Scars as Badges

by BlametheCupcake

Summary:

The last of Casey Jones' family died less than 48 hours ago. Now that the world isn't about to end he may need to start processing that, but that's hard and it's easier to pretend everything is okay. Being the only one to remember the last war to ever happen is totally okay. To be a sixteen-year-old war veteran is totally okay. To be face-to-face with the younger versions of your deceased family and realize as much as you love them you are just the cool guy they just met, is totally okay. Yeah. Yeah. Casey Jones is totally okay.

Chapter 1

“There there buddy -HURGH” Raph said, nearly sympathy vomiting, “let it out.”

He gently patted Casey on the back while also standing as far away as possible, eyes averted. The other three turtles and their dad were standing farther back and were a different shade of green than normal. April had left to check on her parents after their ‘we stopped the apocalypse pizza’ and they had headed back to their hopefully not to wrecked lair for a well-deserved rest. That was until Casey have suddenly and violently started losing the contents of his stomach.

“In retrospect, maybe pizza was the best choice to start him off on.” Donnie said, before turning away from the scene.

“Pffft.” Leo said with a dismissive flap of his hand. “Pizza is always the best choice.”

Casey’s heaving gave way to dry heaving, then eventually stopped all together. After a few shaky breaths he wiped his mouth on his gauntlet and turned to face the group. “Are you guys okay?”
That got him a confused blink from the group before Raph spoke up. “Uh, yeah were fine. You’s the one who’s sick.”

“Uh right, if you’re sure.” Casey stammered, abashed. “Usually, food has to be pretty spoiled to make me sick. I couldn’t even taste it in the pizza.”

You could have heard pin drop in the silence that followed. Raph’s lower lip wobbled and his eyes shined with unshed tears though luckily Casey wasn’t looking up at him.

“Alright, come ‘er.” He said, moving his hand from where it was still resting on Casey’s back. Grabbing a handful of his cape he lifted him up onto his shell in Mickey’s usual place. “Let Raph know if your gonna be sick.”

Casey flailed as he was lifted from the ground but once he was set down on his shell, he blinked then flopped down in a manner similar to how Mickey usually rode. “Um, thanks. I think I got it all out.” It hit them all as they saw the ease he settle in, this wasn’t the young man’s first turtle back ride.

Leo knew he had come from the future, had lived with them and had been trained by his ‘Sensei’ Leo, but this…this seemed important in a way he couldn’t quite put his finger on. When Mickey squealed and climbed up on Raph’s other side, high fiving Casey once he was settled, he let the thought go. He had an arm thrown around Donnie’s shoulder and his dad on his other side. They all may be banged up, but they were together and safe. He let the thought go and they all made their way back to the lair in a comfortable silence.

The lair was surprisingly intact, the Krang abandoning their infiltration to pursue April and Splinter. When they crossed the threshold Casey slid down from his perch to look around, mask pulled down to start scanning.
“Come on Dum-dum, you’re getting a check over,” Donnie said, pulling Leo along to the infirmary and ignoring his protest.

Splinter stretched, back popping loudly. “Oh, my back. I’m going to my chair. Unless you need me my son?” He turned and looked at Raph who was watching his brothers disappearing into the other room.
Raph swallowed hard then turned to his father. “Naw Pop, Raph’s good. I’m thinking turtle pile and a movie. Hey Case, you ever seen Jupiter Jim?”

Glowing green eyes turned towards him, staring for a beat before Casey flipped his mask back up. “Un- er I mean Master Michelangelo would tell me stories about Jupiter Jim, but I’ve never seen a movie.”
Both Mikey and Raph gapped at the boy until the youngest turtle practically bounced in place. “Movie night! I’ll go get the snacks!” Before anyone could say anything otherwise, he ran off towards the kitchen. They watched him go before slowly turning and blinking at each other.

“Well,” Raph said, putting his hands on his hips. “we were probably going to turtle pile anyways. I’m gonna go grab the blankets, you make yourself at home.”

He went off towards the subway leaving Casey standing alone.

---

Still clutching his hockey stick, Casey stood in the atrium just listening to the sounds of the lair. Already he could hear Splinter’s snoring, clattering coming from the direction of the kitchen, but otherwise it was silent.

The base had never been silent, there was always someone around. The hum of the filtration systems, carts of their limited supplies being moved about, or salvage being brought in, even the distant sound of explosions that would make the walls vibrate. There was a tightness in his chest that he didn’t want to think about. Shoving the feeling away made his way towards the room Splinter had disappeared into.

The rat had reclined in his chair and had his feet kicked up, snoring loudly. The chair Casey had been tied to was still there and there was also a weird round purple seat he had seen Master Michelangelo sitting in earlier. He pressed lightly on it, and it immediately gave under even the slightest pressure. Worried he had broken it; he pulled his hand back and stepped away. He looked towards Master Splinter- he still had a hard time reconciling the man with the stories he had heard- was still asleep in his chair.

There was a thick rug on the floor and he was hesitant to step on it, fabric of any kind had been so rare in the future. Master Michelangelo had a rug in his room, but he always made Casey take off his boots before entering. Sensei had argued with him over it, saying that it would slow him down to put them back on in the case of an emergency, but Master Michelangelo would not budge. Privately he had always enjoyed the feeling of the soft fabric under his bare feet.

This rug was even thicker and not nearly as threadbare. After a moment he pulled off a glove and crouched down to run his fingers over the fabric. It was nice, he couldn’t even feel the coolness of the concrete underneath it. His legs trembled slightly, and he gave in to the impulse to sit down. The last week had been hectic as the Krang closed in on them and with the final battle then came back in time to stop the apocalypse. The only sleep he had in the last two days was however long he had been unconscious after startling Commander O’Neil. He put his glove back on and rested his hockey stick across his knees. Blinking, it felt like his eyes had weights attached to his eyelids. He only lasted two sluggish blinks before they stayed closed and his breathing evened out.

----

When Raph came back with the blankets they were piled so high he could barely see where he was going. He dropped his armload on the rug and realized he had almost dropped them on their newest addition. The future boy was sitting up, chin to chest, and holding his weapon across his knees. Raph considered picking him up and moving him somewhere more comfortable, or even waking him up to remove his armour, but he’d seen how jumpy the young man was. With a sigh, he took out the fuzziest blanket from the pile and as gently as his giant hands were capable, draped it across Casey’s shoulders.

