Just a Million Miles from Home

by Graylikethecolor42

Summary:

After a ninpo fueled disaster leaves toddler Donatello from the Rise univers injured and alone in an alternate universe version of Feudal Japan, Usagi decides to take care of him with the help of the 2003 Turtle family. What could possibly go wrong?

alternately titled "Oh Shit Free Child"

Notes:

• Inspired by Proud Family Tradition by TwicetheTrouble
• Inspired by Mystic Tots by thr-333

Title from Pump Shanty by the Mechanisms (Cause I'm nothing if not predictable lmao)

Chapter 1

It was an average day in the Hamato household. Hamato Yoshi, the legendary Lou Jitsu himself, sat in his ratty old chair, eyes half focused on the show playing on the beat up tv he’d scavenged from the junkyard, half focused on his four young children. He’d bitten off a bit more than he could chew when he rescued the young turtles from Draxum’s lab, but he wouldn’t change his decision for the world. They’d been a happy little family for almost three years now, and even with their ups and downs, they loved each other.

Some downs, however, were significantly larger than others.

It was only a year ago that Yoshi’s beloved sons had started exhibiting…new abilities. He’d still been struggling with his mutation, and the depression and dysmorphia that came with it, and he’d only been able to pull himself together for his tiny sons. They needed him to be their protector, their provider, he couldn’t fall to pieces. He’d finally found a place within the sewers that suited their needs, a place they could settle down indefinitely. And there, in the newly dubbed family room, did Michelangelo spontaneously catch fire.

Yoshi had screamed, which in turn had his little Orange screaming, and the terror rippled through his other three children, and soon all four of the turtles were crying. Yoshi grabbed the closest liquid to him, a half empty plastic water bottle, and doused the flames. There was a ring of scorched concrete surrounding the two year old, but Yoshi was amazed to discover his baby was unharmed, only frightened. 

The boys’ powers all started to come in during the next few months. Raphael was able to encase his chubby little fists in glowing red constructs, as Yoshi learned when the panicking 4 year old punched through a goddamn wall trying to find him. Leonardo’s portalling ability manifested when Yoshi was trying to get him cleaned up after somehow getting covered in mud, nearly causing a heart attack as Yoshi scoured their home for an hour looking for his missing child. And while Donatello’s power reveal was a little less stressful, Yoshi could feel his fur turning grey just imagining the implications of a three year old that could create glowing purple constructs of literally anything and seemed inclined to use it for revenge. 

But, as he had his whole life, Yoshi had adapted to the chaos that was now his normal. He fireproofed the lair, reinforced the childproofing he’d already done, and tried to help his sons learn to control their powers. He’d had to sacrifice many nights of sleep, and had to keep a closer eye on them than before, but he was dealing. There was a family rule that they could only use their powers when Splinter was watching, and while Orange was a bit too little to really grasp the concept, his older brothers complied more often than not.

On this average night, as some soap opera played in the background, Yoshi’s sons were playing in front of his chair. Orange and Blue were playing with their powers, sparks of both the boy’s signature colors popping and shining as Orange tried to copy Blue’s portals. Yoshi wasn’t too concerned, as Mikey’s abilities were more fire based, and Leo was more responsible than he’d like his father to believe. A little ways off, Purple and Red were play-fighting. According to a (slightly moldy) book on turtles he’d found in the dumpster behind the library, Donnie was a spiny softshell and Raph was an alligator snapping turtle, two of the most aggressive turtle breeds on earth. So they tended to roughhouse more than his other two sons. 

What happened next was so fast that Yoshi almost missed it, but he would agonize over those moments for years following. It happened like this: Red tripped over his tail as he tried to pin Purple down, causing him to roll a bit and land on his brother with his entire weight. The angle and the force exerted caused Red’s spikey shell to tear through Purple’s hoodie and into the leathery surface of his shell, cutting it open and causing it to bleed. Purple screeched in pain, pushing his bigger brother off of him and scrambling backwards, away from Red. At the same time, Blue and Orange successfully combined their powers into a large portal, bigger than any Blue had made before, with Orange’s crackling flames surrounding the usual blue light. And then Purple slipped on the now-bloody concrete, losing his balance and falling backwards through this new gateway with a shriek. The room echoed with Yoshi’s shout of panic, along with Red’s stuttering sobs. Then, before Yoshi could take even a step closer, the portal fizzled out.

And Hamato Yoshi was left in his family room, three sons in various stages of panic, and the fourth completely gone.

Chapter 2

Summary:

In lieu of a chapter summary, here's some highlights from my original outline for the chapter:

"Usagi finds the bb and is like
A hell no
Fights off the bandits
Coaxes donnie to come close so he can make sure
O shit free child
O shit injured chile, patchy patchy up"

If you were to ask Miyamoto Usagi how his day was going, he’d probably respond that nothing too serious had happened yet. His life as a ronin always seemed to land him in some kind of trouble or other. That morning he’d woken in the abandoned temple he’d camped at the night before, ate one of the onigiri a nice old woman had given him when he’d passed through a village a few days before, and continued on his trek. He wasn’t going anywhere in particular, roaming the countryside in search of a good deed or job he could do. It was a beautiful spring day, with a pleasant breeze playing with his ears in their topknot as he moved on. 

But Usagi knew better than to let his guard down. Though he was young, he’d experienced many things in his years as both a retainer and a ronin. And one group of bandits was very like another.

Usagi drew Willow Branch as he drew closer, keen eyes searching for the poor soul the bandits were harassing. His blood ran cold as he realized that at the center of the commotion was a child , some sort of reptile though it was hard to tell under their strange clothes. The child was hissing in terror, and Usagi watched as they bit down hard on the hand of the bandit attempting to pick them up. This earned the child a yelp of pain from the bandit, but also a sharp kick to the ribs. This spurred Usagi into action, both blades drawn as he roared at the barbarians. He sliced through them, the thought of grown adults attacking a toddler causing a white hot rage to bubble up inside him.

