Chapter Text
Life was good. The Krang were defeated, the future was saved, New York had been rebuilt, and Leo had made an almost suspiciously good recovery, thanks to Draxum's "genius mutation". Casey Jones Junior was even sleeping through the night without waking up every few hours to patrol the Lair.
"Good morning, Junior!" Mikey grinned as Future Boy came into the kitchen.
"Morning, Mast-I mean, Michelangelo." Junior didn't hesitate to respond to his new nickname anymore and even caught himself when addressing Mikey.
Junior's names for all of them said a lot about the relationships they'd had in the future. There was "Sensei Leonardo", "Master Michelangelo", "Dr. Donatello", "Commander O'Neil", and "Master Splinter"...but there was also "Uncle Raphie". Dr. Feelings had been working with him to separate the people he'd grown up with from the people he was living with in the present. As painful as it was, it was important for him to understand that people were products of their experiences. He needed to mourn the family he'd lost as much as he needed fresh eyes to see the family he'd gained. Nothing good would come from him expecting them to be who they would - for better or worse - never become. No matter how much Leo and April liked his names for them.
"What's for breakfast today?" Junior peered over Mikey's shoulder curiously. It had been almost a year, and Mikey hadn't made the same breakfast twice. If he was trying to impress the new guy, he was definitely succeeding.
Mikey replied with a string of words Junior didn't understand. He just nodded and waited for the explanation. Since they were usually the first two up, it had become a new tradition. Mikey could fill the air by himself, but when Junior needed to talk, he always listened. At first, it was just surface-level stuff ("Master Michelangelo never had time to cook, but he could make algae and grubs taste good."), but over time he'd begun to open up. Oddly enough, Mikey found himself talking to Junior about things he wouldn't even bring up to his brothers. That morning, Junior didn't say much. He stared into the skillet like he was trying to interrogate it.
Mikey glanced at him. "I think it only works with tea leaves.”
"Huh?" Junior blinked like he'd been in a trance.
"Some people stare at tea leaves and predict the future," he explained. "You looked pretty focused."
"Oh," Junior gave a half-hearted laugh. "It's nothing."
Mikey bopped him on the head with the pancake flipper. "If it's bothering you, it's not nothing! Don't make me get Dr. Feelings."
Junior laughed for real that time. "Alright, alright. Uh...I guess saying 'it sounds stupid' is off the table too?"
"Good guess."
"Okay. I've just been thinking lately that, well...and this is a different timeline, so I might not even be born this time around, but maybe..." He clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the words out. "I kind of hope I get to meet my dad."
There were very few things that could surprise Michelangelo Hamato. He prided himself on being the epitome of unpredictable. But he actually forgot about the food for a full five seconds - he was that shocked. "Oh."
Junior opened his eyes, but didn't dare look at Mikey. "It's just...I never got to meet him, you know? I don't even...I don't even know his name."
Mikey frowned. "Nobody told you your dad's name?" That sounded uncharacteristically neglectful of his family. Well...to be fair, Splinter hadn't actually told them his name until Mikey was thirteen, but he wanted to think he and his brothers would have learned from their father's mistakes.
"So the thing is...it was the end of the world, right? Sometimes the pressure got to people and they'd just go...blow off steam. My mom went to blow off steam...and then missed her next period, you know what I mean?" He was blushing and hunching his shoulders. For once, he looked like a normal teenager trying to talk around the fact that he was born as a result of sex.
Mikey grinned. He could work with that. "Oh~?" He said in a sing-song voice, leaning into Junior's line of sight and wiggling his eyebrows. "Were there any...suspects?"
Junior covered his face and groaned.
Mikey cackled.
"Stop!" Junior shoved his shoulder, but couldn't help joining in with a self-conscious giggle.
Their laughter tapered off until they made the mistake of looking each other in the eyes. Both of them exploded into laughter. When people are tired - physically or emotionally - stupid things get fifty times funnier. It's just science.
"You know," Junior glanced at the door, then leaned in and lowered his voice. "There was a rumor going around that it was actually Master Leonardo."
"WHAT?!" Mikey screeched.
Junior was laughing so hard he could barely finish the story. "Yeah, apparently they had a thing around the time the rebellion was getting started."
"No way!" That was definitely going in the Potential Blackmail folder.
"Mm-hm. Master Donatello said Sensei 'liked the bad girls'."
"Donnie told you that?!"
"Donnie told him what?" Donnie asked from the doorway.
The two of them ended up on the floor. Donnie stepped over them to get his coffee, then retreated in case whatever they had was contagious. Breakfast was a little burnt, but for once Mikey didn't care. Especially when Raph mentioned Casey was coming over.
"What, again?" Leo frowned.
"What's the matter, Leo?" Mikey asked, looking directly at Junior. "I thought you liked Casey."
