed to scan him.

He was scanning his appearance and noticing all the new mutations on the slider.

He did not like that.

He did not want this.

He wanted to avoid this.

”L…Leo…” Donnie mumbled out, staring at his older twin with wide eyes.

Leo’s hissing slowly started to stop, but he didn’t completely. He eyes his brother from where he was inside the vehicle, trying to find an escape.

Donnie seemed to shake out of whatever stupor he was in before trying to steel himself. He kept the light aimed on his brother as he put his Bo staff away and put arm out towards the slider.

”Leo, come out from there. Please…” Donnie sounded desperate Leo could tell.

His brother hadn’t seen him in so long.

He could tell that the softshell was trying not to cry.

He didn’t see his twin upset often, but knew it was bad whenever he was.

It meant that Donnie was trying too hard to hold in his emotions.

Leo stopped hissing, eyes drifting to his brothers outstretched hand in suspicion.

”When we get home…” he swallowed, trying to think of what to say. “…I’ll ask Mikey to make you something and then I can run some tests to see…” He didn’t get to finish before Leo lashed out.

His long claws slashed against Donnie’s outstretched hand, slicing against the softshell’s palm and fingers. The turtle cried out in pain, falling back, dropping his phone and clutching his bleeding hand.

He winced, seeing the long two digit slashes going from the beginning of his palm to the middle of his pointer finger. It just barely missed his veins on his wrist. The softshell lifted his eyes back to his twin; who was eyeing him and letting out aggressive hisses again.

”O…Okay then…” Donnie stuttered out. “I can’t say that then…”

He held his bleeding palm to his plastron and held his other hand out, careful of his brother’s new claws.

”This is something Mikey or Raph would be better at than me…” Donnie mumbled to himself, trying to keep himself steady and not think about the blood dripping down his wrist. “L…Leo, come out. I won’t hurt you. You know me. It’s Donnie.”

The red-eared slider stayed put in the dark vestiges of the car, glaring at his twin. A sigh left the confines of Donnie’s mouth as he picked up his dropped phone with his uninjured hand, turning the flashlight function off and scrolling through it.

”I can’t just leave you here. I guess you leave me no choice.” He clicked his phone and put it to his ear.

Leo knew what this meant.

His brother was going to call either Mikey or Raph.

He did not want to see them either.

The slider swallowed, looking at his brother’s hand that he had injured and whimpered causing the softshell to turn. Leo slowly made his way out of the shadows of the overturned car and Donnie was finally able to get a better look at his brother once he came into the overhanging  lamplight from the nearby street. 

He only got a glimpse from the phone’s flashlight function, but now he saw everything.

The new brown-black spots dotting his brother’s scales.

The long appendage that curled behind Leo’s body that was obviously his tail.

And his eyes which were no longer a vibrant ocean blue a bit darker than his mask, but were now orange with the pupils being slits.

The claws were the last thing Donnie wanted to look at. He really didn’t want to see his blood coating his brother’s long claws.

The slider scooted closer and nudged Donnie’s injured arm, letting out a low whine. The softshell pressed a button on his phone before putting it away and turning back to Leo.

”I…It’s not too bad,” Donnie told his mutated twin. “I just need to patch it up.”

Leo let out another whine.

The slider knew his brother was in quite a bit of pain right now.

He was just trying to hide it, so that Leo wouldn’t feel even more guilt.

It was the fact that once healed the injury would leave a pretty nasty scar on his twin’s hand.

He hated that he had done this to his brother all because of one word.

Donnie could tell his brother felt guilty about the injury.

It was obvious to Donnie that Leo had been through some kind of trauma that made him act that way.

That made him still act like that.

He wasn’t wearing his mask, belt or sword sheaths.

What happened to his brother over the past year?

”Hey, how about we go home?” Donnie tried to coax his twin. “You’re probably hungry and I need to fix myself up.”

A frown played across Leo’s face as he seemed to be lost in thought. His eyes staring at Donnie’s injury.

”Leo?”

The slider lifted his head up towards his twin as Donnie got to his feet, careful of his new injury. He gestured for his brother to follow, but the slider stayed put.

An irritated sigh escaped the turtle. “Leo, I…” He took in a deep breath before letting it out. “…I can tell you don’t want Mikey or Raph to see you.” He noticed the visible flinch from the slider. “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

Leo turned his head away from his brother, but that was answer enough for the softshell.

”Leo, I’ve already seen you. I don’t care if you look different and neither will Dad, Mikey or Raph. We just want you home.”

Leo turned back to face his brother with tears in eyes, slowly getting up onto his own two feet. Donnie let his brother hug him though careful of his new injury as Leo let out small sobs into his twin’s shoulder.

Sure, Donnie didn’t like physical touch, but right now … his brother needed it.

He’d allow it for now.

”It’s okay, Lee. We’ll work this out…” He pats his brother’s shell, widening his eyes when he felt cracks along the hard surface.

He would ask Leo later.

It was obvious that his brother wasn’t ready to talk about what happened.

He was teetering on the edge of feral behaviour.

It still seemed like he was Leo right now and yet … something could make him turn feral in an instant.

It was scary to think about.

While they were all grieving him; Leo was actually alive and being tortured somewhere.

It hurt to think about.

It hurt to see his brother like this.

How Leo was so goofy and arrogant a year ago and now … he just wasn’t…

Why did this happen?

Who did this to his brother?

Whose spine did he have to rip out from their back and feed it to them?

Who?

He wanted answers.

But they’d have to wait.

Leo wasn’t in the right state of mind and the softshell was currently injured.

They needed to get home.

”Lets go, Nardo…” Donnie said as quietly as he could to his distraught twin, pulling him toward the exit of the junkyard.

The slider allowed the softshell to keep a hold of him, leaning into his touch with his eyes on the ground.

He always did want to go home…

Chapter Text

August 5th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 10:34pm

The two made it back to the lair in significantly one piece. Donnie led Leo to the train car that was currently being used as the medbay, turning the lights on and shuffling through drawers with one hand, trying to find the supplies he needed.

He needed disinfectant, a clean wipe and bandages.

Because who knows where his brother’s claws have been.

If he’s been able to wash them.

If he hasn’t cut them then he hasn’t had a bath in a while either.

That sent a shiver down the softshell’s spine.

He felt a nudge on his shoulder, turning his head to see his twin holding out a roll of bandages, a clean rag and some disinfectant towards him. A small smile spread across Donnie’s face as he sat on the medbay bed, taking the alcoholic bottle and the clean rag before wiping it carefully over the cuts, cleaning it of the excess blood on his palm and arm.

It stung, bad.

After he had wiped the blood away he put the rag down, picking up the disinfectant and spraying it on the long claw marks on his palm, flinching at the stinging sensation he felt.

”You always did know where everything was kept in here…” Donnie muttered out, earning a small chirp in reply from his twin.

The younger of the two frowned at the nonverbal response, but kept it to himself.

He was usually the one that got nonverbal sometimes, especially in situations he was uncomfortable with.

But with it being Leo …. he wasn’t sure how to take that.

His twin was always the loud one out of the two of them and if he was reduced to being almost mute after a year … where had he been?

Donnie handed the disinfectant back to his brother and was given the bandages in replacement. Leo watched Donnie carefully wrap the roll of soft bandages around his palm and fingers, tightening it as he went before clipping it.

”I know you might be hungry…” Donnie began while looking over his work on his arm. “…but I really don’t want to wake Mikey up…”

Leo bowed his head, understanding even if he was starving.

”I … know you had a bad reaction earlier…” Donnie mumbled out, rubbing his palm causing his brother to let out a whine. “But I want to get a sample of your blood.”

Leo let out a hiss, but it didn’t seem to be as aggressive as it had been when he was hiding in the car. It was as if he now trusted Donnie even if the wording still made him want to run.

”I know!” Donnie exclaimed, holding up his uninjured hand to try and placate his brother. “But I just want to know what you’re mutated with. I….I can tell you don’t want to talk about it.” He swallowed after saying that.

His brother hadn’t shown any signs of speaking yet.

He’d just made sounds or been completely quiet.

It was so unlike Leo it was scary.

Leo stared at his brother; eyes wide yet at the same time they held an emotion in them that Donnie hadn’t seen often.

Fear.

Was Leo afraid of him?

Or was Leo afraid he’d discover something by looking at his blood work?

Or … is Leo afraid … he’d hurt them?

He did hurt Donnie, but the softshell said something that obviously triggered his brother.

He didn’t know it would and Leo feels guilty about it.

However if he knew what triggered Leo they could avoid that happening again.

Finding out what his brother had been mutated with was the first step because it’d help narrow down things.

He'd narrowed down that Leo is still in the reptile family from how much he still resembles one.

He just wanted to make sure what reptile it was.

Snake.

Lizard.

Crocodile or Alligator.

He needed to know to make sure just in case it was in fact a snake, especially a highly venomous one. Donnie grabbed his brother and led him out of the medbay train car and towards his own one where all his equipment was. Leo was letting out quiet hisses as Donnie led him over to the train car, but didn’t struggle.

The two entered and Donnie searched the lab side of his room for a syringe. He finally found one, wiping the needle too and turning to his twin.

At seeing the pointy object Leo instantly went on the defensive, hissing and showing off his sharp fangs at his brother along with backing away from him.

”Whoa, whoa, Leo…” Donnie cried out, trying to calm down his agitated twin. “I just need a sample of your blood. I won’t take much. Is that okay?”

The slider still looked like he didn’t trust what Donnie was going to do, but put his arm out anyway. Donnie took this as a sign that his brother trusted him enough no matter what he’s been through.

Even if his twin still kept a careful eye on him.

The softshell approached his twin, making sure not to provoke him into attack mode again. He carefully, inserted the needle tip into Leo’s bicep, earning a low hiss from the slider. Donnie drew the slider’s blood until there was enough within the needle. He then, gently, took the needle out of his brother’s arm and took it over to his computer. He tapped away at the keys on the keyboard before a slot opened up and he squirted a bit of his twin’s blood into it. The slot went back inside and Donnie typed away a bit more at the computer.

He stopped once a program with a double helix popped up on the screen, showing Leo on the other side.

”I’m getting it to analyze your blood before we do anything else,” Donnie answered the question most likely forming in Leo’s mind. “While it scans your blood work I can fish out some leftovers from the kitchen for you.”