As he fought, he noticed the child in his periphery. As soon as the bandits weren’t focusing on them, they ran away and hid in some nearby bushes. Usagi mentally applauded the child for their intelligence before directing his full attention back at the monsters he was fighting. Soon enough, all the bandits either lay dead at his feet or had fled. Usagi cleaned his katana and wakizashi off on the grass before sheathing them, then approached the bush he’d seen the child hide in.

“You’re safe now, little one,” Usagi called gently, crouching a few feet away from the foliage. He could just make out the child’s shape through the leaves. “The bandits are gone, and I swear I shall not harm you.”

It took a little more coaxing, but eventually the small one emerged from the bushes. Usagi didn’t let it show on his face, but his mind was racing. The clothes the child wore, ripped and dirty as they were, didn’t resemble any he’d seen in his dimension. In fact, the only place Usagi had seen anything close was on Third Earth, when Leonardo and his family showed him around their New York City. 

“Hello there,” Usagi said with a soft smile, shifting to kneel. “My name is Miyamoto Usagi.”

The child gave a little bow, avoiding eye contact. They had glasses perched on their snout, over top a purple bandana. Their hands were fussing with their too-long sleeves. Usagi’s smile faded a little when they made no attempt to share their own name.

“May I look you over?” He asked, keeping his voice level and calm. “I saw that bandit kick you, and I want to make sure you aren’t hurt.”

The child looked at him with wide eyes, scrutinizing him for a long moment. Finally they nodded, removing their hoodie with a wince and leaving them in nothing but some black shorts. Seeing the plastron covering the child’s chest, Usagi finally put together that they were a turtle. He cataloged the bruising on their arms and the skinned palms with sympathy, but he stopped breathing when the child turned around. Their shell was completely unlike Leonardo and his siblings’ shells, leathery and flat instead of hard and round. And there were almost a dozen deep gashes along the surface that wept blood, along with bruising similar to their arms. 

“Okay,” Usagi said quietly, “I need to bandage your shell so it doesn’t become infected.” The child shook their head violently, stepping away and curling in on themselves. “I know it’s scary, but I promise I’m just trying to help you.” 

“Don’t touch,” The child said in an odd, choked tone. It was like he (and from his voice Usagi was assuming he was male) was forcing the words from his throat, like talking was a monumental task. “Hurts.”

Usagi’s chest was heavy with sorrow. “I know it hurts, but if I don’t clean and bandage it it will keep hurting, and you might get sick and hurt even more. I swear, on my honor, that I will only do what is necessary, and we can take breaks during the process.”

The turtle narrowed his eyes, and Usagi felt a weird sense of deja vu, like he’d been faced with this look by this person before, though it was obviously not possible that that was the case. Then the child nodded warily, stepping closer to Usagi. 

Usagi smiled and opened his bag of medicinal herbs. He was a decent healer, he had to be as a ronin. He cleaned the wounds with some fresh water, also washing his hands before grinding the herbs and more water into a paste. He applied the salve to each of the gashes, pausing for a few moments when the child asked him to in that same choked tone. Then comes the bandages, a length of clean fabric that Usagi wrapped around the turtle’s whole torso.

After he was done, the small child put his hoodie back on over the bandages. Usagi shared some of the food he had, and thought about his next move. He couldn’t leave the child alone, not so small and injured and clearly not from this dimension. The nearest village was several hours travel, and the road was dangerous. He couldn’t be like Lone Goat and Kid, he’d seen first hand how dangerous their road to hell was for both of them, but especially the child. It was a well hidden secret that Usagi adored children, but he just didn’t have the means to take care of one. 

Then, inspiration struck. He was miles out of his league, but he knew someone who’d raised four turtles to maturity; A turtle problem with a turtle solution. Splinter-sensei would know what to do.

Notes:

A little longer of a chapter this time, they're kind of getting progressively longer? But no promises lmao.

Anyway I've been reading Usagi Yojimbo, and this man owns my whole heart. I love him so much. And in the comics he's canonically good with kids, which is perfect for my purposes.

Also a clarification about Donnie's noverbal...ity? I'm basing it off my own experiences with going nonverbal in high stress situations. I've always found it more like talking takes enourmous effort, one that I have to undertake because In my situation I don't have the resources to just not talk, and I just have to force the words out no matter how hard it is. This is not how everyone experiences it, but I am writing what I know.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Usagi goes and visits his boyfriend. Some questions are answered, but more appear. Leo probably needs a nap. Dawn, as always, does most of the heavy lifting.

Notes:

CLARIFICATION BEFORE THE CHAPTER BEGINS: I have transed 2003 Donnie's gender. In this fic I refer to them as Dawn/Dawnie, which changes nothing phonetically, just alters the vibe a little, and use exclusively they/them/theirs pronouns. This is partially to help distinguish between the two versions of Donatello in this story, but also I'm a donbinary/enbytello truther.

Meditation was one of Leonardo’s favorite things to do. It allowed him to relax his muscles and exercise his mind, channeling all of the stress of his daily life away from his shoulders. After all the shit he and his siblings had been through all twenty years of their lives, it was a moment for himself. His siblings had long since learned that messing with Leo’s meditation time resulted in revenge, usually training related.

So the fact that someone or something was making enough noise close to him to pull him from his trance was a bit odd. Leo opened his eyes, expecting to see one of his siblings. But the teasing died on his lips as he realized it was a portal, specifically a portal from the Battle Nexus. He’d had about 50/50 luck when it came to the people coming unexpectedly to his world from the Nexus, friend and foe alike appearing over the years. He stood, hakama swishing as he braced himself for whatever this portal may bring.

Usagi appeared moments later, and Leo let out a sigh of relief. Not a demon or a monster or a challenger, just his wonderful boyfriend. “Usagi! I didn’t expect you here today, how are you?”

“I am well,” Usagi said with a grin, closing the distance between them with a quick kiss. Leo blushed, touching his forehead to Usagi’s. 

“Not that I’m not excited to see you,” Leo started, pulling away a little, “but you usually send word that you’re coming. Has something happened?”

