Chapter Text
The frigid evening air of New York City bit your nose and cheeks, tinting them bright red, as you pounded through the once full main street. The sun dipped low in the sky, coloring it red, orange and purple; a perfect backdrop to your demise. While running, you had to avoid dropped items that littered the asphalt. In your blurred state of mind you grabbed the first thing your fingers came across as a line of defense.
“Get back here you little-”
“Take this, foot face!” You chucked a set of keys, unfortunate for whoever lost them, at the massive man chasing you. The man in question was roughly seven or eight feet tall, with a muscular physique, but the smarts of a drugged up mouse. He had bright flames above his head, beneath them the strange tattoo of a foot on his sickly looking skin. You did not want to get caught by him, and you prayed that your weapon of choice would do the trick. The keys hit right between his constantly squinted eyes, making a muffled tink as it landed on the road below.
“Gah! You brat-” He paused his chase with you to rub at the angry, deep red mark on his forehead, dead center of the foot-like mark adorning his face. Was this idiot really about to let you get away? You knew he was stupid but seriously? You shook your head and kept running, chest heaving out of pure exhaustion. You couldn’t get distracted now, this guy was one hell of a unit to be up against and all you had was asphalt. In order to be safe you just needed to get far away from him and to the nearest manhole cover so you could slip down into the sewers.
“There should be a manhole riiight abooouuut-” A chunk of crumbled concrete caught your left foot, making you almost collapse to the floor. The concrete left multiple burning white scratches against the exposed skin of your leg, small beads of blood slowly bubbling to the surface. “SsHiiT!” you cried out, trying to balance myself from the sudden obstacle. You let out a small victory call as You stood on both feet, grateful for not receiving a mouthful of concrete. However, the concrete did more damage than you thought the ankle that kissed the concrete was quickly swelling, red and irritated. Shocks of pain bolted up your leg and, like any normal human would, you jerked your foot up at the unwanted sensation. “Ow!” The momentum of the action made you topple, the concrete meeting your body. Your head slammed into the road, and all you saw was stars. You gasped at the impact, all the air exiting your lungs.
“Heh, not so powerful now, huh?” The brute of a man laughed. As his overly large body approached you, panic set in. You had nowhere to go. Yur ankle was most definitely sprained, you probably had a concussion and a few gashes and you’re pretty sure your phone is broken, as you felt a crunch when you fell. But most importantly you had no way to defend yourself. The only thing you had was useless lost items and chunks of rubble.
You tried to sit up and back away from the Foot soldier, only for the world to swim violently, to the point you felt like vomiting. He got a few inches from your damaged body and spoke. You couldn’t really tell what he was saying, every word melding together with a deafening buzz to accompany it. Hearing what this man was saying to you wasn’t going to happen, how he didn’t realize that baffles you, but he kept droning on about something, his blurry lips constantly flapping.
Tilting your head back, you try to relax as the Foot soldier continues with his monologue, only to hit a sensitive spot. You hiss at the sudden throb ripping through your skull. You gingerly touched the area, only to pull the digits back, heavily coated in blood. Yeah you need medical attention. Fast. Even though everything was still incredibly blurry, you inched away from the brute Foot Soldier, dragging your screaming body to the manhole you could barely see.
The large, circular cover was a welcoming sight, because once you were down that ladder, you’d be moments from safety. Now to just lift yourself off the ground. Taking your time, you shift to your knees, ankle throbbing from the pressure of your thigh on it. Then you begin to lift the heavy object, only for it to flip off easily and a familiar orange covered face greeting you. “Whoa-Mikey?”
You were not expecting the turtle to be there, or the loud thud that followed the manhole being tossed to the asphalt. You flinched at the sound, praying the brute soldier didn’t notice. Thankfully, he was so into his ‘important’ speech he showed no sign of noticing. “Hiya Y/n!” Michelangelo smiled brightly, only for you to put a shaking finger to your lips and jerk the same hand towards the babbling brook. “Oh! Sorry,” Mikey replied, voice barely above a whisper.
“W-what are you doing here?” you asked, because 1) wow talk about timing and 2) you hadn’t sent anything to the boys that live below. The jade green turtle hops out of the manhole, standing tall. Mikey was always sneaking into the city to buy paints and other art supplies to fuel his incredible talent, so seeing him alone up here wasn’t that unusual. “New project?” you asked weakly, guessing that was the case for his appearance, as you tried to stand up.
The orange clad turtle helps you, your form now slightly above his. “Nope!” You try to stabilize yourself as the pain in your head and left ankle left you wobbly. “Dee got a notif that your-oh what was it-” Mikey looked towards the setting sky, trying to recall something his older brother had told him. “-I don’t remember,” the turtle waves a three fingered hand dismissively, “- but anyways he sent me to check on you cuz something wasn’t normal.”