That seemed to catch Leo’s attention and caused him to stop hissing entirely. He looked at his younger twin with hungry eyes; a smile spreading across his face as his tail swished behind him.

”H…Hey, careful!” Donnie cried out, grabbing hold of his brother’s tail to stop it moving around.

He didn’t want it to knock over any of his inventions, tools or any other equipment he had.

Leo narrowed his eyes at Donnie, growling and showing off his fangs at him once more.

Donnie blinked, letting go of the tail as it dropped to the ground behind Leo.

A sigh escaped the softshell, running a hand over his face. “Come on. Let’s get some food in you.”

The two left the train car and headed towards where the kitchen was located in a small corner of the abandoned subway station. The slider sat on the floor while the softshell opened up the fridge to take a look inside for any leftovers his brother could eat. He let out a soft hum when he saw that there was a slice of leftover pizza from that night. He took the pizza out, placed it in the microwave to heat up and waited.

Once the microwave dinged he took the pizza out and handed it to his twin. He stared in disbelief at first, seeing his brother sitting on the floor not at the table before shaking his head and handing the plate over.

Leo took the plate, sniffing the pizza and letting the smell waft into his nose. He grasped the crusty end and frowned at it, taking small bites.

Donnie watched with a frown on his own face. Leo didn’t usually eat with such small bites. He usually ate, especially pizza, in one full gulp. 

Did it have something to do with how little Leo was given at wherever he was?

Was it to do with his new mutation?

Whatever it was his twin seemed to be cautious of the food he was given, taking small bites and chewing slowly. 

It was almost as if he thought something was put inside the food.

A drug perhaps…

Donnie’s eyes widened as that thought went through his head.

Is that why he’s so cautious while eating?

He had been drugged with food and it made him learn to eat carefully to tell if it was drugged or not?

His brother should not have gone through that…

”Leo, you saw me heat that up. I … didn’t drug it…” Donnie tried to explain to his brother.

Leo swallowed, the pizza only being half-eaten before he shoved the plate away and shook his head.

Donnie stared, blinking.

Leo didn’t want anymore?

LEO of all people didn’t want to eat a full slice of pizza!

”A…Are you sure…?” Donnie asked, bending down to his twin’s height where he sat. 

His twin just nodded, shoving it into Donnie’s hands before standing to his own feet. The softshell blinked, standing up and swallowing. He threw the rest of the slice in the bin before leading his brother back to his room to check on the results.

He should’ve known his brother would be different, but it was starting to get too much.

He needed a break.

He needed to get away.

He knew Leo needed him, but the personality contrast was so drastic.

He didn’t know how to handle this.

What could he do to help his twin…?

The two arrived back at Donnie’s train car and the softshell approached his computer, inputing keywords and phrases that went over Leo’s head. The results to Leo’s blood came up and Donnie’s eyes scanned it with narrowed eyes.

”This isn’t right…” He muttered out to himself. Leo approached his twin; who turned to face him. “You’re DNA has been drastically changed. I guess you can say; mutated as it were.”

A low whine escaped the slider’s beak as he nudged his twin’s shoulder. The softshell froze up, but eventually gave in and pat his brother on the head.

”Y…Your DNA still has Dad’s and Red-Eared Slider in it, but it’s also got a foreign one that’s been merged into your bloodstream. As if … trying to merge with your already mutated body.” Donnie swallowed as his eyes lay on the reptile his brother was mutated with. “You were mutated with a Coastal Taipan. The third most venomous snake in the world.”

Leo’s gaze moved up to his twin’s face as Donnie looked down at him.

”That means no more biting, Lee. Not even for jokes.”

Leo knew Donnie was being serious.

He’d seen it first hand what the venom inside his fangs could do.

The slider bowed his head, nodding.

”I’d like a sample of that venom…” Leo froze and he started hissing once more, baring his fangs. “…but it’s late. I’m tired. You probably are too. I can do that tomorrow…”

Donnie pressed a couple buttons on his keyboard before the screen shut off. He stretched, yawning as he did so. He looked to his twin; who seemed to realize he wanted to go to bed, but the softshell frowned. He looked to his bed then to his brother; who was looking at him with wide, confused eyes.

A sigh left Donnie’s beak as he rubbed the area between his eyes. “Do you….” He took in a deep breath. “…want to sleep with me? Just for tonight….” 

They haven’t slept together since they were kids, but he’d make an exception for tonight.

They sometimes slept in turtle piles, but after the Kraang … it hadn’t happened much.

He didn’t know what Leo had been through over the past year.

How alone his brother had felt.

Even if it’s awkward for Donnie his twin is probably happy right now.

He can see the light in his eyes as the slider let out a soft chirp with a smile on his face.

Donnie approached his bed and lay a pillow down the middle of the bed. He looked at his brother as Leo tilted his head. “Also no biting or scratching me, please. I’ve been scratched enough tonight, thank you.”

This made Leo wince and pull his head into his shell, making Donnie feel guilty about his blunt wording.

”I …. no, that’s not … what I meant.” He growled in frustration. “Leo, you know I’m a softshell and I really don’t want those claws in my spine…”

Leo pulled deeper into his shell, letting out a whine and causing Donnie to groan.

”This isn’t working….” He grumbled out, sounding annoyed. “Just … lay facing the wall and I’ll face the other way. That way I don’t have to…”

Donnie stopped himself from going any further as he noticed Leo had withdrawn into his shell.

At least he could still do that.

But that meant whatever Donnie said must’ve hurt Leo.

He winced and got down in front of his twin, trying to think of what to say to him.

His brother obviously felt awful about his appearance and it showed.

This just proved it.

Leo had to get used to these sudden changes caused to his body, but it didn’t mean he liked it.

”Leo, you know I’m not good at words…” Donnie looked away from his brother. “I’m … sorry that I hurt your feelings. I didn’t realize … I guess I got caught up with you being back … that I forgot how mentioning small things can impact you.”

The slider’s head slowly popped out of his shell, staring at his twin. His arms soon followed through before pulling Donnie into a hug, surprising the softshell.

Donnie let a small smile spread across his face, hugging his twin back.

The two stayed like that for a few moments before they let go and Donnie pulled Leo to his feet. Leo plopped onto the side facing the wall, curling into a ball with his tail wrapped around his body.

He was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Donnie hopped in soon after he turned the light off, leaving his battleshell on and getting on his own side.

It’s not that he didn’t trust his brother, but with what Leo could’ve been through there’s no telling what will happen.

Donnie didn’t know if his twin had nightmares now because of wherever he’d been.

He and brothers had nightmares because of the Kraang, but Leo would have a combination of the Kraang and wherever he had been.

He didn’t know if Leo lashed out whenever he had nightmares or not.

Or if he had them at all.

He’d just have to see.

The extra precaution was necessary even if he hated thinking his own brother could hurt him.

Again…

Because he already technically had.

It had been an accident and Leo obviously felt guilty about it, but he didn’t want to have no protection just in case and have Leo wake up to find him bleeding.

Donnie looked down at his bandaged palm before looking over his shoulder at his brother. He noticed the rise and fall of twin’s back and smiled. It faded when he saw the cracks in the carapace leading into the shell. He had seen the cracks in his brother’s plastron, but hadn’t seen the damage done to his brother’s shell.

He swallowed, placing a hand on the cracks, hearing a hiss from his twin, telling him to remove his hand.

He did so and the hissing stopped.

Donnie took in a shaky breath, turning his head back to face the front, playing with the bandage end. His eyes staring off in the distance as it really hit him.

His brother had been tortured.

And not just tortured, but experimented on too.

How was he going to break this news to Raph, Mikey and Dad?

How would he explain this to April and Casey?

How does he tell all of them that Leo hadn’t been dead at all, but had been suffering for a whole year?

And they never knew.

They never knew that Leo was alive.

If they had known they would have tried to save him.

They obviously would.

They wouldn’t have left him to suffer like that if they had known.

He had other questions for his twin though…

Who captured his brother?

And how did he escape?

He wants to know the answers, but he doesn’t want to pressure Leo … not yet anyway.

He closed his eyes and drifted off into his own dreamless sleep. He’d think more on that in the morning.

Right now, he’s just glad he’s got his twin back….

Chapter Text

August 5th, 2020 - ????? - ?????

Leo opened his eyes to find that he was confined within a medium sized cage of sorts. It looked like one of those ones from asylums he’d seen in crime documentaries he’d catch while flipping channels. The padded walls, the hard metal floor, the sink and toilet off in the corner along with a mattress on his other side. The door was large and metallic taking up the whole doorway with only a small window for his head to look through though they also had bars on it.

After he had woken up in that lab and that man; Bishop was his name…

After he had explained that the slider was now property of the … EPF someone else had come into the room and drugged him.

Now he was here.

It was cold and damp.

A shiver went through his body as he rubbed his arms, scanning his surroundings a second time for any escape routes.

There wasn’t any.

The walls were perfectly padded with a weird padding over it so he couldn’t dig his way out and the floor was metal, so that was also a no go. There was a small barred window above his mattress, but it was too small for him to fit through. The only way out was the metal door in front of him.

Though how he’d accomplish that was another challenge entirely.

As he was looking around a sound caused him to lift his head towards the door in front of him. The door opened and a claw came out in between the small gap between the door and the framework. Leo got to his feet, backing away from the claw only for it to lengthen and clamp around his neck. The slider choked out, grabbing at the claw’s arm, trying to make it let go of his neck. 

It did not.

The claw yanked him towards the door, crashing into the metal door frame. As Leo was rubbing his sore nose the door opened up fully revealing a human in a white lab coat, goggles and a gun on the side of their belt. Leo can only guess the gun was there just in case he didn’t … behave…

Like a threat of sorts.

It wasn’t as if they were threatening enough already…

The turtle struggled against the claw around his neck, eyeing the scientist in front of him with suspicion.

His twin was a scientist, so he knew that whatever he was in for wasn’t good.

The movement of the scientist’s other hand was quick.

He took out something from his belt and Leo at first thought it was the gun, flinching, thinking that he was going to be killed.

But when the strider felt a light sting in his neck he realized that it was a needle instead.

Leo blinked, staring at the empty needle in the scientist’s hand.

What had been in there?

It had been too quick for him to see anything.

He didn’t see the liquid’s colour…

All he knew was he felt the prick in his scales and after that nothing.

It gave him a sick feeling inside.

It also scared him.

What was he given?