He laid out the blankets for the other and laid one over his dad. Leo was the first to arrive, scanned and bandaged, but free. He swaggered in with a wisecrack on his lips but was immediately shushed by Raph who pointed at the sleeping form on the rug. Leo came up and slapped his brother's shoulder, whispering that Donnie wanted him next. Raph went off for his check up and Mickey came in with bowls of popcorn and soda but too was sent off for a checkup. One by one they filtered back in, piling around Raph. Jupiter Jim was put on the projector but all four of them were out before the opening credits.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Casey came awake in a panic, a sudden terror that squeezed his chest in a vice while screaming RUN RUN RUN! But he didn’t run, that was a great way to get yourself killed. He didn’t even snap his eyes open or go still in an attempt to not draw attention. He did try to keep his rapid breathing as quiet as possible and opened his eyes the barest sliver to peer through his eyelashes at his surroundings. The was a large mass in front of him, a jumble of limbs, more limbs than any one creature needed but the Krang were so fond of having anyway. He could see the way the mass moved with each breath which meant it was one of the infected and it had to be pretty far along to have so many extra parts…how many it had to have incorporated.

He was sitting, hunched over with his stick across his knees and mask across his head. The creature hadn’t seemed to notice him somehow, if he could just turn on his blade maybe he could take off a few limbs and book it. Casey didn’t know where he was or how he got there, but running even farther into Krang territory was preferable to sitting and waiting to be the next set of limbs added to the pile.

Casey ever so slowly moved one of his hands towards his mask while the other hovered over the switch to his stick, ready to fight the second the thing moved towards him. He slowly lifted his head as the HUD kicked on and got a clear look at the creature. Except, it wasn’t a creature, it was four. Raph was curled up on his stomach with Mickey flopped over his shell. Donatello was sitting up, reclining against his largest brother in an inelegant sprawl. Finally, was his Sensei who was pinned down by one of Raph’s arms across his chest and his own feet kicked up into Donnie’s lap.

The sight was so confusing he just sat there for several long moments, finger still on the switch, trying to understand what he was looking at.

Then it hit him. He wasn’t home, or out on the battlefield. He wasn’t even in his time. Memory returned and he was hit with grief so intense it felt like being stabbed. His panicked breathing took on a high-pitched note and one of the turtles snorted in their sleep. Casey pressed a hand to his mouth to smother the sound, just as desperate now to go unseen as when he thought it was a Krang infested monster. Though he didn’t think it possible, his breathing got even faster but thankfully the glove was smothering the sound. Finally, the snoring continued, and he let out a shaky sigh.

Slowly and shakily, he stood, every muscle seemingly screaming for his attention. Nearly tripping over a blanket that tangled at his feet, he made his way as quietly out of the room as he could. He didn’t even remember falling asleep, he had just been waiting for Raphael to come back with the bedding. The fact that they were all bedded down by him, and he didn’t even wake up was alarming. Sure, he had been exhausted, but usually, he was such a light sleeper.

His feet took him back to the atrium before he realized he had no idea where he was going. It was strange, to feel so out of his depths. Every base they had moved to, he had learned every nook and cranny of. When he was little, they would all play hide and seek to make sure he always knew where he was, though at the time he just thought it was a fun game. No matter how old he got, they had played the game with every new base they moved too, even when the number of players declined.

One of his earliest memories was one of those games giggling madly as he ran down the hallway where he heard his Mom’s yells of “I AM OF THE SHADOWS!” He had thrown open a supply closet door to find the room empty, only to look up to see holding herself up above the door. She had carried him back to the living quarters declaring him the best of all seekers.

The vice around his chest tightened but he pushed the memory away. He couldn’t dwell on the past, not when there was work to be done. Sure, this Donatello has cameras around the lair, but they weren’t calibrated for the Krang like his mask was. What if there was something still, left behind as a guard after their aborted infiltration of the lair. Nobody had ever died from being overprepared, besides he didn’t think he would be able to sleep knowing there was nobody to keep watch.

The base attack had taught them the costly lesson of putting all their faith in technology alone. Never again, they always had multiple Firewatch teams since then. Never again, not after—no no what was wrong with him. Anger pushed its way to the forefront and that was okay. He would rather be angry at his failure than dwell on the other feelings.

As he stalked from room to room it was easy to slip into that numb place, his brain focused on scanning for Krang, checking hiding spots Krang Matter could be huddled in waiting. There was no room for memories or feelings when you had to memorize the floor layout, clock ambush spots and firing positions. Once he had completed a thorough search of the entire lair, he did it again, adding more spots to his mental map and quizzing himself on room features. After the second lap he mixed up his patrol, it was good to keep it unpredictable.

Casey had no way of knowing if the time on his mask was accurate to the time he had dropped into, and it seemed the lair didn’t possess the automated ceiling lights the common spaces of their old bases had. So he just kept up his patrol, making sure to go by the projector room more and more often as he waited for the others to wake up.

His eyes were burning, and each step got harder than the last, but he was in that familiar state of exhaustion that was so deeply engrained it felt like he could keep it up forever because he had forgotten how to do anything else. Which was good, because he needed to keep going it kept him from thinking he couldn’t leave them unprotected. He was used to running on fumes, he would make sure everyone stayed safe.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Summary:

Breakfast shouldn't be this hard.

Notes:

I'm sorry for any typos and poor editing. I couldn't sleep until I got this chapter out, but I am struggling to stay awake like poor Casey. Thank you all for the kind comments.

It was just after his sixth hour of patrol that the others started stirring. He wasn’t sure which one woke up first, but once one did the whole pile came away with groans, moans, and complaints. Splinter at least seemed to sleep through the grumbling.

They all looked as awful as Casey felt.

“Coffeeeee.” Leo moaned and he pulled himself upright, and Donnie nodded along.

He had stopped at the bathroom to splash cold water on his face and was feeling slightly more alert as he approached them. They had pulled themselves free of the pile, abandoning their blankets like they weren’t something precious and irreplaceable, and shuffled in different directions. Master Michelangelo headed in the direction of the kitchen, stretching and yawning as they went. Donnie headed towards his lab, his bare soft shell showing just what he was in search of. Raph had scooped up his father and was carrying him towards his room, though the quiet mumbling he could hear suggested Master Splinter had woken during the move. Finally, it was just him and Leo.