Usagi nodded, and Leo felt his giddiness slip away and be replaced with an anxious feeling in his chest. But before he could really begin to panic, Usagi stepped to the right and revealed a small figure standing behind him. Leo’s eyes widened as registered several things in rapid succession: One, the kid was a turtle. Two, the kid was tiny . Three, the kid was wearing modern clothes and a purple mask not unlike the ones he and his siblings wore as children. Four, the kid was staring at him in awe. And Five, the kid was holding himself like he was in pain. 

Leo immediately slipped into protective big brother mode, crouching to be at eye level with the kid. The kid clicked at him curiously, and Leo found himself clicking back in a way he hadn’t done since he and his siblings were about as small as this little guy. 

“Hi there,” Leo said quietly, “What’s your name?”

The kid’s hands flapped anxiously, and he looked up at Usagi. Leo followed his gaze and found his partner looking down at him with a knowing smile. 

“The little one does not speak much.” Usagi stated, sobering a little. “He has said a few words, but it seems to be physically hard for him to speak.”

“Is he hurt?” Leo asked before turning back to the turtle tot in front of him. “Is your throat hurt?” 

The kid nodded unsurely, then shook his head. He raised his hands again, stimming as he got frustrated. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Leo soothed. “You don’t have to talk. We’ll figure something out.”

“While I am not sure about his throat,” Usagi said gravely, “He is injured on his shell. I bandaged it, so It should--”

“His shell?” Leo interrupted, anxiety spiking. “Is it cracked? Oh god, he has to get to Dawn’s lab now , I don’t know how he’s standing if his shell is broken, it’s a miracle it didn’t damage any of his internal organs, what if--”

This time it was Usagi’s turn to cut him off. “Leonardo, breathe.” He took both of Leo’s hands in his own, kneeling to reach. “His shell is not cracked. I bandaged the damage and numbed what pain I could, he is not in any immediate danger.” Leo took in a shuddering breath, nodding slightly. 

“However,” Usagi continued, “I think going to Dawn is a good idea. I think they will be able to figure out where he is from and how to get him home, as well as look at his shell and make sure it is okay.”

Leo nodded, taking another breath to steady himself. He refocused on the kid in front of him, who was still small and scared and hurt but looked concerned for Leo . The older turtle gave the kid a shaky smile, and received one in return. 

“Okay, okay, okay.” Leo said, mostly to himself. He eased himself up into a standing position and held out his hand. “Do you want to come meet my sibling? I think they’ll like you a lot.”

The kid gave his hand a calculating look before taking it and allowing himself to be led from the dojo. It kind of reminded Leo of how Dawnie looked at a particularly tricky equation. 

The turtle in question was in their lab, tapping away at their laptop. Their lilac mask tails were tied up in a bow, and they wore a flowy grey tank top and black shorts. The kid looked around in awe at Dawnie’s lab, an excited chip accompanying his flapping hands. Dawnie chirped back instinctively, and Leo held back a laugh as his sibling stiffened as they realized not only had they made a noise they hadn’t made in at least 15 years, but that they were no longer alone in their lab.

“Hey Dawnie,” Leo said, grin clear in his tone. 

“Hi Leo,” Dawn replied, eyes focused on the unfamiliar tiny turtle. “And who might this be?” 

“That is the question.” Usagi’s tone was fond, and Dawnie looked up to meet his eyes.

“Usagi! When did you get here?” Dawnie stood, arms open for a hug.

Usagi embraced his friend back. “Not long ago, I was hoping you and your family would be able to help my young friend here.”

“Of course,” Dawnie exclaimed, separating themself from Usagi and refocusing on the child. “Can you tell me your name?”

Again, the child shook his head, and Dawn nodded seriously. “That’s okay, do you know how to write your name?” This got an excited nod from the kid, and Dawn grinned. “Perfect! Let me grab a notebook!”

Moments later they were sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the ground beside the smaller turtle, notebook and pen in hand. It was the handwriting of a child, but it got the message across.

“Donatello?” Leo read, not quite believing what he was reading. The tot nodded happily, before returning to the paper to scribble something else. 

Leo thought back to the last time they’d met alternate versions of themselves. It hadn’t been the most smooth of sailing, but the other guys weren’t that bad. Leo looked over at Dawn, trying to see if they were thinking the same thing, but found his sibling enraptured by the little stick family Donatello was drawing and labeling. Interestingly, he drew his brothers with different heights, with his Raph being the tallest and his Mikey being shorter than the others. 

“You wanna know something crazy?” Dawn asked, and their counterpart blinked expectantly at them. “My full name is also Donatello.”

Mini Donatello’s eyes widened, and his hands began flapping excitedly as a bright churr emanated from his chest. Leo felt himself smile, the kid’s enthusiasm contagious.

After a few moments, Donnie went back to his drawing and Usagi cleared his throat. “Dawn, I was wondering if you could take a look at his shell. It is different from yours, and was somehow injured before I found him.”

Dawn nodded, then addressed Donatello. “Can I look at your shell, bud?” Donatello stopped scribbling, looking up at Dawn with fear in his eyes. “I won’t touch it,” Dawn promised, hands up in surrender. “I just want to look.” And after a moment, Donatello acquiesced. Dawn helped him out of his torn and dirty hoodie, careful not to knock his glasses off in the process.

Leo’s breath caught in his throat when Donatello’s shell was revealed. Underneath the neat bandages, the shape and texture of it was wrong, sending red flags and warning bells through his system. What happened to the poor little guy’s shell? How was that going to protect him?

Dawn, however, did not seem to be bothered by this development. If anything, they looked excited. “He’s a different species of turtle! Some kind of softshell, I think. They’re an aquatic species, and a light, flexible shell like his would help him swim super quickly through lakes and streams, and even outside of the water they move faster than other kinds of turtles cause they’re so much lighter--”

Usagi and Leo shared a fond, if a little exasperated, look over Dawn’s head as they continued infodumping. Little Donatello, however, was enraptured. He even let Dawn check under his bandages as he got more comfortable. Dawn’s ramble petered off a little when they got a good look at them.