The scientist put the empty needle back on his belt before shoving Leo back into the cell. The slider stumbled backwards before landing on his backside, wincing, looking up just in time to see the door close. He got to his feet and ran over to the door, grabbing the bars.

”H…Hey! What was in that needle!” Leo exclaimed, glaring at the scientist.

The scientist glanced back at the turtle with a frown on his face. “You’ll have to wait and see.” A smile spread across his face that sent a shiver down Leo’s shell. “For your next dose you’ll be taken to the lab.”

”W…Why?” Leo asked, stuttering.

He didn’t usually stutter considering how much he liked to show off his charisma and confidence, but it was as if all of it was swept away in a storm drain.

He really didn’t like where this was going.

Why did he have to go to the lab for this so called second dose?

”We need to examine you. That’s all I’m allowed to tell you, T-04,” the scientist told him.

With that the scientist turned around and began to leave.

Leo growled at the number given to him, clenching the bars tight. “MY NAME IS LEO!”

No one answered him.

Leo swallowed, letting go of the bars and collapsing on the floor. His breathing hard, placing his head against the hard, cold metal of the door.

This was really happening.

He was captured by a group of humans and brought to some kind of facility.

He still doesn’t know where he is or what they plan to do to him.

It scared him.

The fact that they were giving him these weird doses of something didn’t sit right with him.

Not only that, but they planned on doing more to him.

His bottom lip trembled, bringing his legs up to his plastron and letting out a tiny whine.

”I want to go home…”

He missed it.

He missed his brothers.

He missed April.

He missed his Dad.

He missed everyone.

He dug his head into arms, feeling the prick of tears at the edge of his eyes.

The last time his family had seen him he’d been blasted into the Prison Dimension.

Would they really think he was alive after a stunt like that?

They probably wouldn’t…

He couldn’t begin to imagine how his family was feeling…

Then again … it was his fault for making them feel that way…

He let out a sniff, wiping his eyes.

He didn’t want to be here.

He wanted to feel Raph’s big arms cuddle him to his plastron.

He wanted to annoy Donnie as he worked on a new invention.

He wanted to help Mikey in the kitchen.

He wanted….

He … wanted his family…

Leo fell onto his side, letting his tears fall and letting his eyes wander over to across the cell.

There was nothing in here.

Only him.

One lonely turtle.

They only saw him as a specimen to be experimented on.

They didn’t see him as anything but an anomaly.

He understood taking precautions after the Kraang, but this was unfair.

This was cruel.

He didn’t want to be kept away from his family like this.

He closed his eyes, letting another soft whimper escape his throat. “I wanna go home…”

Chapter Text

August 6th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 7:25am

It was early in the morning and the softshell opened his eyes, rubbing them and sitting up. That was one of the few times he’d gotten a good night’s sleep in a long time. A loud yawn escaped his beak, standing up from the bed before a light whine caused him to whirl around only to stare at the figure in his bed.

He recognized that shell except for the cracks trailing along it.

It was then that the events from last night came back to him and realized that this was his twin.

His supposedly dead twin.

The twin that he knows has most likely gone through some kind of traumatic experimentation over the past year.

Donnie looks down at his bandaged hand before his eyes looked back up to his sleeping brother.

He really didn’t want to wake Leo up.

Who knows when the last time he had gotten a full night’s sleep without the fear of what came about the next day was.

He leaned over and pat his older twin on his head, causing said twin to lean into the touch unconsciously. “I’ll be back soon, Lee. I’m just getting myself a cup of coffee.”

The softshell left his train car, looking back for a second longer at his brother before heading in the direction of the kitchen. He walked past the round table, letting out another yawn as he approached the counter. They may live in the sewers and it was a fairly new lair still, but thanks to April and Donnie they were able to make it so that the electronics worked. 

Donnie grabbed his mug from a shelf as well as putting the kettle on the stove to heat up. He also grabbed a coffee sachet, pouring the contents into his mug as he waited for the water to boil. 

As the softshell waited he heard a yawn come from the entrance to the kitchen, looking up from the stove to see Mikey and Raph enter. “Wow, you two are up early…” Donnie snarked.

”You know I always make breakfast,” Mikey retorted back, folding his arms across his plastron. “Did you have to hog the stove?”

Donnie snorted as the whistle for his long awaited coffee went off allowing him to pour the contents into his mug. He set the kettle aside and gestured at the stove. “All yours now, Angelo.”

”Thank you!” The youngest bounced over to the stove, turning it off before wandering over to the fridge. “Turn it off after using it next time.”

“Alright…” Donnie mumbled into his mug, rolling his eyes.

While the youngest looked in the fridge for some food to cook up, Donnie leaned against the counter and Raph stood by the table. The oldest frowning as he noticed a bandage wrapped around the middle child’s hand that was laying flat on the countertop, nowhere near his hot mug.

“Donnie…” The softshell looked over at his older brother. “…what happened to your hand?”

This caused Mikey to stop searching for food and looked over his shoulder at the purple turtle. Donnie moved his injured hand behind his back, eyes looking down and away from his brothers.

“It’s nothing. I just cut myself on a piece of glass while junkyard scavenging last night…” He mumbled out, placing his mug beside him on the counter.

This was where he didn’t want to be.

How was he going to tell his brothers about Leo?

That Leo was not just alive, but also … not really fully there…

He was glad he found his twin, but why was he the one put into being responsible for telling his brothers?

He didn’t deal well with this kind of pressure.

And it didn’t help that Leo couldn’t exactly tell him what happened to him.

His twin was basically mute right now.

Who knows if he’ll ever speak again.

And the softshell hated how he’d probably never hear his twin’s annoying quips ever again…

It hurt to think about.

“YOU WENT TOPSIDE WITHOUT INFORMING US!?” Raph shouted, causing the softshell to shrink in on himself. “Sorry…” The red turtle breathed in before letting it out. “Donnie, this past year you’ve holed yourself into your lab. I know you miss Leo. W…We all do, but … you can’t keep shutting us out like this….”

Donnie frowned, looking away from his older brother, noticing Mikey’s worried gaze also on him. 

“Also I doubt that’s from a piece of glass, D,” Mikey said, causing Donnie to lift a brow. “You never made eye-contact with us. It was easy to tell you were lying.”

”Like you two aren’t any different…” Donnie growled out.

”Excuse me!” 

“You heard me!” Donnie pointed at Mikey. “You’ve been trying continuously to open up the Prison Dimension not even thinking about what it’s doing to you!” Mikey looked down at the scars along with hands. “And you’ve been wallowing in guilt, believing you caused Leo—no pushed Leo to make such a decision! You can’t just get at me when I’ve been grieving in my own way too!”

He really shouldn’t have blown up like that at them.

But the amount of grief he’d felt over the past year coupled with the relief and anger he’d felt after finding Leo.

He just needed to let it out.

He needed an outlet for all this emotional buildup.

There were tears on the edge of his eyes as Mikey and Raph stood rooted to their spots, staring at their brother.

”I…I’m sorry, Don. I didn’t think about it like that…” Raph said, turning his head and rubbing it.

Donnie kept his head turned away from his brothers, frown etched on his face and injured hand hidden behind his back.

”But can you at least tell us how you got hurt? And no lies this time,” Raph said in his older brother voice, folding his arms across his plastron, frowning at Donnie.

The softshell bit his bottom lip, finally lifting his gaze back to his brothers.

This was it…

There was no getting out of it.

Him being a bad liar made it so he had to tell them the truth.

Would they even believe him?

It was impossible to believe Leo came back from the dead, but if Mikey somehow teleported Leo somewhere else that was a possibility.

He just didn’t want his little brother to feel at fault for what happened to Leo.

He was inexperienced in portal-making, so he wouldn’t know if it was possible.

He just hoped his brothers wouldn’t freak out … and scare Leo…

”Well, it’s because…” He was cut off by a loud crash emanating from the living room where Splinter always hung out to watch his films.

”DAD!” Mikey and Raph rushed off in the direction of the sound while Donnie stood frozen to the spot.

This was bad.

He had a small feeling telling him what or who had been the cause of the crash.

Snakes eat rats.

Leo was mutated with one.

He left Leo alone.

Leo had had a small diet for who knows how long.

And who knows what that was of.

He most likely woke up, noticed Donnie wasn’t with him, wandered off to find him and found Dad.

Hopefully his brother was able to control himself from biting Splinter or hurting their Father.

Donnie shook himself out of whatever trance he was in and ran after his brothers to the sitting room. The softshell made it just as Mikey was helping Splinter to his feet and Raph stood protectively in front of his brothers and Father. Donnie heard the hissing of his twin, turning and noticing his slitted eyes in the shadows across the room as he crouched on the floor.

He glanced over to Splinter, noticing tiny scratches on his arms, but that was all. No bite marks which was good. His eyes drifted back over to his brothers; who had their weapons out and winced.

This wasn’t Leo’s fault.

But they didn’t know that.

They probably didn’t even know it was Leo.

“Donnie, get ready.”

The softshell blinked, looking up at Raph with wide eyes. 

He was not saying they were going to fight Leo, right?

Then again Raph didn’t know it was Leo…

Suddenly as though he could tell he was in a bad situation. Leo jumps to his feet, hisses again before turning around and scaling the wall, finding a hole and crawling into it.

The four stared at where Leo had once been before Raph turned to his family, letting out a deep breath. “Are you okay, Dad?”

The rat just gave a small nod. A grim expression on his face as he looked down at the ground. His brows furrowed and his wrinkles more prominent.

Donnie swallowed, realizing that their Father knew about Leo now too.

There was a silence between all of them that no one bothered to cut into.

No one had found the lair since the Kraang.

So, what was that that did?

”What … exactly was that?” Raph asked, scanning everyone, Donnie especially for answers.

The purple turtle swallowed, looking down at the ground before he finally realized he had to tell them. 

This was it.

He needed to or else Leo would be captured again and be put through all that torment again.

He took in a shuddering breath before letting it out. “That … was Leo…”

Another silence drifted between the four once more this one tense than the previous one.

It was broken by Raph letting out a nervous chuckle, looking at Donnie like he made a joke. “Donnie, I think you’ve spent too much time in your lab.”

”What?” The softshell growled out, glaring at his older brother. 

“There’s no way that’s Leo. He’s…” Raph swallowed, unable to get the words out.

Donnie kept his murderous glare on his brother.

He knew that was Leo.

He knew what his twin looked like even if he looked slightly different now.