It was so bizarre, so familiar and alien. His heart seized in his chest and he had to fight the urge to grab the other boy and squeeze as tightly as he could. A lump formed in his throat and his chest burned. Some corner of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Master Michelangelo told him he needed to try and control his breathing, to breathe on a five count if he couldn’t manage to make it to ten. And on and on and on it spiralled.

Snap snap

The green fingers snapped in front of his face that brought him back to the past present. “Case? Buddy? You good?” Leo drawled, though his furrowed brows gave away his anxiety.
Casey felt his cheeks heat and he ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Uh yeah sorry. Zoned out there for a sec.”

“Uh huh, uh huh.” Leo said, leaning back and relaxing his posture. “I get it, Donnie is pretty much useless before his morning coffee. Oh hey, did you have coffee in the future?”
His stomach churned and Casey fought down the urge to fidget. “Um, no. Master Michelangelo would dry leaves when he could and would make tea.”

Leo’s nose wrinkled at that and opened his mouth to say something but apparently thought better of it, instead throwing an arm around Casey and steering him towards the kitchen. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to fix that, won’t we? And I’m pretty sure I heard Michael say something about pancakes.”

They were nearly to the kitchen with Leo stopped, dragging Casey to a halt as well with the arm still thrown over his shoulders to short to light. He turned his head so he could look at Casey, a gentle smile on his lips. “Hey Case, you know you can leave your stick behind, right? The Krang are gone, your safe here.”

Casey reflexively tightened his grip on the stick, his whole body going tense at the idea. Leave his weapon? No, nononono, you never did that. He hadn’t been without a weapon since he got his first knife for this fifth birthday. His panic must have shown on his face because Leo’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Hey nobody is saying you have to, okay? Just something to think about.” He turned and continued towards the kitchen, pulling Casey along in his wake. “Besides, it’s not like Donnie doesn’t have every inch of this place being covered by cameras.”

They stepped into the kitchen and Casey was hit by an aroma and it was the best thing he had ever smelled. His stomach instantly started rumbling, reminding him he had thrown up his last meal and it had been ages since he had actually eaten. “What is that?” He asked in wonder, as he watched some golden circle get flipped into a pan expertly by Mickey at the stove.

Leo laughed and all but pushed him into one of the seats at the kitchen table. “Oh, this is going to blow your mind.” He crowed at Casey before he turned to Mikey. “Looking good little brother.”

Mikey beamed and tipped the golden disk onto a stack of other fluffy disks. “Saving the world breakfast coming right up!”

Raph came in looking as eager as Casey felt. “Man that smells good! How’s everyone feeling? Mikey, how’s the hands? Leo you got any pain? Case we didn’t get a chance to look you over last night, anything we need to know about?”

“All good.” Mickey chirped for the stove, flipping another disk as if to show off how fine he actually was. Casey just shook his head while Leo flapped a dismissive hand.

“Relax big brother, everyone is fine. Your Raph Chasm is showing.”

Raph sighed and sat down next to Casey. “Alright, Raph get’s it. Just had to make sure. You sleep alright Case? You’s was out pretty had last night.”

“Breakfast is served!” He was saved from having to answer by Mickey plunking down a plate towered high with the golden brown disks. Those were followed by strips of some kind of meat and a blobby pile of yellow that Casey couldn’t even begin to identify but also smelled amazing.

His stomach growled again and Raph just laughed, slapping him on the back. “Dig in, you must be starving.”

Casey’s eyes were wide and sparkly as he looked over the array. And just like that Raph was giving him a guided tour through the breakfast options, well they weren’t really options because as he spoke Raph kept piling Casey’s plate full of food. By the time he was done Casey had a tower of pancakes, a mountain of scrambled eggs, and a barricade of bacon separating the two. He had also drowned Casey’s pancakes with syrup, and the young man just sat in stunned awe at the sight of the glorious food. He raised his fork and had been going for his first bite of glorious pancake, Raph, Leo, and Mikey all leaning in eagerly to see his first foray into the glories of breakfast.

And just as his fork was about to make contact with the fluffy goodness the plate was ripped away.

“Ah, ah, ah. Hold it right there!” Donnie said, Casey’s plate now being held by one mechanical claw.

“Donnie!” Raph said indignantly. “What the heck?”

“Yeah! What gives!?” Michelangelo now stood next to Raph, the both staring hard at the breakfast thief.

Donatello put one hand to his chest, as the other hand gestured at Casey. “Have you forgotten what happened last night? Casey isn’t adjusted to our modern food, and I dare say our portions. He needs to be on a strict diet and slowly introduce foods so he doesn't get sick. Not to mention food allergies. Without any exposure he may very well be allergic to many foods. Dairy, wheat, even eggs.”

Casey looked down sadly at the feast before him and tried to shove the feelings aside. He was use to hunger, and he was pretty sure he had seen rats in the sewer last night. They were big too. He would just go hunting while they ate their amazing looking food and maybe after Mikey could show him how to use his cooking devices.

“Great, look what you’ve done to him Donald. You’ve crushed him.” Leo said, turning on his purple brother as well.

“Hey, no fair. I’m just trying to make sure we don’t accidently kill our future boy. This much food,” He said, the claw wagging the plate in their direction, “would probably burst his stomach. I mean that literally. Casey how big was your average meal?”
Casey blinked at that, he hadn’t even really considered it when he had been looking over the plate of food. Truthfully, he that plate could have lasted him two well fed weeks. Probably more than four if he was being cautious. And as sad as it made him he knew Donatello was right. He shoved the feelings of disappointment away, locked them in the little box feelings went to when there was work to be done. “Maybe half the size of my fist.” He was being generous with that estimate, their supply of leaves had been critical and the rat meat was being rationed, but at the sight of their stricken faces he knew he made the right call. He wasn’t going to tell he only one full meal a day, and then snacked on jerky to make up for the short fall. As Mikey valiantly tried to hold back tears he decided they never needed to know.

Even Donnie looked uncomfortable but after a moment he cleared his through. “Yes, well, I have done some reading and I think it would be best to start you off with oatmeal or rice and once we have your test results back we can slowly start introducing more food.”

Another claw reached out, holding a red book towards Casey. He took it as gently as if it were made of the finest glass. “We need to track your intake: time, food, volume, and reaction if any. The food you will be eating will most likely been more nutritiously dense then what you are used to and it’s important you are mindful so you don’t end up accidentally rupturing something. Now I suggest we start you off with half a cup of oatmeal.”