"I do like Casey, it's just-" Leo exchanged a bewildered look with Raph when the two youngest members of the family practically fell out of their chairs.
The Krang, in their haste to get the key, hadn't managed to do much damage to the Lair. The good thing was they didn't have to move again. There was no hunting through the rubble to collect torn and broken pieces of their lives, dragging whatever could be salvaged into the tunnels, then walking for hours trying to find a new place to stay.
The bad thing was they didn't have to move again. It was weird to come back to the same home after so much had happened. Like trying on a favorite hoodie from childhood - it was familiar, but it didn't fit right anymore. Leo had been stuck in bed for a month before Draxum let him even try walking again. Leo had been prepared to die for his family, and his sacrifice left him lying in the subway car that Raph had punched a hole in because he'd refused to take things seriously. Splinter had sat in his chair and tried to watch some of his old movies, but he couldn't stop thinking about how he'd been sitting in that position, putting his hand down on that projector, telling his sons about the monsters who would nearly take them from him mere hours later.
It took a while, but they adjusted. The Lair stretched and expanded to fit them again. They found a new rhythm. That's the thing about walking away from something; the wounds close up, they scab over, and soon enough there's just another mark on your body. Just another thing you get used to, and eventually it's just another part of you.
So, Splinter put on Scorpion Treadmill after instructing the boys during their training. They showered and drifted off through the Lair. Donnie ended up in his Lab, putting the finishing touches on a new body for SHELLDON. Mikey was in the middle of adding Junior to the family mural. Raph, Leo, and Junior ended up sprawled around Splinter. Junior was fascinated by the pointlessness of the show, and Leo tended to hover around him. Raph just liked to be in a central location in case someone needed him.
Splinter worried about his Red One sometimes. He never should've let Raph take on so much responsibility, especially when he was so young. He hoped it wasn't too late for his oldest son to start living for himself as well as his family. He had to be so careful about what he said, though - Raph could take criticism so seriously. Still, there were some who didn't think the subtle approach was the best option.
"GOONGALA, LOSERS!"
Or perhaps she just didn't know what subtlety was.
Raph grinned and jumped up to meet her. "Who you calling losers, dork?"
She punched him in the arm. "Freak!"
Raph shoved her back. "Punk!"
"Hi, Mom," Junior said.
Casey jumped, landed on Raph's head, and flipped off. She pulled Junior to his feet and hugged him. "Baby!"
He laughed and squeezed her back, then squirmed out of her grip.
"Cassandra." Leo acknowledged her, not moving from his spot.
"Leonardo." She jerked her chin in his direction, then turned back to her son. She grinned and planted her hands on her hips. "Grab your stuff! I've got a surprise for you!"
"What stuff?" He asked, heading for the train car that he shared with Leo.
He had more stuff than he'd ever had in his life. Probably cumulatively. There was his battle gear, of course, but he also had what Mikey called "social gear". He had a ton of clothes that were stiff, smelled clean, and were meant to look cool more than they were meant to be functional. (The past was bizarre.) He had a phone, too, which was like a communicator that he could play games on and take pictures with - the pictures didn't have to be surveillance photos or anything, either.
Raph had given him a stuffed bear and a football. Mikey had bombarded him with art supplies (and self-help books). Splinter had handed him a cardboard box full of old DVDs. April introduced him to haircare products. Donnie kept upgrading his stick when he was sleeping and leaving new manuals next to it, so there were now two whole shelves dedicated to those. Leo had given him a bunch of comic books in English and, when he mentioned his sensei had taught him, Spanish. He also gave him mangas in the original Japanese, guessing correctly that his mom had raised him bilingual. So yeah, there were a lot of things said mom could be referring to.
"All of it!" She said. "I got some of those screens and made a nice place for you in the living room. Got the bed today, too, so we're all set!"
Junior blinked. "Uh..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Leo literally butted in, getting between the two of them. "He's not going anywhere. He's already got a place here."
"Really? Cause I heard he was sleeping on a cot on your floor," she scoffed.
Leo narrowed his eyes. "We can make him his own room if he wants, but he's comfortable where he is."
"Guys," Junior started.
"He'll be even more comfortable once he moves in with me." Casey stepped closer to Leo, staring him down.
"Oh yeah?" Leo met her challenge, closing the distance between them and matching her glare. "What gives you that idea? Up until a few months ago, he was living in caves. What do you think being in a tenth story apartment without direct access to a fire escape will feel like?"
"Probably great!" She shouted. "Somehow I doubt he was living in caves and thinking, 'I really hope I can live in a dark, wet cavern with no sunlight and the constant smell of toilet for the rest of my life!’"
"Look," Junior tried again.
"He needs to be here! He's still recovering!"
"I heard he's sleeping through the night and everything - that's recovered enough for me."
"Oh, you would think that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Uh, Leo? Casey?" Raph's eyes darted between the two of them and Junior.