That was definitely him.

”Purple is right, Red…” Splinter finally spoke up, causing the three to turn to their Father. “That was most certainly Blue…”

At hearing this kind of confirmation from their Father, basically cemented the fact to the other two that it was indeed Leo.

”B…But how…?” Mikey whispered, rubbing his arms and staring at the floor.

”Your first portal must’ve worked, Mikey, but instead of being transported to Staten Island he was portalled somewhere else.” Donnie lowered his head. “He suffered the last year in isolation most like and was put through some kind of experimentation.” He showed the bandage on his hand. “He gets triggered by certain words which I plan to write down.” He eyes everyone as they stare at Donnie with wide eyes at the explanation.

”And you didn’t think to tell us?” Raph asked, sounding hurt.

”I didn’t want to throw him straight into seeing you guys. He seemed self-conscious of his new appearance and coupled with whatever trauma he has … I wanted him to take it slow…” Donnie explained to them. “I was going to tell you guys. I just didn’t know how…”

The red turtle took in a deep breath before letting it out. “Alright.” Donnie and Mikey look up at him. “If what you say is true then … whoever held Leo captive the past year is still after him.” He stood up tall and gave his brothers a thumbs up. “Let’s go find our brother!”

Mikey blinked, before rubbing his eyes and nodding, following his oldest brother out of the sitting room and towards the exit to the lair. Donnie was about to do the same before turning to look back at Splinter; who was looking at the crawl space Leo had escaped through.

”Dad?”

”Go on, Purple. I’ll be fine. Just find Blue.”

The purple turtle nodded and headed after his brothers to find his twin.

He hoped that Leo would stay safe until they found him.

He really didn’t want to lose him a second time.

Chapter Text

August 6th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 7:44am

Leo opened up his eyes, used to getting up early due to his daily schedule the past year. He would be woken up by one of the guards, given a meager meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner before being brought to the lab for testing. Sometimes it lasted for thirty minutes while others it could last for hours.

He once skipped a full meal because the testing from a previous ‘exam’ as that’s what they liked to call it; had caused injuries that he just wanted to sleep off.

He wasn’t used to waking up in the comfort of a nice and warm bed with covers over him.

It was nice.

Different.

Cozy.

Familiar.

He sniffed, recognizing the scent and remembered briefly of last night.

How his twin had found him in the junkyard, scared and alone.

He let out a whine at the memory of hurting his twin, burying himself deeper into the covers.

Donnie had brought him back to the lair and allowed him to sleep in his bed due to possible separation anxiety issues he may have now.

He did always have them, but he was never overly thrilled about showing it to anyone.

Raph always seemed to have it worse than him.

Now thanks to being the subject to experimentation for a year it’s possible that if he had any it’s gotten worse.

The slider rolled over, blinking when he noticed the bare spot beside him where his twin was supposed to be.

That set off alarm bells in Leo’s head.

Where was his brother?

Where did Donnie go?

Why did he leave him alone?

The slider jumps out of the bed and ran out of the train car to try and find his purple brother.

He couldn’t be alone again.

He didn’t want to be alone again.

All that time in the iron-padded room with no escape and just bars on the windows with no one to talk to … it was hell…

He had to get used to it, but over time the walls felt like they were closing in on him.

As if they were going to squash him in his sleep…

As if the ceiling would fall and crush him…

It was terrifying…

That fear and the fear of the scientists led to several nights without sleep…

And many punishments because of that…

He already had a horrible sleep schedule before, but now….

He ran into a room, making a small pit stop and examined the scenery. There was an armchair, couch, a few bean bags and a projector screen. A box full of movies was to the side near a shelf that held above it a sword.

A sword—katana that he recognized as the one from the dual pair he once used.

The other being confiscated of by the EPF.

They didn’t want him to have any kind of weapons on him while held captive by them.

Though they didn’t account for his anatomical weapons, did they?

The strider stared at the katana with wide eyes, moving an arm up to touch it before stopping.

He shouldn’t.

This was here as a way to commemorate his sacrifice against the Kraang.

He shouldn’t touch it.

Especially with his vile, filthy hands.

This is one of the last remnants of who he was before he was mutated into what he is now.

How dare he want to touch it.

Corrupt it.

It was still pure.

Had the essence of what made Leo—Leo…

He shouldn’t touch it with these hands…

These hands stained with blood…

Leo took his hand away and placed it against his plastron and just stared at the last remaining remnant on who he once was, letting out a soft whimper.

He wanted that back.

He wanted to be the red-eared slider Leonardo that his family loved.

Not this freak of nature.

He lowered his head to stare at the floor with tears at the edge of his eyes.

He wanted his life back…

The life that was stolen from him…

The year that was taken from him…

A shuffle behind him caused him to freeze, sniffing the air for any kind of familiar scent as to who it was. He turned around only to be met with his Father in the archway, staring at him with wide, teary eyes.

”Leonardo? Is that really you?” He asked, almost hoping it wasn’t a hallucination before him.

Leo stared back, eyes wide and panicked.

He had been dreading this moment.

”Snakes eat rats…” the voice of the scientist floated through Leo’s head before he bit him.

Snakes eat rats…

Leo was mutated with a highly venomous type of snake.

He swallowed as his mind wandered, trying not to let anything out.

He didn’t want to let go now that he was home.

He didn’t want to hurt his Dad.

No.

Stop.

He wouldn’t.

A low snarl escaped his throat, a clawed hand grabbing his head as he backed into the low cabinet behind him. Splinter took a step forward, arm outstretched towards his son in worry at seeing him in obvious pain.

However the rat didn’t understand why his son was in pain.

He also didn’t know why he looked different.

What had happened to him during this past year?

Who did this to his baby blue?

”Leonardo, calm down…” the old rat spoke, gently to the slider.

Leo shook his head, growling and showing off his fangs to Splinter; who just stared at the new canines his son had.

The rat was his Dad not food.

Though it didn’t help that snakes were one of the natural predators to rats and mice.

His new instincts were getting the best of him.

It didn’t help he didn’t eat much last night when Donnie handed him a piece of leftover pizza.

He hadn’t been able to stomach it.

He’d had small portions of bread and lettuce during his time at the facility, but once his transformation started the staff had changed his diet to that of … rodents and bugs.

He had tried to keep to the insects when they handed that to him, but because it was part of the experiment they needed to see his reaction to a rodent meal.

He didn’t want to.

He never wanted to.

He knew if he did he’d never be able to control himself around his Dad.

However, even if he went on a hunger strike … it just made them force-feed the dead mouse to him.

It was terrible.

He hated it.

But something inside of him told him that it tasted delicious and that he wanted more of this morsel.

It sickened him.

It made him never want to see his Dad; afraid he’d end up hurting him.

Or worse … eating him…

Eat?

Hungry?

Starving?

Rat…

Food….

Leo’s slit eyes narrowed at his father, taking his hand away from his head and lowering his body into a crouch while letting out a low hiss.

Splinter stopped any movement toward his son, frozen.

This was not Leonardo any longer.

It was something else.

Something that the rat’s instincts in him told him to run from.

A predator.

This was his son though.

Why would he run from his son?

His eyes stayed on Leo as the slider’s tail raised, body arched as if getting ready to pounce.

His son wouldn’t hurt him … would he?

It was sudden when Leo’s still form lunged towards Splinter, claws outstretched towards the rat and mouth open wide ready to bite down on prey. The rat dodged the attack, bumping into his do-not-touch cabinet and knocking a few items out causing a loud crash. Leo let out a small whimper at the noise, grabbing his head and swiping at wherever it came from with his claws.

The rat grunted as the claws sliced a part of his hakama and arm causing him to collapse on the ground. He grabbed at his arm, hissing in pain and noticed the blood when he took his paw away.

When his eyes looked back up to his blue son he was across the room, hissing and hiding in the shadows.

The noise must’ve drawn his other son’s attention as he could hear loud footsteps approaching. Raph ran in first, noticing the sight of Splinter before seeing Leo and standing in front of the rat. Mikey came in second and hurried to help his father up to his feet. Before Donnie came in last and just stopped frozen for a while before shaking his shock off and stepping up beside Raph.

Raph got his sais out, glaring at the slider across from him. “Donnie, get ready.”

The softshell turned to his older brother with wide, unsure eyes, glancing between his twin and his older brother.

Leo narrowed his eyes at the three turtles, letting out a low snarl.

He had missed a chance to get food.

Now there was company.

He let out a low hiss, earning the attention of the purple one before getting to his feet and scaling up the wall with his claws. He found a crack just large enough for him to fit through and crawled into it. He could hear the commotion outside his little hole as he continued to tunnel his way through.

The slider was able to make it to the other side, sliding down onto the runway beside the sewer waterway. He got on all fours, looking back through the hole, letting out a low hiss before trekking down the path beside the water. 

His eyes scanned his surroundings, unsure if anything could pop out at him.

He rounded a corner, went down the left side of a two-way tunnel before finding a crevice in the tunnel. He sniffed it, pawing at the crevice before nodding. He lay down within it, curling into a ball with his tail tucked around his body.

A sigh left his beak as he lifted his clawed hand to stare at the fresh blood that now coated his claws.

He cringed, hiding his hand away from his sight.

He’d hurt two people he cared about now.

He really shouldn’t have gone back in the first place…

He’s dangerous now.

He could hurt his family.

He could kill them with just a bite…

A small whimper escaped Leo’s beak as he covered his face with his hands.

Never.

He’ll never go back.

The edges of his eyes burned with unshed tears.

There was no way that he’d…

”Leo…?” A voice broke him out of his thoughts, causing the slider to lift his head to see all three of his brothers in front of him.

How did they find him so quickly?

He’d be happy that they found him … if he didn’t want to hurt them.

He didn’t want to go home.

Not if he could hurt them so easily now.

So, next best thing he could do … was get defensive.

A snarl placed itself onto his beak, showing off his fangs to his brothers. Mikey took a step back, Raph held his arms up in defense while Donnie held his already injured arm out to coax his brother out.

It was already injured, so it didn’t matter if it was injured a second time.

Even if it still hurt…

“Whoa, Leo, calm down, man. We’re just here to take you home,” Raph told his brother which seemed to set the slider off.

He snapped at Donnie’s hand; who was able to remove it in time with wide eyes, clutching it to his plastron and breathing heavily. “What did we say about biting, Nardo!?”