“Well the good news is there’s no sign of infection, and nothing vital was damaged through his shell.” Leo could tell there was some sort of ‘but’ coming, and took a deep breath to steady his nerves. “But the wounds are pretty deep, and there’s quite a few of them, though they’re not too big.”

“Just deep,” Leo stated, eyes tracing the kid’s shell. Dawn nodded.

“Donnie?” Dawn asked their young counterpart, who looked up from the drawing he was still adding to. “Can I ask what happened to your shell?” The kid hesitated, hands twitching anxiously away from the paper. “Take your time, there’s no rush, but I do need to know what happened, ok?”

Donnie nodded slowly, that calculating look in his eye mirroring Dawn’s own. Hesitantly, Donnie tapped his drawing, pointing at the second biggest figure on the page.

“Raph?” Dawn asked as they read the name labeled in the drawing. 

Donnie nodded again. “Accident,” the younger turtle managed, though it sounded like he was talking around a golf ball in his throat. “Sharp.” He tapped the page again, and Leo realized with a vague sense of mounting dread that he’d drawn spikes covering the figures arms, shell, and tail. 

Dawn, to their credit, just nodded back, though their smile was a bit forced. “I see, so there was an accident involving your brother Raph, who looks pretty spiky, and it resulted in your shell getting hurt?” Donnie beamed up at his counterpart while Leo’s brain spun at a million miles a second. He tried to imagine being half the size of Raph, who was also covered head to toe in spikes, and not having a hard, protective shell. He had to count down from 10 three separate times to calm himself from that mental image. Usagi leaned into his side gently, subtly applying a little pressure to help ground him, and Leo leaned back gratefully. 

It was at this moment that Mikey burst into the lab at a dangerous speed and talking even faster. Leo thought he caught something about “Raph’s mad”, “bedazzled punching bag”, and “coming for my kneecaps” inside her rambling, but he was a little less worried about whatever shenanigans his sister had gotten into, and more worried about little Donatello’s reaction.

Said reaction being scaling Usagi like a tree and clinging to him desperately while attempting to fit his head all the way in his shell. Leo sighed as his blood sugar spiked, pinching the bridge of his nose and praying to whatever deity would listen that he’d make it through this seemingly endless day.

Notes:

HAHAHA I also transed Mikey's gender!!! get punk'd!

anyway the scene where the 2003 turtles are in space and mikey's in a dress altered my brain chemistry. there's so much textual evidence to read mikey as transfem, so I decided I would. More on her to come!

Chapter 4

Notes:

Fam this chapter fought me, and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I've decided I have to move on or i'm never gonna finish this

in semi related news, you may have noticed my chapter count has gone up. This may happen again, as I only have an skeleton outline for this fic, and I keep writing more than what I originally planned

Mikey wouldn’t call herself the most subtle turtle to ever exist. The prettiest? Definitely. The best at video games? 100 percent. Most likely to brighten the room with her smile? Abso-freakin-lutely. But subtle? Not so much. So when she saw a tiny little mutant turtle clinging to Usagi of all people in Dawn’s lab, subtlety was all but thrown out the window. 

“ Holy Shell, a Baby! ”

She heard rather than saw both Leo and Dawn’s facepalm, but she was too enraptured by the little guy to care. Usagi was a pretty short guy, and with her latest growth spurt Mikey kinda towered over him, so she bent down to come face to face with their guest, taking in the kid’s weird shell and the bruising and bandages that covered him as she did.

“Hi little guy!!” She beamed, a large grin stretching over her face. “I’m Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey or Mia or Angie or Jello or whatever, except you can’t call me Angel cause Angel called dibs on that one.” Mikey had the wherewithal to worry that she might be scaring the poor kid, but was ecstatic when the kid pulled his head fully from his shell and looked at her with big grey eyes that seemed to take up half his face behind the glasses he had perched on his snout. The kid wiggled out of Usagi’s arms and picked up a notebook Mikey hadn’t noticed lying open on the floor near Dawn. He held it up to her, tapping insistently at a little stick figure drawing with some very familiar labels.

“Hey that’s right! You must have a sibling named Mikey too!” She put her hands on her hips in mock thought, floral patterned skirt swaying with her hips. “And lets see…I bet your name is Donatello, and you’re the smart one and you like purple!” Little Donnie nodded vigorously, eyes wide and sparkling like a shoujo anime. Mikey giggled, then looked up to her brothers. 

“Hi Dawn, Hi Leo, Hi Usagi!”

“Hi Mikey,” Leo said longsufferingly. “What was that about you bedazzling Raph’s punching bag?”

“Yeah,” Dawn said, tapping their chin in mock thought. “Didn’t you say he was “coming for your kneecaps”?”

“Oh shell.”

Mikey barely had the chance to dive behind Leo in an attempt to hide before Raph barged into the room. He was grumbling under his breath about all the inventive ways he was going to murder his sweet, innocent younger sister, but stopped short when he noticed baby Donatello.

“Holy shell,” He stated, eyes wide in shock. “A baby!”

“That’s what I said!” Mikey popped out from behind Leo, regretting it immediately when Raph zeroed in on her. But he was distracted when Little Donnie approached him with wide eyes. He raised an eyebrow as the kid reached up, like he wanted Raph to pick him up. Which Raph did without a second thought. Donnie put his little hands on Raph's face, feeling the texture of his mask before sniffling a little and butting his head under Raph’s neck. Raph’s expression softened a little and he swayed back and forth. Mikey cooed and snapped a picture, and Raph turned on her, narrowing his eyes.

“Angie, what’d ya do this time?”

“Why do you think it was me?” She said with a theatrical gasp. “When have I ever created shenanigans??” Everyone pivoted to look pointedly at her, and she blushed. “Sheesh, nevermind, statement retracted.”