The rest of the meal was a blur. The other three turtles seemed equal parts dismayed and indignant on Casey’s behalf. He felt numb to it, he understood and even appreciated the clear cut orders. Time, food, volume, reaction. He could do that, in fact he felt steadier having a goal.

Donatello pulled a box from the cupboards and walked Casey through the process of microwaving a bowl of plain oatmeal. One packet was enough for two portions but Donnie also showed him the magic of Tupperware so he could eat the other half later, though he was given strict orders to be mindful of how soon he ate.

The others seemed depressed at Casey’s small bowl, but really Casey found he rather liked the oatmeal. Sure the gloopy texture had initially turned his stomach but after he got the first spoonful down it actually wasn’t that bad. The oatmeal sat heavy in his stomach and he could swear he could feel the heat of it warming him from the inside. By the time he had scrapped up the last bit of it he was feeling quite full, and it confirmed that Donnie had been right. He probably would have eaten the other half had it not been scooped out and put away for later, but he knew that much food would just have made him sick. Warm and full, he really started to feel lack of sleep from his night of patrol.

The three turtles still seemed rather glum and picked at their food with a lot less enthusiasm, and he had caught them staring guiltily at his small meal. He wanted to say it was for their benefit he had eaten through his portion so quickly, but that was a lie, he had just been starving. Literally.

Still, he rose to wash his bowl and quickly made his excuses to leave. He wanted them to enjoy their mean, not feel bad he couldn’t participate. Really that oatmeal, while not quite as magical as the pizza, was quite possibly the second best thing he had ever eaten.

His eyes burned as the made his way to the movie room, trying not to feel like a thief as he scooped up the blanket that had been draped over him when he had woken up. Blankets were common here, the turtles may not even notice it missing.
Casey knew exactly where he was going, he had found the perfect spot on his patrol. Making his way to the atrium he looked up at were rose up and turned into the wall like a big upside down L. The pipe didn’t just disappear into the wall, there was a narrow walkway that widened out into a 6x6 foot room that some kind of valve on the far wall. Casey wasn’t sure if it was water or steam that ran through the pipe, but it radiated warmth and made the small room quite comfortable. From here he could keep an eye on the entrances but this high up most likely go unobserved. Casey hesitated for a moment then shrugged out of his armor, laying it flat to use as a pillow. He wrapped the blanket around him was asleep nearly as soon as his head hit the makeshift pillow.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Summary:

Talks about eating bugs, if that is upsetting to you please skip the second half of this chapter.

Thank you all for all the kind words. This is unbeta'ed so apologies for typos

“Casey! Casey where are you?” He could hear Sensei yelling, sounding as panicked as he had ever heard him.

“CASEY YOU ANSWER ME NOW!” Came his mom’s bellow from a different hallway. And he tried to answer her, he really did, but the words died in his throat and it’s corpse came out as a helpless squeak. The looming Krang growled at the noise and took a step forward. His feet were frozen, he wanted to run, he wanted his mama.

“Case! Yoohoo!” He jerked away with a gasp, reaching wildly for his hockey stick, and throwing himself to the side. Something caught his legs and he kicked frantically and clawed his way across the floor, trying to make distance.

“Alright guys, seriously, where could he have gone off too.” He heard a vaguely familiar voice but he couldn’t place it.

“If only someone had like a billion cameras set up around the lair -cough- Donnie -cough.”

“Really Nardo?” The dry drawl- really all of it- didn’t fit with a Krang attack. His fingers clutched his hockey stick and he looked down to see it was a blanket tangled around his legs not a Krang tentacle. His heart was still beating rapidly and he tried to slow his gulping breaths. It wasn’t until his breathing was under control he took stock of his surroundings. He was safe, there was no Krang, he was in the past, and in his hidden bunker.

Rubbing a fist across his eye, he took the feelings from the memory and shoved them into the box in the back of his mind, he did not have time to deal with them right now. Casey quickly folded the blanket and stuck it into the far back corner of his little room before making his way to the ledge that looked down over the atrium. The turtles had moved on to investigating other sections of the lair. He quickly swung down from his hideaway and froze. For some reason, he couldn’t explain the idea of them knowing his hideaway filled him with a sense of anxiety. It was ridiculous, it was their home after all and he had no right to the little room. But still…

His eyes scanned the room and while Donnie had multiple cameras there were several blind spots that his older counterpart would have been horrified to see. If he moved he would no doubt be picked up by the cameras, and then they would know where he had been hidden.

‘This is stupid, why am I being so stupid?’ He thought to himself, even as he redeployed his grappling hook back up to the pipe that marked the entrance to his hidey hole. None of the cameras were pointed at the ceiling and it wasn’t hard to use the pipes to make his way across the atrium and down one with a little bit of acrobatics made his way down one of the tunnels while steering clear of the cameras. He resigned himself to waiting when a large roach scurried over his shoe. Where others may have been horrified, Casey was thrilled. His body reacted before his mind, pulling a knife and skewer the bug after it made its way off his boot. It gave him a great idea of how he could pass the time and explain his absence. After only half an hour he had filled half a pouch with the still occasionally moving corpses of roaches. He practically skipped back to the lair so pleased to show off his bounty.

“Just wait until Sensei-“ He nearly tripped over his own feet at the thought. Sensei wasn’t here to congratulate him on the hunt, wouldn’t pat him on the back or call dibs on the fattest roach even though it would end up on Casey's plate. His hands clenched into fists and the crunching of roach bodies in the pouch brought him back to the present.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts he hurried back to the lair. He had barely crossed the threshold when he was surrounded by four very concerned turtles.

“Where have-

“-my cameras!”

“-Donnie totally dropped the ball-“

“WE WERE SO WORRIED!”

Casey awkwardly cleared his through. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you all.”

Raph immediately threw an arm around his shoulder and leaned into him. “Don’t worry about it big guy, no harm done. Next time just let one of us know when you’re going out, okay?”

He wasn’t sure if it was the size difference, the familiarity of the arm, or the soothing words, but Raph reminded him so much of his Sensei in that moment that it took his breath away. Cucking his head he hoped the others wouldn’t notice the tears that had suddenly sprung into his eyes.

“What’cha got there Ceej?” Leo leaned in, looking at the pouch that Casey still clutched in both hands. A mischievous grin appeared on his face and ad he started wiggling his fingers at the pouch. “Is this what you went out for? Is it some sort of cool future thing?”

And before he could react the pouch was snatched from his hands and Leo had moved away before anyone could take it back in turn.