A low hiss was all that came out of Leo as a response.

”I don’t think … Leo wants to come home…” Mikey spoke up, voice quiet, eyes on the ground.

”WHAT!” Raph whirled around to face Mikey before turning back to his snarling younger brother. “Leo … do you really not want to come home?”

Donnie stared at Leo, blinking. “Why? You were so happy last night to be home. What changed?”

Leo’s hissing quietened down as his gaze moved down to Donnie’s bandaged hand. The softshell followed his twin’s gaze with a concerned frown before realization dawned on him.

”Oh, I see…” Donnie said, almost muttering it. “You’re afraid you’ll continue to hurt us, aren’t you?”

A small whimper escaped Leo’s beak as he nodded in agreement with Donnie’s question.

”We can trim your nails!” 

”And grind your fangs!”

Donnie nodded at the suggestions his younger and older brothers made. “We’ll do what we can to help you, Lee.” He slowly and gently put his hand on his twin’s shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t react to it like before. He didn’t. “We need you back. We’ve … missed you so much. Please, don’t push us away.”

”Leo, whatever you’re going through … let us help. You’ve been alone the past year. Let us be a family again and we can get through this together,” Raph encouraged his younger brother.

Leo’s eyes looked between his purple and red brothers. His teary eyes beginning to flood with water. He sniffed, wiping his eyes and whimpering, trying to keep his form steady by holding onto Donnie’s outstretched arm.

”We love you, Leo. No matter what.” The slider looked over to his little brother; who smiled at him.

Leo opened his mouth, but all that came out was a long drawn out cry. He held onto Donnie’s arm as Raph and Mikey came forward and hugged Leo, comforting their distressed brother.

Thats all he ever wanted to hear again.

That someone cared.

That someone loved him even if he looked different.

It was everything to him…

”Come on, let‘s get you home…”

Maybe going home wasn’t such a bad idea after all…

Chapter Text

August 6th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 8:29am

The four turtles arrived back at the lair with Leo in the back and Raph in the front while Donnie and Mikey led Leo inside. As Mikey led Leo towards his train car to calm down after his little freak out earlier causing the slider to whine, looking over to his twin in worry.

Donnie waved at Leo, giving him the signal that everything was okay as Mikey headed off to check on Splinter once Leo was situated near the train car door.

Raph stood in the middle of the entryway of the old station, arms folded across his plastron and a deep sigh leaving his beak.

The softshell narrowed his eyes at his older brother’s behaviour. “What’s up with you? We have Leo back. Why aren’t you happy?”

Yes, it was pathetic of him to ask such a question to his brother.

But Raph didn’t seem as happy as he or Mikey was.

It made him angry.

It made him want to start a fight.

Even if it was petty.

And that anger would definitely come out in some kind of aggravation against Raph.

”No, I’m happy he’s back it’s just…” Raph shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. He’s just so different now. How are we supposed to help him?”

”You’re kidding me, right?” Donnie asked, narrowing his eyes at Raph. “Leo has been tortured for the past year and you’re unsure of what to do for him?!”

”I’m not unsure!” Raph exclaimed, glaring down at Donnie. “I just said that ‘I don’t know’!”

”That’s the same as being unsure, Raph!”

Leo watched his two brothers argue with wide eyes. He’d never seen this happen before. 

He’s never seen them argue before.

Sure, he and Raph argued just after he became leader, but seeing it be Donnie instead … scared him.

All four of them had tempers, but they each were able to control it in their own way.

However, seeing the two that had the better controlled tempers made him want to run.

And he did.

”Wait, Leo!” Mikey shouted, coming back into the room and only just noticing his brother run off.

Mikey ignored his arguing brothers and ran after his confused, scared older brother.

Leo however, ran into his train car and crawled under his bed into the darkest little crevice underneath his bed frame. He curled into a ball, whining to himself before he saw a shadow in front of him causing him to hiss; showing off his fangs.

It was Mikey and the youngest sat down against his bed frame. ”I won’t touch you, but … you must know that ever since the invasion … things haven’t been the same…”

Leo crawled out from under his bed enough for the top half of his body to peek out. The slider pointed at himself as if asking it was his fault.

Mikey noticed the small gesture and shook his head, vigorously. “No, it’s not your fault. It’s just…” Mikey let out a sigh, pulling his legs up to his chest, placing his head on his knees. “…I don’t know what to think…”

A low whine escaped Leo’s throat as he came out from the under the bed entirely, leaning his head on Mikey’s shoulder. The younger of the two smiled at the gesture, leaning his head against his older brother.

The two sat in silence with each other in their own world, ignoring the chaos that was currently happening outside.

Donnie had had his own little moment last night with Leo and now Mikey could have his.

”I’m … so glad that you’re back, Lee…” Mikey mumbled out, wiping tears away that had started to prick at the edge of his eyes.

Leo looked up at his younger brother, letting out a small tired chirp. Mikey looked at his older brother with a warm smile, holding him close, afraid he’d lose his brother again if he let go.

”We … should probably stop them…” Mikey suggested, causing Leo to let out another small whine. “I know. I don’t like them fighting either, but…” He took in a breath and let it out.

He had to focus.

Leo was obviously distraught by the argument between their brothers.

He’s never seen it before now.

Sure, he’d argued with Raph before and even Donnie, but who knew what affects being tortured for a year had done to Leo.

He still showed signs of understanding what was happening around him, but it was obvious whatever trauma he’s suffered caused him to regress to a feral-like state at times.

It was similar to Savage Raph in way.

Also due to said trauma Leo showed no signs of wanting to speak just giving small movements and noises.

This would take some getting used to, but it would also be a long road ahead for recovery for Leo.

”I hope … that we’re able to help you…” Mike muttered out, bringing Leo closer in for a hug.

Leo let out a small whine, burying his head into his younger brother’s shoulder.

He understood they wanted to help him.

He knew that from the moment he met up with Donnie again.

However, he didn’t know how long it would take…

He’d read that trauma can last for years, decades even in most people and cause side effects in their development.

Well, his feral state was already a cause of such.

He was triggered by certain words to do with scientific things.

He had eaten rats against his will.

His shell had been chipped at like it was a fascinating gem.

He hated anything white now.

That’s only a small margin of what a year being with the EPF did to him.

Leo blinked as Mikey got to his feet, helping him up in the process. The box turtle gave the slider a small smile before leading his older brother outside. He could still hear the shouting of his other older brothers and winces when Leo grabbed his right arm causing his claws to nick him.

”Wait here, okay. I’ll deal with them.” The younger unhooked his brothers fingers from his arm and ran off towards his other brothers, wincing when he heard Leo’s small cry.

His brother must not like being left alone anymore.

His feral side would seek refuge and isolation.

Leo on the other hand would seek comfort and the company of others.

It was an odd difference.

But it showed when Leo had gone looking for Donnie earlier that day after waking up to find him not in the room.

He didn’t seek attention like he used to, but the general comfort of his family.

As if he needed closure that they really were there at all.

Or … he had some form of separation anxiety?

These thoughts swirled around in Mikey’s head as he finally came to the main room where his older brothers were still arguing. He’d found them arguing up to an hour once before which made him hide away in his room, playing on his handheld game console for the duration of the argument.

The box turtle stood before his older brothers, frowning when the two didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

It seemed they didn’t even notice Leo run off either.

They had to change that.

He took in a deep breath before letting it out. “WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP!” He shouted, accessing Dr Delicate Touch for a split second which caused the two to stop and finally turn to face the younger.

”Michael, we’re having a very serious conversation here,” Donnie explained to his younger brother.

Raph growled, pointing at Donnie’s plastron. “How is this a conversation?”

Mikey knew they were about to start again.

He had to make sure they didn’t.

“Guys stop!” Mikey put his hands between the two to keep them a part. “This arguing is getting out of hand. Not only that … but your scaring Leo.”

“Scaring Leo?” Raph asked, sounding confused.

”He’s not used to this. The last time he saw us was during the invasion. We hardly argued then. There were some small ones, but not ones like this.” Mikey looked away and to where his blue brother was waiting by his train car door. “It triggered his flight response when you two started fighting and he ran and hid in his room.”

Donnie and Raph both widened their eyes, looking over as well to the slider; who seemed to hunch in on the attention he was being given.

”Leo…”

Raph stepped forward, wanting to reach out for his younger brother, but stopped unsure if it would cause him to run again. The snapper put his arm back down and let out a long sigh.

”I…I’m sorry. I’m just so used to you not being here that once the argument started it got out of hand…”

”We’re both sorry…” Donnie mumbled out, rubbing his arms, nervously. “We have to somehow figure out how to make this work. We have to find out what sets Leo off and work around that.”

Leo slowly approached his brothers, leaning his body against Mikey’s shell however lightly due to their height difference.

”Yea and by doing so we can help Leo get better!” Mikey exclaimed, giving his older brother a grin.

The gesture caused the slider to blink and give his own small smile in return.

This will work out.

They had to make it work.

Their brother was back, so they had to get back into their old habits.

It wouldn’t be easy, but it was for Leo.

He’d already gone through enough.

He didn’t need to think he was the cause of this.

They just had to work this out.

Somehow…

Chapter Text

August 7th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 12:21am

It was currently midnight and everyone had gone to bed a few hours earlier than was typically normal. Mikey had cooked dinner that night, but Leo had refused to eat anything a part from the cut up meat on his plate. It had caused a few worried looks from Raph, Mikey and Splinter to be sent in his direction which Donnie tried to explain why he had only eaten that much since that’s what he had done the night before too.

The boys would usually go out on patrols at night after or before dinner, but tonight they decided to give it a break. Their brother needed them right now and it was probably best not to leave him alone in the lair with their Father after what had transpired earlier. So, while Raph and Donnie slept in their rooms; Mikey decided to sleep with Leo tonight. After the argument that had transpired between his older brothers he felt Leo would probably be more comfortable around him.

The box turtle had his arms wrapped around the slider as if afraid his older brother disappear even while in the cold embraces of sleep.

Leo lay awake beside his brother; his gaze aimed at the ceiling above him. His brows furrowed as his eyes scanned the room that belonged to his younger brother, letting out a short huff. His head turned to look back down at the sleeping form of his little brother; a smile curling onto his beak as listened to the slow breaths escaping Mikey’s own beak in his slumber. 

The slider ran his hand over the box turtle’s head with a fond touch, careful that his claws didn’t accidentally nick his brother’s smooth scales.