“Donnie tracks my vitals!?” You whisper-yell at the realization of what Michelangelo was implying. Honestly, you’re not surprised the purple genius would do something like that but how did he get something like that on me without my knowledge? You’d have to talk to him later. You shake your head at the idea, only for the world to spin once again.
“Whoa, easy there!” The youngest of the turtle family grabs your shoulders, helping you stay upright. “You don’t look great N/n,” Mikey’s baby blue eyes fill with concern as he scans over your body. His eyes widened at seeing your bloodied fingers and swollen ankle, “Why didn’t you call one of us for help?”
“Mm phone, iss broken,” Your words slur together, as you rest your head against the turtle’s plastron. “Mikey, I’m ssoo tired.”
“Let’s get you home, yeah?” You nod at the idea of going to the lair, to see the family you grew to love. Warm, happy, peaceful. You have loved that place since April, a sister and friend to both yourself and the turtles, accidently forgot you were having a sleepover and had the four mutant boys over. It was a chaotic night that then led to an amazing and crazy life. And maybe a little- okay big -crush on the team leader.
“Hey, wait where are you going!?” a masculine, angry voice suddenly breaks the calming air, your anxiety spiking and head pounding even harder. You totally forgot that the massive Foot soldier was there. Of course right as freedom and proper care is only a few minutes away, he breaks from his weird monologue. “When did the turtle get here?”
“Stay here I got this!” Mikey sends you his signature smile, and tosses his phone to you. Despite your swimming world, you caught the device. “Call Dee and he can get you back to the lair!” Before you could respond to the energetic turtle, he’s dancing into a battle he can clearly win, quips on the tip of his tongue.
You turn on his phone, the screen making you flinch. The light is too much, and makes your headache so much worse, if possible. You squinted, the display on Mike’s phone a little more visible, and put in his password. Thank god you knew it already. You navigate to the phone’s contacts and click on Donnie’s number.
It rings once, and the comforting voice of the second youngest turtle comes through. “Angelo everything okay, hermano?” That’s not the right mutant, but the voice releases butterflies in your stomach, that or you’re nauseous from the concussion.
“Hiii Nardo,” you slur into the phone’s speaker as you watched as Mikey leapt from a nearby building and barrelled into the soldier, both bodies skidding painfully across the road.
“Y/n?” Leo’s voice quickly shifts from big brother mode to a concerned father, “Why do you sound like that?” Mikey continues to fight the Foot Soldier, clearly on the winning side. “What’s going on?”
“I have a-a twisted ankle, I think, and uh,” you close your eyes, everything becomes too much. You take in a deep breath, trying to compose yourself. “And um, a concussion.” You tilt your head to the side and let it awkwardly rest on your right shoulder. “I think itss bleeding, but um, I could be w-wrong.” As you continue to explain things to Leo, your tongue feels like it's turning to lead. “So yeah, I’m hurt and Mikey iss fighting a, um, a Foot guy.”
“Oh fuck- I meeeean,” Leo blurts then corrects himself, the clear panic settling in his tone. You giggled, thinking his outburst was both funny and cute. But lately anything he does is cute and funny. His smug smile, and dare you say, his horrible puns never failed to make your day better. College was rough, and although you have April and the other brothers, Leo really made it better. Leo made life better.
“Hold on, where are you?” the mutant in blue, asked after a bit of shuffling was heard from his side of the call.
Groggily you open your eyes and look around. “Ummm, I think I see your guy’s favorite place for pizza here in New York. Hmm not sssure.” You tell the turtle, unsure of your answer. You hear Leo’s breath and a lot of shuffling, or is that rushing wind? You don’t know. “Bestieee you coming?” Oh god why did you say that? This concussion really is bad. Let’s just hope your feelings for the mutant stays away. You really don’t need Leo knowing that. He already has so much on his plate with being the leader of the ninja team and working at a Hidden City pizza place, your more than normal adoration for him can wait. Or better yet, never come to the light.
“Yeah, wait are you by Mike Lou Tony Toni’s?” Leo said, ignoring your unusual speech.
“I think so?” You try to focus on what you think is the pizza place, but you can’t make out much. A shiver racks your body as the cold New York air is finally impacting your temperature. “I’mm not sure everythingssoo blurry Nardo.” You hear a thud from his end, or was it Mikey and the soldier? “Leeooo?”
“Yeah Y/n?” Leo saying your name, and not your nickname leaves even more butterflies in your stomach. Knock it off, being a lovestruck teen is not the right feeling for right now. “Hold on I think-yeah I see you.” Before you can respond, the line goes dead and in the distance a dark figure leaps across rooftops. The figure makes relief swallow you and your heart swells. ‘Leo came for me-no, stop. No lovey-dovey shit right now .’ The mutant joins his brother, blue and orange flitting around and quickly sending the soldier running.