"Just that you haven't exactly had the best track record for making good decisions."
"Like you can talk!"
"At least I never joined the Foot Clan!"
"You're lucky I joined the Foot Clan! If I hadn't been there to stop the ritual, all your Hamato essence would be powering the Dark Armor!" Casey raised her chin. "Anyway, I am his mother!"
"And I'm his sensei!" Leo snapped.
"His sensei?!" Casey's laugh was cold and sharp. "He is way out of your league, little blue! Last I checked, he was the one giving you pointers during training!"
Leo gritted his teeth. "I can still teach him about mystic-"
"Yeah, and you can do that while he's living at home, with me." She bared her teeth in what might have been intended to be a grin. "Face it, Leonardo, you don't have any right to him-"
"NEITHER of you have any right to me!" Junior exploded.
Casey and Leo spun to face him, unintentionally ending up side-by-side.
Junior's face was red. He pointed a shaking finger at Casey. "You're not my mom!" He pointed to Leo. "And you're not my sensei! You were past versions of them, but because of the timeline's bifurcation thing, you will never be them! At least, not the ones who raised me! So quit talking about what I'm going to do and where I'm going to live because neither of you have any say in that!" Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "I want my mom and my sensei. Not you." Then he turned and sprinted towards the exit.
"Junior-" Leo called after him, but sighed and dropped his head into his hands.
"Wow," Donnie said. "You guys both lost the kid in the divorce. There's a twist."
Leo groaned. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Since your screaming match broke through my noise-cancelling headphones." Donnie glanced down at the pods in his hand. "I gotta say, I'm disappointed with the false advertising."
Casey growled and stomped towards the tunnels.
"Where are you going?" Leo asked, raising his head just to glare at her.
She spun on her heel glared back. "I'm going after my son."
"I think we should give him some time to cool off," he said.
"I don't care what you think." She turned her back on him and stalked out.
The Hamatos stared after her for a moment. Then Leo stretched his arms casually.
"I'm going to go train," he said.
"We just trained for two hours," Raph pointed out.
Leo shrugged without facing him. "Yeah, well, I just rested a little. I'm ready for more."
"Don't push yourself too hard!" Raph called after him.
He tossed a wave over his shoulder in reply, but didn't promise anything.
Leo tried to keep his breathing even, blinking the sweat from his eyes. He was attempting a difficult kata, one Splinter hadn't taught them yet. He was trying to be a more responsible leader, but all those scrolls were right there behind locks he could've picked when he was five. And the Hamato Spokesperson didn't even ask if he had his dad's permission before explaining the steps to him. Honestly, if he wasn't supposed to know this stuff it would've been harder for him to figure out. Right?
Leo pivoted and swung his leg up. He knew almost immediately that he wasn't going to make it. Shifting his weight frantically in an attempt to stay on his feet only threw his balance off more, and he toppled to the floor. For a moment he just lay there, gasping. A thought, angry and venomous, curled around his neck.
Can't you do anything right?
Something dropped onto him and knocked out both the wind and the poison. He jerked instinctively before recognizing the shell on the back of his attacker. Mikey had belly flopped onto his plastron and was smiling at him. It wasn't a normal Mikey smile though. His eyes were calculating and worried. Leo rubbed his brother's head.
"Hey, Miguel. Qué pasa?"
Mikey rested his head on Leo's chest. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Leo assured him. "Junior just needs to cool off. When he gets back, we'll-"
"No, I mean, are you okay?" Mikey sighed. "You've been different ever since the Krang invasion."
Leo let his eyes stray to the ceiling. "Maybe I'm growing up."
"Maybe." Mikey didn't sound convinced. "But ordinarily that's a process and you...it's like you just flipped a switch."
"Well, I am pretty extraordinary," Leo teased.
His brother didn't take the bait. "I'm worried that you're trying to change yourself into who you think everyone else wants you to be."
"Hm." Leo gave Mikey's shell a fond scratch. His little brother had painted the ceiling of the dojo at their first Lair to look like the sky. The plain metal of the new one looked like a layer of ominous clouds by comparison. "What if this is who I want to be?"
Before Mikey could respond, Raph slammed the door open. The two of them looked up to see their big brother's chest heaving, eyes wide.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked, pushing Mikey off him.
"Casey just called me," Raph said. "She almost caught up to Junior, but the Purple Dragons got there first. They tranq'd him and tossed him in a van."
"A bunch of high school hackers kidnapped Junior?" Leo frowned as he stood up. "How would they even know who he was? Or where he was?"
"I don't know, but Casey's following the van now." Raph kept pace with him as they circled towards the tunnel where Donnie kept the Turtle Tank 2.0. Mikey split off from them, jogging towards the lab and yelling for their fourth brother.
"Tell her to hang back and wait for us," Leo ordered. "This feels like a trap."