He didn’t need anymore scars on his body than he already had.

His eyes found their way to the scars running up Mikey’s arms. A worried frown crossed his face he reached for one of the arms, but pulled his arm back instead.

He wasn’t told much of what had happened to his brothers during the year that he was trapped by the EPF.

He just knew that his brothers thought he’d been dead and that they hadn’t been getting along like they used to.

It didn’t sit right with the slider.

They never really had huge fights amongst each other.

The only ones they had was when he just became leader and he and Raph were at each other’s throats until just before the invasion.

Now it seemed Donnie had replaced Leo’s role in the arguments with Raph whilst Mikey still tried to play mediator.

But Leo could tell from the air earlier after Mikey got his brothers to stop arguing that there was still tension.

It was a horrible feeling.

How was he going to help his brothers?

They wanted to help him, but he wanted to help them too.

How were they supposed to even help him if they couldn’t even function as a family without fighting anymore?

He didn’t want to feel like a burden on them.

It was basically his fault that their relationship with each other was falling a part. If he hadn’t sacrificed himself to stay in the Prison Dimension then maybe things would still be the same.

His thumb rubbed over the scars on Mikey’s arm causing the younger turtle to groan in his sleep and Leo to stop; afraid he’d wake up the other. However he still eyed the injury with a concerned eye.

He had also noticed Raph’s right eye was paler than the last time he saw him. He had similar scars on his left arm and Donnie on his right. These had to be injuries his brothers had sustained from the invasion and after he’d trapped himself in the Prison Dimension.

He’d know about them otherwise.

He was the medic of the team after all.

And he wasn’t there to treat them…

He wasn’t there to help them…

He was the main cause of those injuries because it was his fault the Kraang even invaded at all.

He let the Foot Clan get the key and let the Kraang in.

He allowed Raph to be captured and turned into some weird amalgamation between alien and mutant.

He nearly got himself, Casey, Donnie and Mikey all killed by his poorly thought out plan by going through the old tunnel systems.

And he allowed himself to be trapped with Kraang One in another dimension which eventually led to his capture by the EPF.

It was all his fault.

All on him.

Everything is fine now though, but the fact his brothers have such everlasting scars on their bodies and he wasn’t here to help them … hurt…

Leo knew it was probably frustrating for his brothers at the moment; seeing him in such a way.

It was frustrating for him too.

He’d gone so long without the need to speak and now that he’s back with his family … he suddenly feels the need to and yet … he can’t.

He wants to talk to his brothers again, but there’s this feeling deep in the back recesses of his mind telling him not to.

It was almost like it was reciting what he heard at the facility.

The threats he got.

The punishments he was given.

The experimentation done on him.

The torture.

The torture…

THE TORTURE…

Leo’s hand touched the side of his neck and winced at the numb feeling that coursed over his scales there.

T-04…

That was his number.

While there they had given a number and burned it into his scales.

It was to say that they owned him.

That he was Government property.

That he wasn’t free anymore.

He hated it.

No matter all the times they tried to break him.

He tried to keep his sanity.

He kept his mind on his family and thought of them whenever he was close to his breaking point.

The only problem was his feral side.

He never had any problems with being feral before until now. He may have shown small instances when he was a child, but never to the point that he does now. He knew that during the experimentation process they must’ve messed up his brainwaves in a way. 

As a child he’d show small things like biting or clawing at furniture or his brothers if he didn’t get his way. He’d sulk in the sewer water until someone found him after he had a really bad tantrum.

But those were small and his brothers also showed turtle behaviour patterns too when they were little.

Nothing like what he’s experiencing now.

He didn’t know if it was on purpose or accidental, but either way it happened its caused the repressed animal instincts he had to come to the forefront of his mind more often than they used to.

The added fact he now has snake instincts on top of the turtle instincts he already had.

He let out a sigh, leaning his head against his brother’s shoulder, closing his eyes to try and get at least some semblance of sleep. It was nice to finally be able to sleep without the worry of punishment. His beak snuggled deeper into Mikey’s shoulder, letting loose a soft chirp as he did so. 

This was the happiest he’s been in a long time.

No closed in walls that feel like they’ll close in on him.

No wall-banging to wake him in the mornings.

No fear of not knowing if the next day will be his last.

Just a nice comfy bed with his little brother right beside him.

He missed this…

He really did…

However, his nose picked up a smell that urged him to move his mouth to grip onto whatever was below him. He wanted to sink his teeth in; the scent overwhelming him. His teeth held firm onto whatever it was, the scent tingling his senses until a whine caught his attention.

Leo’s eyes snapped open to see that his beak was currently clamped on his younger brother’s shoulder. It wasn’t deep enough that his fangs could release any poison yet, but it was enough for Leo to eject himself from his brother’s hold as carefully as possible and onto the floor.

Leo tried to calm his breathing down, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He cupped a hand over his mouth, staring with wide, horrified eyes at his still sleeping brother.

He’d just tried to bite his little brother.

Why?

Why would he do that?

Was it because he hardly ate anything?

Did he fall into feral mode again because he hadn’t eaten much?

He couldn’t force himself to eat right now if his diet was just leaves, bugs and rats at the facility.

He needed to adjust himself back to his regular old diet, slowly.

Did this mean that he … tried to eat his brother?

His breathing picked up.

No…

Not only did he attack his Dad due to his new DNA, but now he might see his brothers as something to eat too.

He hoped it was something that didn’t happen often, but he shouldn’t push his luck.

If he hadn’t heard Mikey he probably would’ve broken skin and the poison from his fangs would spread throughout his brother’s system in almost an hour.

He can’t think of that.

That’s terrifying.

The fact he has the means to kill his family with just a bite…

He jumped to feet, still breathing heavily and ran out of his brother’s train car as quickly and quietly as he could. He ran to his own train car, hands shaking as his eyes scanned the room, looking in his wardrobe until he found a doctor’s surgical mask. The one he usually used when he was in the medbay if one of them was sick or injured.

He hated to use it for something like this, but it would give him some much needed reassurance if he did.

He grabbed it, putting it on over his beak, making sure it was properly in place over his nostril and mouth. He then, got on all fours, crawled under his bed and curled underneath the mattress. He let out a whine, putting his head down on his arms as he stared out at the other side of his room.

Even if he knew he didn’t mean it he didn’t know how much he could control himself sometimes.

He’d rather have his brothers be safe rather than hurt or dead and it be his fault.

He didn’t escape to come back to accidentally kill his family.

He escaped so that he could get away from there.

So that he wouldn’t feel the pain anymore.

But he guessed wrong…

It may not be physical, but all the emotions he’s suddenly experiencing after a year of locking everything up is overwhelming.

It’s awful…

He wanted to come home, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all…

All these complicated emotions he hasn’t felt in so long hurt.

Why did it hurt so much?

Why did he trade pain for more pain?

It just wasn’t fair…

Chapter Text

August 7th, 2020 - ????? - ?????

Pain…

Tremendous amounts of pain coursed up his shell causing him to curl up into a ball, shivering.

He heard yelling as hands grabbed hold of his body and tried pulling him out of the fetal position.

He can’t remember what had been happening before now, but he can only figure that he’d been either asleep or drugged. Now he’s woken up and he just feels pain up his back and it HuuRRttSSS……

What did they do to his shell for it hurt this much?

He opened his eyes to try and adjust to the bright lights around him. 

It was all white.

It was very unlike his cell which was dark and lifeless.

It wasn’t until his vision cleared a bit more that he realized it wasn’t just white around him, but red too.

The coats the scientists wore had red on them.

The tools on the nearby table were coated in red, mainly the hammer.

The floor also had a small puddle of red beneath the table he was currently laying on.

It was blood.

His blood.

There was no where else it could’ve come from unless they had other creatures trapped in here like him.

The pain he had felt in his shell was most likely from what they did to his shell and the blood on the floor was what came out of it before they decided to patch it up.

A low hiss escaped his beak as another painful shudder slithered down his spine.

He needs a mirror.

He needs to know how bad the damage is.

But he doubts he’ll get that.

How big were the cracks?

Were there just cracks and had they actually dug into his shell?

He didn’t know…

He’s been here less than two days and he’s already figured out what they’ll do to him after that first injection.

He just didn’t think it’d get this bad this quickly.

The hands were finally able to pull him out of the fetal position and he was able to see that there were around four scientists holding him down while another was turned away across the room.

Leo’s groggy mind and blurry vision was still trying to piece everything together.

The pain in his shell wasn’t helping his mental state in the moment either.

He needed a nice cool bath, some patches and pain medication is what he needed right now.

But he doubted this is the type of place that handed those things out for free even if you’re injured.

The scientist finally turned around and Leo caught sight of the human holding something long in his hand.

He was too far away and his vision was still too blurry to tell what it was, but once the human was close enough to him he started struggling.

His eyes were wide and his mouth was open, pleading for them to stop.

The other four held him down as the fifth scientist came closer with the iron rod.

He heard yelling, but he was too panicked to think about trying to pick up any of it. 

This guy was going to stick a boiling hot metal rod against his neck.

He was going to be branded!

What was wrong with these people?!

The man grabbed Leo’s neck as his struggling form was held down firmly by the other scientists and the end of the rod was pushed against his skin. 

Then there was pain.

Leo let out a scream as the searing hot rod made contact with his neck. He screamed until his throat hurt and the rod was taken away along with scientists stepping back to look over their work.

“Now you belong to the government, Reptile.” One of the scientists spoke up as Leo’s hand touched his neck and felt the bumpy burnt scales where the branding was. “Or more rather T-04.”

Leo looked over to the scientist with wide, fearful eyes. His fingers trying their best to cover the mark that had been made on his neck by this man. He swallowed, shakily and stared at the metallic bed he was on.

Was this his life now?

To be a lab rat to these people?

Could he actually escape from them?

Where were his brothers?

There’s no way he’d be able to live like this.

He wouldn’t be able to survive until his brothers found him if this is what he had to put up everyday.

He had to escape somehow.

He didn’t even know what these people had planned for him.

“Take it back to it’s cell. We’re done for now.”

It…

He’s been reduced to an ‘it’….

An object….

A thing…

Nothing…

They don’t see him as human.

He’s a mutant, but he still has human DNA.

But to them he’s a lesser being.

He’s just another science experiment.

Another stepping stone on their way up in the ranks of the governmental ladder.