“Leo!” Raph barked, releasing Casey to put his hands on his hips. “Give that back to Casey right now.”
“Oh come on, I just want to see- AAAAAH!” The pouch was flung into the air in terror and Casey’s hard work rained down them.

The other three panicked and flailed around even though most of the bugs had either landed on the floor or bounced off them all and joined the others. Casey could only watch in dismay as their frantic scrambling led to most of them being squashed underfoot.

“Casey.” Mickey finally broke the tension, “Why do you have a bag of bugs?”

“Uh, well,” He rubbed the back of his neck and he looked over his squashed would-be dinner. “I just thought…it’s just that I know I can eat them without getting sick. And the ones here are so big.”

When he looked back up Raph and Mickey were both fighting back tears and Leo looked disgusted. Donatello at least had a neutral expression as he tapped away on his phone. He knew the food here was a lot better, but he didn’t understand why they would be so upset. “They’re really good and super crunchy.” He defended weekly.

“Casey.” Leo said, voice soft, and oh Casey hated that. That was the voice that told him he was too little to go on patrol or that someone wasn’t coming home.

“There good!” He said again, more forcefully. Squatting down he started picking his bugs, sorting them into a squashed and not squashed pile.

And nutritious.” Donnie added, still typing away on his phone. “They’re considered a delicacy in many places.”

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Raph knelt and started sorting the roaches with him.

“Ugh,” Leo said, throwing his hands in the air. “Fine. Can we at least agree to throw out the squashed ones?”

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Summary:

Casey and Splints share a moment.

Dinner was an awkward affair. Though Casey had baked his roaches in the oven and had been given some Tupperware by Mikey, he had not brought them to dinner. Instead, he was sitting next to Michelangelo and eating his half a cup of rice, mostly keeping his head down. The others were also eating rice, though they had covered theirs in a brown sauce called Soy and some crispy breaded meat that smelled so good that Casey’s mouth wouldn’t stop watering. He had never seen neon orange meat before but was assured it was just the sauce and not that the food was radioactive.

The others were trying not to rub the food in his face, but he could see the way their eyes sparked at a particularly good bite or the way that Donnie and Leo tried to stealth fully fight for the last dumpling until Leo stabbed his twin in the hand with a chopstick and stole it when he pulled away. Really, he liked the rice, even more than the oatmeal. Really, he just wished they would stop acting like they were doing something wrong or leaving him out.

As good as their food smelled, he hadn’t really been hungry when it was time for dinner. He was only halfway through his rice and was mostly just pushing it around. He was full but had a feeling the others would get that sad look if he stopped eating, so he took the occasional small bite and tried to covertly watch the others.

They were so loud.

The base had never been particularly quiet, day or night there were people coming to or from a patrol, the defensive cannons could be heard shooting at any Krang that got to close, and the water filtration system was a constant hum in the background. When Uncle Tello had been alive his music could be heard coming from his shop as well as the often loud sounds of science. His mom- well she had never been a quiet woman. But that had been a collective, he didn’t know so few people could make so much noise.

He didn’t have any memory of his Uncle Raph but he wondered if the laughter had died with him. It seemed like these four were always either bickering or laughing, and they were always together. Not always in one group, but whether it was due to the Krang or just how they always were, it seemed like they couldn’t stay apart. Rapheal would drift from room to room checking on everyone, or Leo was poking his head in to antagonize Donnie. And that was them being independent, from what he could tell they did a lot of things together as well. Video games, skating, or even just all sitting together as they watched different things on their phones. It was bizarre how codependent they all were.

His sensei was often in meetings or going on missions and his free time was spent either sleeping or training with Casey. He would try and eat with Uncle Angelo but usually the two would only see each other in meetings.

Uncle Angelo spent a lot of time meditating, more and more as the days went one. Casey wasn’t supposed to know but from what he had been able to eavesdrop, magic had been taking more out of the mystic master requiring more meditation to build back his reserves. That didn’t mean he was weak by any means, but he had stopped going on missions except for the most important or desperate ones.

When Uncle Tello had been alive he had rarely left his lab, he even slept there. Even thinking about his uncle brought memories of a threadbare purple hoodie and the clacking of keys and his heart ached. It was so weird to miss someone sitting across the table from you.

The thought of his sensi and Uncle Angelo was a sharp pain, like being stabbed in the chest. With Uncle Tello it was a deep ache, like a bruise that went all the way down to the core. Him mom- his breath seized in his chest and he dropped the thought immediately.

“You okay there Ceej?”

Jerking his eyes up he found Raph staring down at him, a Leo Chasm wrinkling his forehead. It made his gut twist to see so much of his sensei in the biggest turtle. Between him and Leo it was a double whamming of dead father figure staring him down and he was never prepared for it. He swallowed down the mouthful of rice he apparently had sitting in there and was shocked and embarrassed to realize he had zoned out.

“Uh yeah. I’m good.” He said, feeling his face flush which made him feel more embarrassed and no doubt turned his face even redder. Standing he took his half-full bowl over to the counter to put it in the marvel that was Tupperware.

“Ya sure you got enough to eat?” Raph seemed troubled as Casey poured his quarter cup of rice into a small bowl and snapped the lid.

“Maybe he filled up on bugs.” Leo chimed in seconds before there was loud thud and his cry of pain. “You kicked me! Why did you kick me? What is wrong with you?!”

Luckily Casey’s face was already red so the new flash of embarrassment wouldn’t show anymore on his face and he had his back to the group and he stowed away his food.

“Make sure you log your intake.” Donatello called after him. “April will be bringing a test kit tomorrow so we can do the allergen test. We’ll also need to do a blood test to find out what you are most deficient in and if there are any other medical concerns. I’ll also need your full medical history. So I guess don’t fill up your social calendar tomorrow.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” He joked, putting his bowl into the fridge. Stomach full and eyes heavy Casey left them and headed towards the tv room, intent on trying to nap before his nightly patrol. As much as he wanted to crawl into his hidey hole, his absence would certainly be noted. He was surprised to see Master Splinter actually awake in his chair, a bowl of the orange meat balanced on his stomach. The ninja master had slept the better part of the last day and a half apparently exhausted from stopping the apocalypse.

The rat looked up from his bowl, chopsticks halfway to his mouth and Casey stopped in his tracks. “Uh,” he said rubbing at the back of his neck, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Splinter grunted, popping the morsel in his mouth and waving at the couch with his chopsticks. “Sit sit.”