In a matter of seconds, Leo is crouched in front of you, Mikey not far behind. Your mind is so fuzzy about everything, the last thing you remember is Leo’s comforting voice and warmth against your shivering body. “Come on Y/n, let's go.” You smile, concerned heterochromatic eyes being the last thing you see as you finally let sleep come over you.
Leo’s POV
I sat on the roof of an apartment complex, gazing out at the city as it prepared for rest. Next to me one of my katanas rested by my thigh, the other I didn’t summon, and the opposite leg dangled over the building’s edge. The chill air left my skin ice like, but I didn’t care, inside I felt warm. Y/n, a beautiful girl I know, has been on my mind. Her bright smile had taken over my life in the past weeks, I just couldn’t get it out of my head. The way her eyes crease when I tell one of my jokes, or I walk in to see her. Ugh, it’s ridiculous how that single expression leaves me weak in the knees.
I had hoped a good night of patrol would help clear my mind, but all I can do is think about doing this with her. To have the h/c woman next to me as we both watch the setting sun and bustling people from afar. How I could just pull her in and-no Leon stop it, she’s just a friend. Just. A. Friend .
“We both know that’s a lie, Leo,” Mind Raph materialized next to me, in a poor attempt at looking like Mikey’s Doctor Feelings.
“I mean yeah, but she’s not into me, right?” I respond to Mind Raph, thankful no one is nearby. To the normal person I would just be talking to myself, seeming mentally ill to others. “I may be bald and gorgeous, but she’s a human, and I’m well-I’m me.” I stand up swinging one of my katanas across my shoulder, laying all my weight on my right leg. I gesture to my body in all it’s mutated glory, “There’s no way she’s into-”
I get interrupted by my phone ringing. Mikey’s ringtone fills the air around me and I answer. “Angelo, everything okay, hermano?” I was not expecting Mikey to call me, he normally doesn’t unless something is wrong, or he wants me to bring home pizza after I clock out of work.
“Hiii Nardo,” My heart goes faster than dad can when he’s down with the flu during the ninja stage. The voice on the other side is definitely not my little brother. Instead it's Y/n, however she sounds as if she’s drunk? She can’t drink yet, only April can really do that. Or am I wrong?
“Y/n? Why do you sound like that?" Worry fills my veins, "What’s going on?” I ask. The h/c girl wouldn’t call me over anything with Mikey’s number if something wasn’t wrong. I begin to head towards the nearest manhole feeling the need to get home. Something was wrong.
“I have a twisted ankle, I think,” I freeze at the words. Y/n’s hurt and I’m not there. She continues to explain what’s going on and dread drowns me. Not only is she seriously injured but she’s dealing with a Foot soldier.
“Oh fuck,” I swear out loud at the situation. This is bad. “I meeeean,” I try to correct myself but I hear a faint giggle from the line, and I feel myself blush. No Leo! No time for this.! Y/n needs to be found and taken care of quickly. “Wait where are you?” Y/n proceeds to messily tell me where she is and in a matter of moments I find her and Mikey. Thank god I was so close already. I hear the battle near Mike Lou Tony Toni’s Pizzeria before I see anything.
Clashing metal rings through the air and I can faintly see Mikey’s orange mystic glow. A few feet away I see Y/n, her crumpled form leaning heavily against a building across from the pizza place. I need to hurry. Wasting no more time, I jump down and begin to assist my orange brother.
The soldier was nothing, and in a few seconds, we had him running. Mikey gives me a high three at the temporary joy, and I couldn’t help but grin back at him. Mikey’s baby blue eyes flick over to Y/n and we both make our way to her our happy moment so short.
Up close the girl looks horrendous. Her very swollen left leg was showing the early stages of a massive bruise on her ankle, as well as several scrapes on both legs. Further up I could see bloodied fingers, thankfully the hand that is not holding Micheal’s phone, and another forming bruise on her right shoulder. “We need to get her out of here. Now.” I tell my little brother and he nods. I open a portal and gently try to lift Y/n up. Y/n’s skin was a shocking chill compared to her normally heater-like self. “She’s freezing.” I tell Mikey as I try to shift the human so she’s comfy in my arms.
“Let’s go Lee,” Mike responds, walking though the blue swirl of light, probably getting everything ready for me to do what I do best. Be a medic. Y/n struggles to stay awake, but her fluttering eyes finally cave, as she passes out. She looks so peaceful like that, if you ignore the bruises and blood. So relaxed and beautiful. Okay fine maybe I do have a huge crush on the human. But how could I not? Not only does she laugh, yes laugh, at my puns but she shoots some of her own! She gets along so well with my brothers and April. Dad sees her like he does April, a daughter. AND she loves sports as much as me. Y/n will watch me play basketball, albeit under a heavy disguise or challenge me to a match of volleyball, her favorite sport.
I can’t lose this incredible woman, not on my watch. “Come on Y/n, let’s go.” With that I walk through the portal, the familiar sparks trickling up my skin.