As he’s grabbed off the table by force the other words that grab his attention is ‘for now’.

When’s the next time he’ll be brought into this overly white room and see his blood splattered on the pristine white floor?

Tomorrow?

Next week?

Next month?

When?

He didn’t want this.

He didn’t even know what they were doing to him.

He just knew that they branded him today and he felt pain in his shell.

If this was what he was in for in the long run … was he better off dead?

No, he should stay alive for his family. 

They’ll come for him.

They have to.

They have to know he’s still alive.

They wouldn’t just leave him here to suffer, right?

Chapter Text

August 7th, 2021 - New York City, Sewers; Turtle’s Lair - 8:13am

The next day came quite quickly as Mikey yawned, stretching his arms out above his head and allowing his legs to spread out. The box turtle frowned when he felt the space next to him that was supposed to house his blue brother. He turned his head to face that side of the bed, blinking away the sleep from his eyes and stared.

Leo wasn’t in the bed.

That caused the youngest to jump from his bed and land on the floor, steadying his feet before hurrying off towards the kitchen. 

It was the best place his brothers would be this early in the morning.

Considering that Leo didn’t like to be left alone it was weird he’d up and leave like this.

What could cause him to do that?

It was certainly worrying.

Mikey got to the kitchen to see that indeed his two older brothers were already there at the table, eating cereal. 

Well, drinking his morning coffee in Donnie’s case.

“Guys! Leo … he…!” The box turtle tried to get his words out, but couldn’t think properly.

Raph looked up at hearing the name of the recently rediscovered slider. “Calm down, Mike. What about Leo?”

“I woke up and he wasn’t there. I just thought it weird considering how he’s been … recently…” Mikey said, hands fidgeting together.

A frown crossed over the snapper’s face as he looked over at the genius of the family. “He couldn’t have gotten far. Donnie, has he appeared on your cameras?”

The softshell was already looking at his wrist, tapping away at it. “Who do you take me for? He’s also got a subcutaneous tracker on him as well.”

“A what? You track us?”

“That’s right you weren’t with us when it was brought up…” A screen popped up in front of Donnie causing the softshell to squint and frown at it. “That’s odd.”

“What’s odd?”

“His tracker. It’s … gone. I don’t know how he lost it considering it’s under our skin…” Donnie went off in a rant.

“Worry about that later, D. You have cameras remember,” Raph said, trying to get Donnie back on track.

“Right, of course…” Donnie mumbled out, still slightly distracted by the lack of a tracker on his twin. He checked over the cameras in the lair to find where Leo had run off to, frowning at his twin’s destination. “He’s still in the lair. He’s in his room, actually. Why would he go there?”

“Let’s go check on him. There must be a reason he’s gone in there,” Mikey said, concern etched in his voice as he hurried off towards the slider’s room.

As Donnie and Raph got to their feet to follow the boxshell the latter stopping the former and pointing a finger at him. “We’ll be having a discussion later about those trackers, Donnie…” With that Raph followed after Mikey.

Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes and followed after his brothers to Leo’s room. Once he got there he noticed Mikey crouched in front of his bed while Raph crouched further back away.

“What’s going on?” Donnie asked, looking between the two, raising a brow in interest.

“Leo’s under the bed and he won’t come out.”

The softshell blinked at hearing this.

That was definitely unlike the slider to hide away from his brothers.

Sure, he’s already done it, but to not come out at all.

It just showed that whatever he went through must’ve affected his psyche more than they realise.

Donnie approached the bed and knelt down beside Mikey, peering underneath the mattress to get a good look at his hiding twin. Leo let loose a low hiss, pulling himself further near the back of the bed where it was against the wall.

It was fairly obvious he didn’t want to come out.

“Leo, we can’t leave you under there,” Mikey said, concern etched in his voice as he tried to reach for his older brother.

The gesture caused the slider to back away more, letting loose more hisses and a series of growls.

“Mikey, take your hand away from him,” Raph spoke up finally.

“Why?” Mikey asked, turning to face the oldest with a frown on his face.

“I hate to say it, but he’s unpredictable right now. We don’t know how Leo will react when he’s like this. We just need to give him time,” Raph explained to the youngest.

“You can’t be serious! He needs to be coaxed out from under there! He needs all the comfort he can get because we weren’t there for him!” Mikey exclaimed, desperation in his voice. He turned to face the softshell, hoping for a different answer. “Donnie, you don’t actually agree with this, right?”

The softshell kept his attention on his twin unable to answer his younger brother.

“I can’t believe you guys!”

“Leo’s already injured Donnie and Dad, Mikey. We just need … to figure out how to help him … without him injuring us in the process.”

“I’ve said this before but we need to write down what triggers his fight of flight responses. Whatever he went through wasn’t exactly pleasant and I have an idea of some, but others aren’t as obvious,” Donnie explained to his brothers while giving small gestures to Leo to come out.

“Can you give us a rundown of what you have so far, Don?” Raph asked, raising a brow at his younger brother.

“Later…” Donnie said, waving a hand at the snapper. “Right now I’m more concerned with why Leo won’t come out.”

Mikey knelt back down beside Donnie to get a look at Leo again. The box turtle frowned, noticing something around his older brother’s mouth. He squinted, but couldn’t see it in the darkness under Leo’s bed.

“Donnie, there’s something around Leo’s mouth…”

Donnie blinked, pulling his goggles down and putting them in night vision mode. There was something around Leo’s mouth. A surgical mask was over his older twin’s beak. The softshell stared at the mask before looking up to take a quick glance at Leo’s face.

He couldn’t see his fangs, but his eyes were enlarged; slit pupils almost the size and of pinpricks as he glared at Donnie.

It was almost as if he wasn’t seeing his brother, but something else…

Someone else…

Had whatever happened made it that Leo couldn’t even see his twin with his goggles on anymore?

Were his goggles really causing that look to come over his brother?

A series of spits, hisses and snarls broke out from the mask on Leo’s face. The softshell finally brought his goggles back up to his forehead as he held up a placating hand in front of his face.

“Leo, it’s okay. It’s just me. You’re not there. You’re at the lair. In your train car. You’re home,” Donnie tried to be as calm as he could, but he was still trying to process everything.

He knew his brothers were too.

His twin was alive.

He had been tortured for a year.

He’d been alone for a year.

How would that affect his psyche?

They still had to tell April and Casey about this too…

Casey … he thought it was his fault Leo was trapped in the Prison Dimension.

How would he react when he found out that Leo was alive, but also suffered for so long?

The turtle he once looked up to in the future as a Father figure was no longer the same turtle he was before…

“Leo, please…”

The slider tilted his head, brows furrowing causing a line to appear on his forehead.

Donnie gave a light wince, knowing the old Leo would hate having any kind of worry lines on his forehead. Though whatever stress his brother went through the past year was the obvious culprit.

Leo moved forward a little, sniffing the air surrounding where his brothers were before making his way out from under his bed. Mikey and Donnie moved out of the way so that Leo was able to come out easier. He slid out from underneath the bed, making the whole thing incredibly slow.

But it was also his way of being cautious.

He didn’t have to be cautious around his brothers, but he learnt to feel that way the past year around anyone.

No matter how much the brothers wanted Leo to come out from under his bed they had to be patient with the slider.

If they did anything that could cause a trigger he could very easily hide back under his bed again.

It just showed the long progress they will have to go through to help their brother through whatever trauma he’s been through.

Once Leo was out from under his bed they were all able to see the surgical mask that was on the slider’s beak, tightly too.

Mikey reached over to the back of his older brother’s head to try and take the mask off.

This seemed to set something off in the slider.

He whirled around to face his younger brother and snapped his jaw at the box turtle, growling. 

Mikey took his hands away, but realised that the mask was in place so that Leo wouldn’t bite them on accident. “Leo, you need to take that off…”

The slider calmed himself down, shook his head and whined.

“I understand that you’re scared you may bite us, Lee, but we can work through this,” Donnie tried his best to encourage his twin.

The slider’s eyes roved over his brothers; fear clear as day in his movements. He lifted his hands up and for the first time since his arrival home tried to communicate. He tried to sign as best as he could with his new claws why he was wearing the mask.

Donnie’s eyes were glued to Leo’s hands as he tried to sign to his brothers. The purple turtle’s eyes widening as his blue brother’s signing became clearer.

“Donnie?”

The softshell swallowed. “It’s hard to make out as he’s changed it to accommodate his claws, but … I can make it out enough…”

Mikey and Raph looked between the two middle children. One trying his best to communicate with his new sharp claws and the other frozen in stunned horror.

“He’s saying that the reason he’s wearing the mask is to protect us from him. He says he almost unconsciously bit you last night Mikey…” This caused said turtle to freeze up and look at his guilt-ridden older brother. “That’s why he was here. He was too afraid to go back to your room after that.”

“Oh Leo…” Mikey looked at Leo in worry after hearing this.

The slider put his arms down and let out a small chirp.

“You can’t always wear that. It feels wrong to make you wear that just for our safety,” Mikey said, looking down. “It feels like he’s muzzling himself.”

“In a way he is…” Donnie said, cringing at the thought.

If Leo was fine with muzzling himself then there had to be a reason for it.

Was he muzzled at whatever facility he was kept at?

If he was then for how long?

No wonder he was fine with it…

“Let’s take this back to the kitchen. I’m sure that Leo has to be hungry,” Raph spoke up as he made his way towards the exit to the train car.

Mikey and Donnie got to their feet and helped Leo to his own. The four made their way back to the kitchen to have breakfast with their blue brother in tow.

Chapter Text

November 10th, 2020 - ????? - ?????

“Get in there!” One of the big burly guards holding him shouted.

Leo was thrown unceremoniously into a large circular room with a viewing window at one end. He was weaponless a part from his claws that weren’t that long at the moment along with his fangs that were starting to grow a sharper point, but also were still quite small.

He didn’t know what they were planning.

He didn’t know what he was doing in here.

They seemed to change their minds every couple of days of what experiments they wanted to do on him.

It scared him that at the drop of a hat his usual schedule could be changed to something worse.

Not that his usual schedule was all that pleasant, but he didn’t like it when they changed it up.

It gave him anxiety.

Well, it went up more than it already was.

He never knew what the scientists changed his schedule to until he was grabbed from his cell.

He’d only know it was different because he wouldn’t be going to the lab.

And today was one of those days.