Casey cautiously edged forward and perched on the edge of the couch. The cushions had so much give that for a moment he thought he was going to go right through it. He couldn’t help the hushed ‘wow’ as the cushions molded around him but held, it was even softer than the rug. Casey resisted the urge to bounce up and down on the seat to test that it would really hold him, but he had seen the boys all but throw themselves onto the couch and it hadn’t given way so he decided to trust it. He was about ready to pull off his glove to feel the fabric when he felt the eyes on him. Spine shooting ramrod straight he looked up to meet Master Splitner’s eyes, and felt his face flush.

Master Splinter swallowed loudly then cleared his throat. “So much of what we have has been scavenged from alleys or dumps, it can make a father feel like a failure to not be able to give his children everything they want. It is easy to forget how much we truly have.”

Casey felt dumbstruck, so much of what he had seen of Master Splinter had made him seem as loud and brash as his sons. It was so at odd to the wise old master he had heard so much about, but this piercing stare and solemn words were much more in line with the stories. A small sad smile quirked the corner of his lips. “Everything here is so amazing. I had heard about what it was like before the Krang but it was so different from everything I know that even my wildest dream didn’t come close. I think it’s like trying to explain color to someone who has never seen it, they can’t really ever understand the concept.”

His family had a weird relationship with talking about the past. Master Leonardo would ruffle his hair sometimes and tell him to chill out because he was starting to sound like Raph, or that his dad would say xyz. Mostly Sensie had told him about specific things, pizza, music, what a skateboard was but never really talked about the world as a whole unless Casey asked. It always made Sensie so sad he had learned pretty quickly that those were better saved for Uncle Tello. Once Uncle Tello was gone he had his own computer access but had lost the wonder for the stories, without the tangents that accompanied whatever topic he asked about. Uncle Angelo was the one to tell family stories, sitting on the rug in his room or even holding Casey in his lap when he had been little enough. It was weird to see pieces of those stories laid out in front of him. Things had hadn’t made sense to him before he could see color.

The two of sat in silence, watching some sort of show that usually lead to the people in them getting knocked off platforms and into pools of water. One person made it all the way to the end without getting knocked off and was told they had won ten thousand dollars. Casey didn’t know what dollars were but couldn’t imagine owning ten thousand anything. Hopefully it would was enough that they could easily transport and store them otherwise the winning would seem like more of a hindrance than the happy news they seemed to think it was. Unlacing his boots, he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. His eyes were growing heavy and he was tired enough not to notice the way the soft cushions gave under his weight until he was half tipped over in the corner of t he couch. He dozed off unaware of the way the ninja master watched him from the corner of his eye, or the fact that the old man wasn’t laughing uproariously each time someone was knocked over like he usually did. He also didn’t realize it was the first time he had slept in days not clutching his hockey stick.

Notes:

Sorry for the late update. One exhausting move later this chapter just decided it didn't want to come. I wrote it and deleted it no less than four times but here it is.

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Summary:

A night of adventure leads to Casey learning the joys of modern comforts.

Night patrol that night was much more stressful. He had woken on the couch as Master Splinter huffing and groaning had dragged himself from his chair and taken himself to his room. The lair had been mostly dark, someone had draped a blanket over him while he slept, and the four brothers were not in a pile on the floor like they had been the previous night. A shock of fear shot up his spine and he went very still and listened for the others. There was the muffled thump of bass coming from Donnie’s room but otherwise all he could hear was Master Splinter’s shuffling steps and his bedroom door closing.

It was fine, he told himself as he slipped silently off, grabbing his hockey stick and sliding his mask into place, this was normal and nothing to be concerned about. As the night vision activated he scanned the room and once satisfied that nothing was lurking swiftly stepped into his boots and went looking for the others. Of their four train cars only Leo’s and Donnie’s had lights on. Would it be weird to knock? It didn’t seem safe to assume they were all in their rooms. The easiest to check would be Mikey, his car door was open but had a curtain hung in the door for privacy. It would be easiest to just pull aside and peak in, but what if he got caught. Would they think he was weird? Or tell him to back off and give them space? His Uncle Mickey would just beckon him in and remind him to take off his shoes when he was caught sneaking in, but this wasn’t his Uncle Mikey. He was older than this version of his uncle, he realized, and that didn’t bear thinking about so he shoved the thought away. He had a job to do.

In an effort to mitigate any negative repercussions he first decided to check the rest of the lair in case anyone wasn’t in their room. He needed to patrol anyways so it would solve two problems at once. He walked the perimeter of the lair, making sure to check nooks and crannies as he went and would occasionally randomly double back in case anyone tried to sneak in after he passed. After checking the perimeter, he worked his way through the interior rooms until he was certain that he was the only one currently up and about.

Returning back to the problem at hand, how to check on the others. Even as he thought it a bright light lite up Donnie’s room, his purple curtains valiantly trying yet failing to contain them. The light would shine brightly for a few moments then fade, and Casey had learned how to solder from the tech genius and could recognize it instantly. As an added dash of good fortune, the blinding light showed the silhouette of the turtle himself. Casey considered that adequate for his wellness check. Raph was also an easy one, as he approached the biggest turtles train car, he could hear his distinctive loud snores. If he was snoring that meant he was alive and well, second check achieved. With no better idea, Casey crept on silent feet with skill that had been drilled into him since the time he could walk. He pressed his back up against the metal wall of the car and listened. No sound. That didn’t mean he was safe however. He used his stick to pull the curtain to the side just wide enough for him to turn his head and peak through with one eye. There was no blinding light to ruin his night vision and no Krang monstrosity ready to shoot tentacle appendages at him, not that he expected it, but a lifetime of training wouldn’t let him stand in front of an opening and hope for the best. Nobody was Krangified due to an abundance of caution after all.

His night vision coupled with the programming that immediately locked onto the only form in the car made it easy for him to spot Michelangelo fast asleep in his hammock. Three out of the four safe and sound, only one more to go. Unfortunately for him, it was the most difficult of the four.