Little Donatello giggled wetly from Raph’s arms at that, and everyone directed their attention back to him. “How did a tiny, injured, alternate universe version of our dearest Dawnie end up here anyway?” Mikey asked, fiddling with her skirt. 

As Usagi explained how he’d found the little guy in his dimension, as well as how they figured his shell got hurt, Mikey found herself deeply worried. For both the little guy and his family. How worried must they be? Mikey knew that if any of her siblings had gone missing at that age their father would have had an aneurysm, not to mention that alternate reality future that Dawn saw when they were teenagers where the world fell apart because that version of Donatello disappeared. 

“Well what are we gonna do about it?” Raph asked, the worry in his tone masked by a layer of anger as Donnie’s fingers tangled in his red muscle shirt. “The kid can’t stay here, we gotta figure out where he’s from an’ how ta get him home.”

“Perhaps Splinter-sensei knows of a way to discern where he’s from,” Usagi stated thoughtfully. “I originally came to your home to ask his advice on caring for my young friend, and he always seems to know the answer to these sorts of situations.”

Mikey agreed. Her father was the wisest guy she knew, in this universe or any other. And if he didn’t have the answer, she was sure he knew a guy who did. 

*********

Leo and Usagi left to fill Splinter in on the details, leaving the pint-sized Donatello with Raph and his siblings. He wasn’t about to relinquish the baby anytime soon, and the little guy was clinging to his shirt with a surprising amount of grip strength. Nearby, Mikey picked up the notebook the kid had apparently been doodling in. 

“Look Raph, baby you is taller than his siblings! And he has a tail! How cool is that?”

“It looks like his siblings are different species of turtles, from us and each other.” Dawn chimed in. “At least, from how he drew them. I’m not sure, but with the tail and spikes I’d hazard a guess that his Raph is some sort of snapping turtle.”

Donnie nodded, and Raph redirected his attention. “Yeah? Is your Raph a snapper?”

“Mmhmm,” Donnie said sleepily. “Aligat’r.”

“An alligator snapping turtle, wow!” Raph replied, slipping into a softer, higher tone. He saw Mikey coo and snap another picture in his peripheral, but didn’t outwardly react. He could kick her ass later. 

“‘N Mikey’s a box turtle, an’ Leon’s a, a red eared slider.” Little Donatello was oblivious to the shocked looks the older turtles shared as he kept up his sleepy ramble. “Cept his ears aren’t red, he’s just got red stripes on his eyes…maybe he’s a red eyed slider instead? Papa’s book says “eared” though. An’ Mikey can fit all the way in his shell. It even clicks shut so nothin’ can get in.”

Raph can see Mikey videoing and Dawn frantically scratching out notes next to their counterpart’s drawings, but he’s focused on the little softshell in his arms. He sees the exact moment the excitement of the day wipes him out, until he’s all but snoring against his plastron. He holds him close, mindful of the bandages, and rocks him gently. Raph swears to himself that he’ll protect this little guy no matter what, and that he’ll make sure he gets home. No matter what.

Notes:

I'm a sucker for the Brains and Brawn duo. I just think that, even though his Raph was involved in the scuffle that sent Donnie flying through dimensions, he'd probably look up to and feel safest with him or a version of him. and 03 Raph is not complaining, mans loves kids

Sorry bout the random pov change, Words were not wording and looking at it from a new angle helped at least get it moving again. Hope it wasn't too confusing

Chapter 5

Notes:

Hey gang, sorry for how long it's been. I've been having some health problems, both physical and mental, though hopefully my blood tests will tell me what's going on. This chapter feels weird, at least to me, but maybe that's cause I've looked at it for too long, either way hope you enjoy

There was very rarely a dull moment in Splinter’s life. From learning Ninjutsu from his Master Yoshi, to raising four mutant turtles by himself in a sewer, to facing down multiple versions of The Shredder, to getting flung 100 years in the future, Splinter had learned to expect the unexpected. So he barely blinked when he saw Usagi had arrived unannounced at their home at the Reservoir Station. He and Leonardo had been dancing around their feelings for eachother since they’d met at the Battle Nexus, and had finally done something about it last Christmas, when Splinter’s other children had entrapped the pair with mistletoe. 

“Usagi, lovely to see you,” Splinter said as he poured two more cups of tea. “Please, sit.”

“Thank you Splinter-sensei,” Usagi said with a small bow. He and Leonardo sat and took the offered tea. 

“Now,” Splinter said calmly, “As much as I love seeing you, I have a suspicion your visit has more purpose than just a social call.” Usagi nodded, a bit sheepishly. 

“Usagi found an alternate version of Dawn, Sensei, being attacked by bandits in his dimension. We aren’t quite sure how he ended up there, and we’re looking for guidance on how we might get him home.”

“I see,” Splinter said, brow furrowed. “And only this alternate Donatello was there? None of his brothers?”

“No Sensei,” Leo said. “Just him. And…”

Splinter raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“He’s very young,” Usagi supplied. “I would guess he is about three or four years old, though I don’t spend much time around children.”

Splinter’s eyes widened. Such a small child, separated from his family across time and space. 

“And while he doesn’t speak much, he’s revealed that his injuries were caused by an accident involving his version of Raphael.” Leonardo fidgeted anxiously in his seat as Splinter tried to process this. 

“Perhaps I could ask The Daimyo if he has a way to discern what universe or dimension one comes from,” Splinter said after a moment’s thought. Leonardo visibly brightened at the thought, and Splinter could tell how worried his son was not having a solution. 

“I will send a letter now, asking for his aid. He is often quick to respond, so at his response I will travel to the Nexus to talk with him. But first,” Splinter said with a slight mischievous smirk, “I would like to see the child.”

 

---

 Donnie woke slowly, wrapped in something warm and the lights low around him. It took him a few moments of hazy consciousness before he remembered where he was, what had happened. He jerked upright, hissing at the painful sensation in his shell. The room around him was blurry, his glasses no longer perched on his nose. He panicked a little at that, feeling helpless at not being able to really see and hurting and not knowing where his brothers were. He struggled with the blankets, trying to untangle himself and getting more frustrated as he failed to escape. 

 “Hey, lil dude, you’re ok!”

Someone who was big and green appeared at the doorway, and from the blurry smear of colors he guessed it was the other version of Mikey he’d met before, Mia. The older turtle came closer, a steady stream of words flowing from her as she helped him out of his blanket prison. She placed his glasses in his hands, and Donnie clicked at her thankfully. When he could see again, he looked around at his surroundings. 

He was in a different room than he’d been in before. There were lots of TVs, and he was seated on a couch that was pretty similar to the couch in Donnie’s living room. The blanket he’d been fighting with was a worn patchwork quilt that could easily cover two of the bigger turtles that lived here. Then he realized that Mia was still talking, and tried to tune back into what she was saying.

“--and we can introduce you to April and Casey and lil Casey Jr! She’s only little, almost 2 already! Oh and I bet Leatherhead would love to meet you too!” Donnie started to fidget, uncomfortable to be introduced to so many strangers. Luckily he was saved when Big Leo and Usagi-san came into the room.

“Ok M, I think you’re overwhelming the poor kid. Let him breathe.” Mia blew a raspberry at her older brother, but did as he asked. Big Leo offered to pick Donnie up, and Donnie agreed. Even though this Leo was obviously not his twin, Donnie felt safe with him. Not as safe as with Raphie, but Donnie and Leo were usually joined at the hip. Leo knew Donnie better than Donnie knew himself. Big Leo shifted his weight so he and Donnie could talk. 

“My father wants to meet you, is that okay?” Donnie’s eyes widened. For some reason he hadn’t even considered that this strange place would have a version of Splinter, even though there was a version of himself and all his brothers. He nodded, wondering how different he would be from his papa.

Usagi went to grab him, and Donnie found himself tracing the edge of Big Leo’s plastron. Leo smiled. 

“Dawn said that your Leo is a red-eared slider?” Leo prompted, and Donnie nodded. 

“Yeah, he’s got red an’ yellow stripes!”

Leo nodded. “Makes sense. Is he the oldest?”

Donnie shook his head vehemently. “Raphie is the oldest, he’s in charge.” The idea of Leo being in charge was frankly a little silly. “Leo is my twin, and he’s too silly to be in charge.” Big Leo laughed as Donnie launched into a tirade about how much of a dum dum his twin brother could be.

Chapter 6

Notes:

Hi gang! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Splinter wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he met the littlest addition to their rag-tag family. He maybe expected the little one to trust him immediately, as he had trusted his children. But the little version of Donatello in Leonardo’s arms was rather wary of the old rat when he entered. Splinter almost didn’t notice, so caught up as he was at the sight of such a small turtle. He felt a bit like he’d time traveled, back to when his children were that small. 

He did notice Donatello’s body language after a moment, and came to a stop just shy of arms’ reach. The child was staring at him hard, assumedly trying to find any similarities between his father and the rat before him. 

Splinter hummed. “It is good to meet you, little one. I am Splinter, though I’m sure you’ve guessed that yourself.” Donatello nodded slightly, grey eyes still searching. “I take it I am very different from the Splinter you know, hm?” Another nod. “I understand, this whole thing must be difficult to wrap your head around.”

“He was just telling me about his brother Leon,” Leonardo said, shifting Donatello’s weight a bit on his hip. “Apparently his version of Raph is the oldest, then Donnie and Leon, with Mikey as the baby.”

Splinter nodded sagely. He opened his mouth to respond, but Donnie must have finally found what he was looking for, because he practically threw himself from Leonardo’s arms trying to get to Splinter. The father smiled as Donnie buried his face in Splinter's robe, gently stroking the child’s shell through his torn hoodie. He held him close, thinking about his own children at this age and how, though he loved the strong and capable adults they’d become, he did sometimes miss the years of them being so little. 

****

Half an hour later saw the whole family moved to the dojo. Apparently “dimension hopping toddlers” wasn’t a good enough excuse to cancel training. Dawnie knew that it was for their own good, but they were hip deep in research about turtle breeds and was honestly kinda miffed to be dragged away. 

Dawn and their siblings went through their katas, Splinter pacing at the front of the room as he observed. Usagi sat off to the side with Donnie, the pair watching the lesson attentively. Dawn kept an eye on their young counterpart, interested to know his reaction. They’d been doing drills and katas with their siblings since they were small, but Donnie looked like he’d never seen a lesson like this before. Maybe his version of splinter hadn’t started teaching him and his brothers yet?

After katas, Dawnie and their siblings broke into pairs to spar. Dawn was up against Leo first, which simultaneously made Dawn excited and annoyed. Their oldest brother was a master in his own right, and could easily kick Dawn’s ass, but he also enjoyed dragging out sparring sessions to practice and teach, and Dawn could tell that this was going to take a while. 

The siblings grabbed practice staffs and returned to the mats, sizing each other up. Dawnie swung their staff, which clattered against Leo’s block. They both circled, testing each other's defenses with light taps, before throwing themselves at each other. Soon the fight was a blur of staffs attacking and blocking, attempting to knock eachother out of the ring rather than land solid hits. Dawnie lost themself in the dance a little, allowing their instincts to cover what their logical brain couldn’t. They knew Leo was going easy on them, mostly because they weren’t flat on their shell yet. But then, suddenly, something caught Dawn’s eye. A flash of purple light, outside of the ring where all their focus was. They faltered, just a step, but it was enough for Leo to swipe their feet out from under them. 

Dawn groaned, blinking rapidly to clear their vision and find what had distracted them. And what a distraction it was: Little Donatello was on the sidelines, holding a miniature bo staff that seemed to be made of purple light. It looked solid, and made a solid tapping sound when Donnie hit it against the floor, but it was translucent, almost transparent, and glowed softly, the light smearing when Donnie swung it. Dawn watched as Donnie happily mimicked the fight he’d just seen, a childish imitation with raw athleticism and talent behind it. 

Donnie stopped suddenly, and Dawn realized they’d been staring at him, along with the rest of their family and Usagi. A blush colored the tot’s cheeks under his mask, and the staff flickered out of existence. 

“How did you do that?” 

Donnie looked a little confused at the question. “Magic?” He lifted his hands, creating a small ball of light. Dawn noticed that the purple markings on Donnie’s legs were also glowing, and they’d hazard a guess that the ones on his shoulders were too. His eyes had changed color as well, glowing that same radioactive violet. The light shifted and twisted as Donnie manipulated it.

“Is it like Qi?” Mikey asked, but Donnie just looked confused.

“Do all your brothers have magic too?” Dawn asked, and Donnie nodded brightly.

“Yeah! Raphie’s is like mine, ‘cept it covers his body to make him bigger. Mine is making new things outside of me. Mikey can do fire, and Leon can do portals!”

Portals. That was probably how Donnie got sent through time and space. The pieces started to click together for Dawn. Somehow an accident with Raph sent Donnie through Leon’s portal, and he ended up in Usagi’s universe. 

The moment was broken by a chiming sound. It took them a second to place it, but Dawn realized it was the sound that accompanied a message from the Battle Nexus. The Daimyo must have responded to Splinter’s letter.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving kudos and comments, even a keysmash or string of emojis makes my day!

Next time we get to see how the rise universe is holding up :D

Also, I'm hoping to get into the obscure tmnt au competition on tumblr with this story, so please consider submitting my fic to @obscure-au-comp by march 1st! No pressure of course!

Hope you're having an amazing day/night/whenever!

Chapter 7

Notes:

Hello! Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Thank you all for the lovely comments you've been leaving, I reread them all the time <3

Splinter left to visit the Daimyo, leaving the Turtles and Usagi to watch Donnie while he was away. And it was about 15 minutes later that Leo felt a disturbance in the force. It took him a few moments to place it, but when he did he scrambled to gather his siblings: They forgot to tell April.

All things considered, April took it gracefully. 

“Leonardo Splinterson,” She intoned when she and Casey arrived at the lair, “Dante’s inferno will read like a fun family get-away compared to the hellfire I will rain down upon you the next time I’m not immediately notified of any and all accidental baby acquisition.” Casey shrugged sympathetically from his post behind her left shoulder. As livid as she was at her younger siblings for leaving her and Casey out of the loop, she was excited to see Donnie. They decided to leave Casey-Marie with Angel for the afternoon, and brought over some supplies that the turtles didn’t have immediately available in the lair--namely soft toys and child-sized clothes and age-appropriate reading material. 

Donnie took a great interest in April. It became clear that he hadn’t met her counterpart (though April hadn’t met her turtles until she was already an adult, so that wasn’t exactly surprising). But Donnie decided he liked her when she introduced him to squishmallows, sitting next to her as she read to him and kneading biscuits into the plushie.

Casey was a different story. The hockey player was half dead from trying to keep up with Casey Jr. (he’d found himself apologizing to his mother quite a bit lately), and was big and muscular and didn’t give him the pineapple squishmallow. So Donnie was more than a little wary of him, sticking close to the turtles or Usagi or even April after he’d warmed up to her. Casey didn’t seem to be offended, hanging out with Raph and falling asleep almost immediately after sitting down.

That’s how Splinter found them all when he returned from the Nexus: Casey passed out on the couch, Mikey and Raph drawing on him with sharpie, April, Leo, and Usagi playing with Donnie on the floor, and Dawn tinkering with the toaster off to the side. He grinned a little, waiting for his family to notice his presence. It didn’t take long, Leo and Usagi noticing him almost immediately, with Dawn close behind.

“Did you learn anything, Master Splinter?” Dawnie asked, abandoning the toaster to approach their father and alerting everyone else to his arrival. 

“Indeed,” Splinter stated calmly. “The Daimyo furnished me with a spell to discern what universe our young visitor is from. However,” he continued, cutting off the excitement from the people around him, “it’s not an easy incantation, especially in certain cases where the universe is shielded somehow.”

“How does it work, Sensei?” Leo asked. 

“I have a list of components that are required. The actual spell functions as if one is observing through a screen, but all the participants can feel the surface level thoughts and emotions of their universal counterpart, should they be present.”

“Let’s get it movin’, Master Splinter,” Raph barked, with no real anger behind it. “The sooner we gets the kid’s address, the sooner we get ‘im home.” 

“Agreed, my son.” 

Splinter gave the list of required components to Dawn and April, who divided it up between what they had on hand and what they needed to find. Usagi and Mikey took charge of Donnie, keeping him distracted and calm while Leo and Raph began setting up the ritual--drawing a large circle in chalk with five lines converging in the center, matching the diagram the Daimyo had given Splinter. Runes and symbols were added around the outside, an incantation of protection to keep anything from coming through the crack they were opening between the universes. Dawn came in with armloads of white candles, enlisting Casey to help them carry them: 20 in total, placed equidistantly along the circumference. April returned with five black candles and a metric tonne of salt. She placed the candles at the midpoint of each converging line, then surrounded the exterior of the circle as well as where each participant would be kneeling in a protective circle of salt. 

Usagi picked Donnie up, telling him what was going to happen as Leo came through and lit all the white candles. “You’ll need to kneel at the center of the circle. We’ll all be close, but you have to be brave and move as little as possible. Splinter-sensei mentioned that it might be bright for a few moments, but then we’ll be able to see into your universe, so that we might discover how to send you home.” Donnie nodded, giving his squishmallow one more squeeze before dropping it onto the couch. Usagi carefully moved to the spell circle, deftly maneuvering through lit candles and salt, and placed Donnie gently in the center salt ring. The small turtle looked up at him nervously, fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie. Usagi smiled softly and put a comforting paw on his head. After a moment he felt Donnie exhale shakily and nod. 

Dawn had set up a complicated looking machine near the ritual circle, which April was manning. Leo lit the black candles, tossing the lighter to Casey as he took his place. To Leo’s right was his father and then Raph, to his left was Dawn and then Mikey. They all knelt,  facing the center where Donnie was. Splinter began to chant, words that Donnie couldn’t understand but sounded a bit like when his papa would mutter angrily under his breath. The candles flared in time with his sentences, the chalk lines beginning to glow a soft purple. It grew in volume and intensity, until Donnie couldn’t see anything for the eyesearing glow of the chalk lines. He squeezed his eyes shut.

The sound of chanting cut off abruptly. When Donnie opened his eyes, he realized he was in his living room, in his own house! He looked around, afraid to move in case it disappeared. He gasped as he saw his brothers, playing together quietly on the floor in front of his papa’s chair. They seemed…sad. Donnie was not good at emotions, especially his own, but he could tell when something was off with his brothers. And something was wrong. 

“Raphie? Leon? Mikey?” He tried to call to them, but they couldn’t hear him. He felt a bad emotion rising up in his chest.

***

Leo opened his eyes to an unfamiliar lair. Barely furnished, with only a dilapidated armchair, moldy couch, and tiny box tv. Three young mutant turtles were half-heartedly playing together, but Leo could tell they were sad. Or maybe that was the waves of upset coming from his little counterpart. Alternate Leo was small, with a blue tank top and bandana and red and yellow stripes. Leo could tell he was a touch too small to really grasp that his twin is capital-g-Gone, but he’s upset that Donnie isn’t there. There’s a level of guilt just out of reach of Leo’s scope, like this mini him is blaming himself but doesn’t know what he did.

On the armchair behind the kids is assumedly this universe’s Splinter: tall, lanky, with messy black hair framing his face. His long pink tail is curled around his leg as he stares blankly at his children. Leo winces at his expression: He’s seen depression, both in other people and in the mirror, and this is the worst case he’s observed by far. He did not envy his father, who must be feeling that emptiness from his own counterpart. 

***

The first thing Splinter notices is the heavy tang of grief in the air, a few moments before the overwhelming tide of sorrow crashes into him. He struggles to maintain his balance, looking for the source. His counterpart is mourning, near catatonic as he clings to his remaining children and misses his little Purple. Splinter can see and feel him beginning to come apart at the seams, the lack of sleep carved into his face. Splinter sees a man who has lost hope of ever seeing his child again. 

So Splinter did what he does best: tried to find a solution. He knew that his April was monitoring them on the machine Dawn built the last time Turtles from another dimension visited. It wasn’t a portal, but it was a starting point. What they needed to do was keep the spell going long enough to get a solid lock on whatever universe they were currently observing. 

***

April was a few moments away from putting her fist through the screen, even if that was more her husband’s forte. The machine was working, more or less (Dawn tended to leave open ended projects half finished), but it was like the universe was…fighting her? Everytime she was close to getting a lock, the numbers slipped away in a shock of static. She was getting closer and closer, but it was taking longer than Dawn had originally predicted. 

What really worried her was Donnie: The little turtle was doing so well, staying almost perfectly still, but it was obvious that he was becoming more and more upset the longer he looked into his own universe. April worried he would break the spell before she could get a lock. 

***

Donnie was getting more and more scared. The longer he looked at his brothers the more he missed them. He wanted Raphie to scoop him up and squish him too tight, he wanted Leon to crack a terrible joke that didn’t make any sense, he wanted Mikey to beam up at him like the sunbeam he was. 

But more scary was his papa: he was crying . Not heaving sobs like when Mikey tripped or Leon ran into a wall. Slow, dripping tears, silent as he just stared right through Donnie to his brothers. It was all wrong wrong WRONG. He needed to fix it! He was good at fixing things! He just had to figure out how to get back.

***

Usagi moved before he’d consciously registered the problem. He nimbly dove for Donnie before the upset tot could disrupt the salt circle, holding him close to his chest. Donnie struggled, and the light of the chalk circle flickered. But Usagi knew that April was still working, and Donnie interrupting the ritual early would require them to redo the entire thing. So even when he felt the sharp pain of the softshell’s beak biting into the flesh of his arm, he held him still. Blood dripped, staining his blue kimono. But Usagi held firm.

The moment he heard April's triumphant shout, Usagi broke the line of salt. The light faded and the older turtles broke from their trance. Splinter’s eyes were misty, and Raph’s mouth formed a grim line. Even Mi-chan was struggling to keep up her cheery demeanor. But Usagi was more focused on how Donnie’s thrashing hadn’t stopped. 

The tot had released Usagi’s arm, but his eyes were screwed shut as he rocked violently. He clicked and shrieked and hissed, tears streaming down his face. Usagi loosened his hold, but immediately gasped as Donnie began hitting his own head with tiny fists. His breathing was fast and shallow, and Usagi felt completely out of his depth in the face of the meltdown. 

Dawn took control, scooping Donnie up and retreating to their lab, where they could control the sound and brightness levels of the room. Mi-chan took off after the duo, grabbing the pineapple plush toy Donnie had been favoring on her way out. Leo knelt next to the shell-shocked Usagi, gently taking his injured arm to look at it.

“He gotcha pretty good, ‘Sagi,” Raph quipped, but there wasn’t the usual humor and good spirits behind it. He passed Leo some antiseptic wipes and bandages to wrap the wound. Usagi’s boyfriend led him to the couch and began cleaning the bite. Usagi didn’t flinch at the chemicals, worried about Donnie. By the time it was fully wrapped, Dawn and Mi-chan re-emerged from the Lab.

“He tired himself out,” Dawn said wearily. “He’s sleeping now, hopefully he’ll be feeling better by the time he wakes up.”

“And with how late it is, the little guy will probably sleep through the night,” Mi-chan chimed in. Usagi let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. 

“But the good news is we got a lock on Donnie’s universe! I can start working on a solution right away!” Dawn met everyone’s unimpressed stares, then backtracked sheepishly. “I mean, after a full night’s rest. Sleep is important,” they said, chuckling guiltily.

Notes:

was that the bite of 87???

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a comment, they really make my day!

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