Leo scanned the large metallic room before going over to the glass window to try and peek through. He knew he wouldn’t be able to see through, but there was no harm in trying. When a sound escaped the speakers near the very tall roof. “T-04; today we will be conducting another experiment. We will be seeing how well you go against other creatures after the few doses you’ve had.”

That was Bishop.

So, he was here too.

He hadn’t heard much from the guy since their first meeting after his arrival at the EPF.

It was almost as if Bishop wanted to keep his distance from the slider.

But why?

It certainly made sense for a government official to hand off something to people underneath him; only showing up occasionally.

Leo still didn’t understand what the EPF or rather Bishop could gain from keeping him here.

And doing all these experiments on him too.

So, this was basically a fighting arena like the Battle Nexus … but what was he fighting?

He had a very bad feeling about this…

A door on the other side of the room opened up and a large tube was pushed inside. Once the door closed the tube disappeared into the floor and a shiver ran down Leo’s shell.

“So, they put me in here with you? How delightful!” A lick at her gum-like lips as her yellows eyes narrowed at the slider. “After all, your little friend RUINED MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!”

A nervous chuckle escaped his beak at hearing this.

She seriously thought she was pretty?

Terrifying is more like it…

There was more he wanted to think of to describe the Kraang, but he was too scared to think of any.

Leo gulped stepping away from the sister Kraang, hitting the door he had come in from. 

They wanted him to fight her? 

How?

He had no weapons!

It was also still so close to the time of the invasion. He still most likely had some PTSD leftover from the event. But it’s not like they know … or care…

The sister Kraang approached him very slowly as his shell hit the wall. His eyes never leaving her large toothy grin and the gap where her eye once was. Then she launched herself at him; sharp tentacle end aimed straight for his head.

Leo froze up and stared at the Kraang that was currently hurtling towards him.

It was like things had gone into slow motion.

He needed to move.

He had to move.

Raph wasn’t here this time to save him.

His big brother wasn’t here to shield him.

He needed to save himself.

He couldn’t stay frozen.

He needed … to duck…

He moved out of the way of her tentacle; just barely ducking out of the way. However she may not have got his head, but she still got him. Leo cried out in pain, grabbing at the top of his head where her tentacle had just barely nicked him. A medium-sized wound was on top of his head, bleeding from the Kraang sister’s attack.

The slider put his hand to his head, wincing before drawing it away and looking at his hand.

He was bleeding.

He glanced over to the window, breathing heavily, but nothing happened.

Whoever was behind there with Bishop was watching him even though he’s injured and clearly distressed.

THEY. JUST. DON’T. CARE.

Why was he in here?

Did they just want to see how good his fighting skills are?

He can’t do that without a weapon.

What was the point of this?

Were they trying to kill him?

They could do that with any of the amount of guns they own.

Why use the Kraang they captured?

It didn’t make sense.

The slider barely dodged another swipe from the agitated alien just coming out of his thoughts and then another came at him and another. She kept swiping at him, but Leo made sure to watch her tentacles for the next attack. Another attack came and he dodged, but while in midair she grabbed him with a tentacle, bringing his small form up to her face and grinning at him. She squeezed him, causing the slider to whine and cough.

“How does it feel to still be pathetic and weak?” She growled down at him.

His eyes widened after hearing her say that.

Did he hear that right or was he just imagining things?

Did she say something else, but he thought she said what the other Kraang said.

He was in too much pain to care anyway.

It just resulted in another whine escaping his throat as she continued to squeeze him. It shouldn’t have hurt especially in comparison to the mech suits they wore, but the sister had a tough grip on him. She threw him across the room, causing his still healing shell to make contact with the metal wall. 

A crack sounded in the room.

Pain coursed up his body.

He fell on his side, hugging himself as his screams echoed throughout the room.

There was laughter as well … from her…

However the pain was too much and his vision was beginning to blur. The blood from his injury dropped down the side of his head. He could hear other voices from the window behind him. He must’ve been thrown towards it. He barely noticed an extra tube come up and cage the Kraang sister before a guard came in and led it away.

The voices got closer as the fog got heavier.

And the pain worse.

“We need … treat … want to continue … experiments,” Bishop commanded he scientists as his dark gaze glared down on Leo’s prone form. “This … the beginning…”

And with that Leo fell into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

November 11th, 2020 - ????? - ?????

“Mr Bishop, you cannot continue for the time being. He’s far too injured,” A feminine voice that Leo didn’t recognise spoke up.

His vision was blurry and his shell ached.

He recognised the feeling of the cold, metallic floor beneath him.

He was back in his cell.

He tried to move but it only caused him to wince in pain.

“Oh honey, don’t move. Your shell is still healing. I tried as best as I could with it,” the voice said.

He lifted his head up to try and get a better picture of the woman speaking to him. She was African-American with an afro, wearing hooped cyan-coloured earrings and a lab coat over her orange long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. She reminded him of April, but just an older version of her.

Was this woman related to his adoptive sister?

“Mrs O’Neil, we do not sympathise with the creature,” came Bishop’s scathing voice causing Leo’s gaze to find him and let out a growl.

The woman shushed him, rubbing his shell where he was uninjured.

It felt nice.

He leaned into her touch and let out a loose churr causing her to giggle.

“Make sure it’s healed by next week then. That’s what we’re paying you for,” Bishop stated, sharply before taking his leave from the cell.

The woman let out a long, drawn out sigh as she continued to rub circles into Leo’s shell. Her hand moved up to his neck, scratching it and causing the slider to purr. A sad smile crawled across the woman’s face at seeing the turtle’s reaction to her. 

“This is so inhumane…” Leo blinked, turning his head to look up at her with confused eyes. There were tears at the edges and Leo didn’t want to be the cause of a woman crying. “How can they … hurt a living being like this?”

Leo lifted his hand up to wipe her tears away from her eyes causing the woman to stare in shock at the slider. He just gave her a smile in return. “I…I’m fine … really…” His voice was hoarse from lack of use and all the screaming he’d been doing over the last few months.

“It’s not.” She put her other hand to his cheek with a determined expression that only a Mother would. “You’re not human, but that gives them no right to do this to you.” She got teary-eyed again. “I thought I was called here for an injured animal not … this…”

She tried to hold in her tears, but they continued to fall. Leo watched with wide, surprised eyes as this woman he didn’t even know cried over his situation. That he was being used as a guinea pig for the Government’s own personal means.

And Leo didn’t want to see this lady cry anymore than he had to.

“D…Don’t cry, Miss. This is … nothing…”

She looked down at him, narrowing her gaze at him which made a chuckle escape his dry throat.

“Your surname … do you know a April … O’Neil by chance?” He asked, voice still sounding quite hoarse.

The woman’s eyes widened at hearing the question and nodded her head. “Y…Yes. She’s my daughter. How do you…”

A small chuckle escaped his beak once more. “Just a feeling. You … reminded me of her.” His eyes glanced over the woman’s facial features. “I’ve known April … for years. She’s like … a big sister to me and … my brothers…” He cuddled his still foggy head into her lap, trying to hold back any kind of distressed sounds. “I miss them. They probably think I’m dead…”

He had mumbled the last bit out, but the woman heard him, frowning in concern.

“You…” She stopped herself from saying anymore; eyes wide. “Your … the friends she likes to talk about…”

He nodded his head, slowly, so as not to further disrupt his already pounding head.

Her smile came back as she continued to rub his head, soothing his racing nerves. She wiped her tears with her other hand and took in a shuddering breath.

“My name is Carol O’Neil…”

“Hamato … Leonardo, but I prefer Leo…”

“Alright, Leo…” He lifted his head to look back up at her. “…I’ll need to go soon…” That caused him to try and sit up but she stopped him from doing so.

“No. No, please, don’t go,” He pleaded with her. There were tears on the edge of his eyes. “You’ve been … the only one here that’s actually been nice to me. I…I…”

He sounded desperate.

A want to leave this place.

To go home to his family.

It broke the woman’s heart to hear his voice break with such distress.

She shushed him, stroking his cheek. “Leo, I’ll find a way to get you out; even if it gets me fired.” She chuckled at that last part.

The slider stared with wide eyes at what had just come out of her mouth.

He couldn’t let her risk her life for him.

She was April’s mother after all.

This was his first meeting with the woman, but April had always wanted her parents to meet the turtles.

He didn’t want April’s mum to get hurt helping him out.

He also didn’t want her to lose her job because she helped him.

“Don’t … risk your job on my behalf, Mrs O’Neil…” His voice wasn’t sounding as hoarse anymore, but he still found it hard to say certain words.

It has been so long since the last time he’d spoken to a person without screaming.

She held his cheek and smiled at the slider as he leaned into the touch. 

It was the touch of a Mother.

A touch he’d never felt before.

He wanted to have more of this, but knew her time with him was limited.

Especially if a guard came to collect her.

Whatever they talked about needed to be quick.

His room had cameras, but no microphones for some reason.

Maybe it was a simplicity choice?

“You’re special to my April and therefore you’re special to me. She’s told me amazing things of you four. I wish we could’ve met among different circumstances…” She explained to the slider.

Leo’s eyes lowered to the floor of his cell, knowing he won’t be able to deter her from doing this. Carol continued to stroke his face as the slider let out small chirps of contentment. It didn’t last long as loud footsteps came down the hall before a loud banging on the cell door caused Carol to glance over at it, glaring and Leo to hiss in irritation.

“It’s time to go! You’re just the vet we hired! Come on, let’s go!” Shouted the guard at the two.

Leo looked up at Carol with sadness in his eyes, begging her to stay. She stroked his cheek, giving him a sad smile as she stood up to her feet. “I’m sorry that I can’t do much right now, but I promise I’ll try…” She kissed his forehead before heading over to the now open cell door and walked out.

Leo stared after her until the door was closed behind her.

A low whine escaped his beak as he lay back down on his plastron already missing the scratches he had been given.

He frowned in confusion.

Why did he like that?

He used to like it when he was little, but he grew out of liking scratches on his shell.

Maybe he just forgot how good they felt?

Was it because she’s a Motherly figure he’s never had before?

Or … is it something to do with what they’ve been giving him?

He had been chirping as well and he hadn’t done that since he was little too.

He can’t think too much on this, but it’s gotta just be the fact she’s someone that got to him while he was in such a vulnerable state.

That’s definitely it.

No way is he reverting to turtle instincts just because of their experiments on him.

Right?