Letting the curtain fall back into place he made a tactical retreat, finding a dark corner to think but also allowing him to stand guard over the sleeping quarters. He wished some of the mini drones had come through with him, that would have made the current situation so much easier. Really any of Uncle Tello’s tech would have…

“I’m such an idiot.” He said, smacking himself on the forehead before pulling his mask back down and activating his gauntlet computer. From there it was remarkably easy for his tech to access the system, after all it was just an older version of what he was already connected to. A few taps on his gauntlet and a small screen popped up in the corner of his vision, allowing him to cycle through the different cameras. Behind his mask he grinned, and he flipped through the cameras and the various angles of the lair thinking how much easier this would make his patrols now that he could watch multiple points. If he had a full terminal, he could even set up motion alerts, but that would be a challenge to do on just his wrist computer.

If it were his Uncle Tello it would be no trouble, but he was fairly confident the younger version of his uncle wouldn’t be as accommodating in allowing him access. The fact that he wanted to tamper with his system would probably not help Casey’s case. It was confusing and disheartening to know there was a version of his family that didn’t fully trust him.

It was understandable, he would have a hard time allowing anyone access to the base security if he was in Donatello’s place. But not having access was going to hamper his ability to secure and protect the lair. Well, he was just going to have to get access one way or another.

-

There was no cameras in the turtles individual rooms so Casey did a couple more loops of the lair and kept an eye on the cycling camera feeds. The more time that passed the more anxious he felt about not being able to verify Leonardo’s safety. It was stupid, he knew that he was probably just reading or had fallen asleep with the light on, but his brain wouldn’t let it go. He hadn’t seen Leonardo enter; how could he be sure he was even in his train car. What if he snuck out of the lair and needed help but nobody knew? He considered just staking out the train car, but the waiting would drive him insane.

Feeling incredibly stupid, Casey found himself standing off to the side of Leo’s door, gaining then losing the courage to knock. How embarrassing. After a few false starts he reached out and knocked softly on the door. It felt like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds before Leonardo opened the door, phone in hand and headphones around his neck. “Wow, Case, while I love apocolyps-chice it does come off a little a Jason Voorhees at night.”

“Who?” Confusion replaced unease as he blinked at the other teen. There had been a Jason at the base but his last name had been Rickardo and hadn’t known the turtles prior to the end of the word.

“Eh, you’re just going to have to trust me when I say that joke was hilarious.” Leo said, obviously a bit put out his sparkling wit went over his audience’s head. “Anyways, what’s up? What’s with the….” Leo waved his hand in front of his face.

It clicked for him then, and Casey swung his mask up. “It’s got night vision, that way I don’t need to turn on lights when walking around.” And nothing could sneak up on him in the shadows, but he didn’t need to mention that.

“Riiiiiight.” The two of them stared awkwardly at each other for another long moment. “So did you need something or…”

Embarrassment swept over him again. “Oh, uh, no. Sorry for bothering you.” He back peddled, ready to go back to his patrol now that his paranoia had been satisfied.

Leo put a hand on his shoulder, stopping his retreat. “Why don’t you come in. We can hang, since we are the only two not keeping Grandpa hours.”

Casey refrained from mentioning that Donatello was still up, not wanting to get into how he knew that. Instead, he let himself be dragged inside, looking around at all comics and figurines everywhere. It was odd, his Sensei’s room had always been spartan. Sure, there hadn’t been much in the way of luxuries but almost everyone had tried to make their space more comfortable. Master Michelangelo had his threadbare rug and had drawn murals on his walls using charcoal. Casey’s small room had some mementos he had managed to keep through the different base moves. Namely one of his mom’s tank tops and a polaroid picture of the two of them, taken just days after he had been born. It made his heart hurt to know they were gone forever now. But Sensei never kept knick-knacks or mementos. Everything he couldn’t bear to lose had been kept on his person- namely his brother’s bandanas and a photo Casey now had. He would have never guessed his Sensei had been such a collector in his youth.

Leo flopped on his bed and waved a hand at the desk chair for Casey to sit at. He did so, finding the solidness of the wood more reassuring than the soft cushions the others seemed to prefer.

“So…how are liking the past? Is it living up the hype?” Leo said, lounging back against his pillows.

“It’s-“ Confusing, overwhelming, lonely. “Fine.”

Leo blinked at him before sitting up to turn and face him. “Fine? You came from an alien infested hellscape and it’s just fine?” He was so loud Casey was genuinely concerned one of the others would come investigate.

“Um well, there were Krang for half the time I’ve been here so was pretty standard. The food is really good and Rapheal gave me a blanket. I can’t remember the last time I’ve slept so much.” He smiled a bit awkwardly at the miniature version of his teacher. “It’s really amazing to get to see you all together.”

It was Leo’s turn to look uncomfortable though he tried to hide it behind a grin. He was better at hiding his emotions compared to his brothers, but he had nothing on his future self. “Well if you think a blanket is impressive just wait until you get a bed. Oh, oh we can get you some new clothes too! Find your style!”

“I don’t want to impose on your resources-“

“Nah, nah, nah none of that!” Leo said, putting a finger over Casey’s lips to silence. “Mi cases es su casa and all that. Besides we love a shopping montage. Remind me to tell you about that time with Hypno, but I’m getting off track. And no offence Case, but your clothes need a serious wash.”

Casey plucked at his clothes, they were pretty sweaty and grimy as well as splattered with Krang gore. It was a fair point, but his other outfit was back in the other timeline. “Guess your right. Maybe I can wash them in the sink until we can get new clothes?” He didn’t want to smell. Now that he was thinking about it the others were really clean and didn’t have the layer of grime that was future norm. He had washed his face in the sink but he could probably wash the rest of himself as well since water didn’t seem to be nearly as large of a concern.

Leo smacked himself in the forehead. “Why didn’t I think of it sooner. Just borrow a pair of my pjs and we can throw your clothes in the wash. Your chest plate thing would probably break it, but we can do the rest at least.”

Casey looked down at himself again. “Do you have some soap I can use? I don’t want to get your clothes all dirty and if you can spare the water I wouldn’t mind washing off.”

Leo was already off the bed and digging through his dresser. “Oh yeah, come on we’ll get you a towel too.”

Soon the two of them were crowding into the bathroom, Leo’s arms full of clothes and other items he wouldn’t hand over for fear of them getting dirty. He dumped the bundle on the counter and went over to the pegs where four color coded towels hung. Leo picked up the dark purple one and dropped it on the floor with a not very sorry sounding ‘whoops’ before hanging the white and blue striped towel he brought for Casey. Next he fished around in the cabinets for a unopened box of soap and two pink bottles he handed to Casey. “April’s had to shower here a few times, but I’m sure she won’t mind you using her product. You know about shampoo and conditioner, right?”

And that is how Casey his first lection on the importance of proper haircare and how to use the bottles. Next, he got a brief rundown of the shower knobs and finally given a wash rag before he was left on his own. They had showers in the future, but they used a lot of water so for the last few years they had mainly used a pre-portioned allotment of water for bathing and washing clothes in. Leo had even told him to take as long as he wanted, Donnie had made it virtually impossible for them to run out of hot water. That was going on his list of favorite things about the past.

He took off his gear and left it in an organized pile except for his hockey stick which he leaned against the way just next to the shower, in easy reach. The hot water steamed as he stepped in and it was one of the best things he ever felt. He tried to silence the corner of his mind screaming about rations and wastage and just enjoy the sensation of water raining down on him. The water coming off him was red with dust and other things he didn’t want to think about. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of it. After a while he picked up the shampoo and popped the top. It smelled amazing and Casey even got a bit on his nose when he lifted the white goo to smell. The bottle said it was jasmine and he marveled at the idea of something that smelled so good was for cleaning. He worked the stuff through his greasy hair and had to rinse and reapply more shampoo before the water was running clear. Next was the conditioner and like Leo said he let it sit in his hair while he washed the rest of himself. He enjoyed the sensation of the washrag scrubbing over his skin until he was pink and clean though he was worried the cloth would never be white again, it now had a ruddy brown hue that no amount of rinsing seemed to get rid of. After that was done he rinsed his hair again and reluctantly turned off the water. He had wasted enough water but truthfully he could have stayed in there for hours.

The towel Leo had given him was so large and fluffy that he marveled at the softness of it. A part of him wanted to tie it around his neck like his cape, it would work great as a makeshift blanket when dry. But once toweled off he hung it on the little peg and turned to the clothes that Leo had given him. These too were softer than anything he had ever owned and reverently slid them on. The water from his still wet hair started to soak int the fabric so the quickly when to his pack in the pile of clothes and retrieved a small length of cord. It was dirty like the rest of his stuff and he didn’t really want to put in his clean hair so he turned on the sink and held it under the water then put some soap on it to wash it. Once satisfied he finger combed his hair and then put it in a top knot and tying it up with the cord. Looking in the mirror he didn’t recognize himself. His skin while still tan was a shade lighter without the layer of red dirt and the bright white clothing were something he could never imagine wearing. He was so happy to be clean and warm but there was unease swirling in his stomach. He didn’t know this Casey.

He didn’t know how long he was staring at himself in the mirror before there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Ceej, you good?” Leo’s voice.

“Y-yeah.” He said, voice breaking. “I’m good.”

Turning away from his reflection he grabbed his stick headed for the door.

Notes:

Sorry for the long absence, life has been crazy. I'm sure there are many typos but I really wanted to get the next chapter out asap. I will be going back to edit.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Casey and Raph have some bonding time and Casey gets to be happy momentarily.

Sleeping was off the table that night, the nap had left him feeling energized and the excitement of the shower and clean clothes only added to it. He had been all but dragged back to Leo’s car and plunked down in the desk chair with a comic book thrust into his hands. He had gotten a lecture on the superiority of this comic book series and how it was the coolest and defiantly do not listen to Donnie on this matter. They had sat for hours flipping through books and yes, he had to agree with Leo the story was quite cool. He had been hesitant to handle the thin fragile paper but he had loved looking at all the pictures. The colors were so vibrant and crisp that he would spend minutes at a time just admiring the art before turning the page. Leo had the whole collection and teased him that it would take him all year just to get through the first arc. It reminded him so much of his Sensei but even though there was that stab of pain, it was so nice he was able to ignore it.

Leo had sagged more and more as the night went on until he was snoring face down on a comic. It reminded him of home, his Sensei having finally succumbed to exhaustion at his desk or his sleeping mat. It brought him a sense of comfort, if he closed his eyes he could pretend he was back home and everyone was alive and well. But that was just wishful thinking and it wouldn’t do to dwell, he had to keep moving forward. Always forward.

Standing he very carefully put the comic back on the shelf and then very gently pried the one out from under Leo’s face. Once the book was safe he pulled the blanket up over the other boy and turned the cars lights off. Pulling his mask down he activated the night vision and gently closed the car door behind him. With the night to himself he took himself back to the bathroom and gave his chest plate, hockey stick, boots, and mask as good of a cleaning as he could with the soap and rag he had used earlier. Once clean he dried them thoroughly. After a quick stop to get his now clean clothes out of the dryer, he made his way back to his hiding spot, sure to avoid any cameras. He spent most of the night going over his gear with the few supplies he had brought back with him in his small belt pack. A small emergency toolkit for his hockey stick wasn’t perfect but enough for now. His stick had made it through the last few battles fairly unscathed but he still performed his customary maintenance on it. His wrist computer was in good working order and as he flipped through the screens he stopped when he saw the comms list. Sensei, Commander O’Neal, and General Todd, all showing undetected.

With shaking fingers, he tapped the button for his Sensei and listened to the static for a long moment.

“Sensei, can you hear me?”

Static.

“Sensei if you can hear me please say something. I’ll come find you.”

Static.

“I’ll try again tomorrow.”

He turned off the comm.

Taking a deep breath he cleared his mind like he did when meditating with Uncle Angelo and reached for his clean clothing. They may have survived the Krang but the washer had seemingly been too much for his cape, a hole having appeared towards the bottom. Taking a needle for his kit and the much coveted tiny spool of thread he set about repairing his clothes.

 

He had kept his mask on so he could work in the dark but had kept an eye on the cameras as well. Though he had taken a break now and again to do patrol, he had left he cameras up and playing and now they alerted him to movement from the others. He quickly changed back into his clothes and marvelled at how even they felt softer. Casey carefully folded Leo’s clothes and headed out of his hiding spot. He made it back to the living room and had seated himself on the carpet by the time Raph stumbled bleary-eyed out of the bathroom. He started a bit when he saw Casey and the younger boy realized he hadn’t taken his mask off.

Lifting it quickly he smiled sheepishly at Raph. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Raph don’t frighten easy.” He came around the couch where Casey’s borrowed blanket and pyjamas were neatly folded and took a seat next him on the floor. “You been up long? Raph is used to being the only early riser.”

Casey struggled a moment with the idea of how much everyone here slept. The concept of sleeping late was not something that really computed. People slept according to their shifts, but really six hours was a luxury towards the end. