Chapter Text
“Wow, you’re so small, dude!”
Leon pouted, crossing his arms. How in the actual hell had he ended up in this situation? Oh yeah, Donnie.
It had been a completely normal day. Leon had woken up to his favorite song playing on his alarm. He had stretched, done some secret meditation, slipped on his favorite brown bomber jacket (he made sure to fluff up the fur lining a bit more than usual), and had some of the amazing breakfast Mikey had made for the family. There was nothing special happening that day, so Leon decided to go with the flow and simply relax.
“Leonardo, c’mere!”
With a groan, Leon had gotten up from his favorite spot on the couch, trudging over to Donnie’s lab. “Whaddya want, Dee?”
His older twin turned to face him, a mad grin on his face. With one hand he lifted the goggles from his eyes, unbridled glee in them. “I think I’ve finally done it!” He moved away from the table he was hunched over, gesturing to the large machine on top of it. “A portal machine!”
“I thought we were already set with my portals…” Leon mumbled.
Donnie waved his hand. “Yes, yes, we are. But what if something happens and you’re out of commission? What if you can’t summon new swords? We needed a backup, and I’ve made it!”
With a hum, Leon stepped up to the table, nudging the cool metal of the machine. “Well, does it work?”
“ That’s what I need you for, ‘Nardo. All I need is to attach your swords here,” He pointed to a small outcropping, just large enough to feed some wires through. “And it should be good to go!”
Leon decided it would be best to go along with his older twin's little plan. There was only a fifty percent chance anything would happen anyway, right? Of course, the slider came to regret his decision when a loud whining sound came from the machine as soon as his swords were attached. Bringing his hands to cover his head, Leon peaked over to Donnie. His back was turned and his head hung low, a sharp grimace on his face. Of course, since he wasn’t looking, Donnie didn’t see a stray bolt of electricity heading straight for him. Tensing, Leon shot forward, pushing his brother out of the way, letting himself get hit instead.
The last thing he saw before everything went dark was a bright flash of neon colors that were quickly drowned out by muted browns and grays. And, of course, Donnie’s shocked expression that morphed into terror.
Nothing that wouldn’t haunt him or anything.
It felt like hours before Leon was able to open his eyes. The concrete below his cheek was cold and wet and smelled strongly of old booze and rain. The sound of people and cars filled his ears next, hitting the teen with a wave of nausea. Where the hell was he for things to be so loud? Pushing himself up, Leon couldn’t help but groan at the soreness of his body. His joints ached something fierce, and his head pounded harshly. With shaking legs, Leon shuffled to a fire escape, remembering Raph’s old lessons when they first started going to the surface.
Raph had placed his hands on his hips, a stern expression on his face as he eyed his younger brothers. “Okay, rule one! What is it?” He pointed to Mikey. “You!”
Mikey straightened up, the seven-year-old grinning. “Don’t talk to strangers!”
“Good!” Raph nodded before turning and pointing at Donnie. “Rule two?”
“Don’t eat things you don’t recognize and don’t steal things you can’t pay for.” The soft shell deadpanned.
Raph hummed before finally facing Leon. “Rule three?”
“If you get lost, separated, or found, head straight to the nearest roof or sewer!” Leon chimed, grinning wide enough to show off his newly lost front tooth.
The eldest had laughed loudly in response before bringing the three of them into a tight hug. “Good job, guys! Now, let’s go have some fun!”
The four children cheered as they ran towards the sewer cover, unknowing of what the future now held for them.
Blinking hard, Leon looked around. There were no sewer covers in this ally, so his only safe choice was to head to the rooftops to get a better scope of the area. As he climbed the stairs and ladders, the slider thought about how unfamiliar this area looked. In the seven years he’d been “patrolling” the surface of New York, he’d never seen a place like this. It was dark and unnaturally cold. Shouts of drunks and the loud barks of angry dogs filled the air sourly, and some part of Leon’s stomach twisted with anxiety. These sounds were completely unfamiliar to him. Sure, he’d heard dogs and drunks, but never so… mean.
Pulling himself up to the roof’s surface, Leon allowed himself a deep breath of the acrid air. It smelled and tasted foul, nothing like how it should be. Scrunching his beak, he decided to take a look around. The teen bent over the ledge of the roof, staring at the people that walked below him. No one looked up, all the humans simply going their own ways. Some were bundled up to fight the night’s chilled winds (Leon pulled his jacket closer to his body, forever grateful he had put it on that morning), others were dressed lightly, almost purposefully showing their skin.
Of course, being so distracted, Leon didn’t see the four shadows that crept toward him.
A hand gripped his shoulder tightly, pulling him back before pressing Leon’s shell to the roof's floor. He had, of course, let out a sharp yelp, flailing as best he could to get away, but the sharp point of a sai stopped him quickly.
Looking up, Leon was incredibly shocked when saw four turtles far larger than him crowded around. The one holding him down had a red mask that surrounded the top of his head that was tattered around the edges. His shell and plastron were connected with what looked to be old seatbelts. The turtle’s beak was pulled back in a snarl, a low growl coming from his throat. Leon couldn’t help but whimper, holding his hands up in defense.
A turtle wearing a blue mask with two swords on his back stepped up, placing a hand on the angry turtle's shell. “Raph, be nice and let the stranger up.”
Leon blinked in disbelief as the offending turtle stood to face the others. “I ain’t gonna play nice for long if you don’t do shit, Leo.”
‘Raph’? ‘ Leo’? What the hell was happening?
A purple masked turtle wearing glasses whom Leon assumed would be Donnie knelt before him, holding out his hands with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, uhm, bud. Raph is a little on edge right now. He didn’t mean to scare you!”
“Yes, I did!”
“Whatever.” ‘Donnie’ rolled his eyes before giving his attention back to Leon. “I saw an energy spike on one of my monitors and it lead back to you. Do you know what caused it?”
Leon just blinked, staring openly at this completely changed version of his twin. “W-Wha… I don’t… Don? ”
The name caught the attention of the others, and soon he was crowded again. “How do you know his name?” “What do you know?” “Who are you?” and “Do you like pizza?” were thrown at him, and Leon could feel his head spin at the influx of noise. With a whine, the slider brought his hands up to block it out, flinching when a hand was placed on his knee.
He looked up and met eyes with ‘Donnie’, who smiled sadly. “Let’s get you to our home first, yeah?” He slowly stood, and his three brothers followed, but Leon stayed down, fingers held tightly to his jacket. “Can you walk?”
Leon shook his head after a moment. He could probably stand about now, but his balance was most definitely shot to shit. So, he allowed himself to be picked up and carried when ‘Donnie’ offered. Feeling the cold wind on his face, Leon felt himself relax, exhaustion already seeping deep into his bones. It was at that moment when things felt settled, that ‘Mikey’ decided to speak up.
“Wow, you’re so small, dude!”
With an exasperated groan, Leon buried his face in the crook of ‘Donnie’s’ neck, relishing in the warmth it brought at the deep vibrations the olders chest made when he laughed. Closing his eyes, Leon allowed sleep to finally take him, the darkness pulling his mind deep into itself. The last thing the slider heard was a soft coo as a large hand rubbed his shell.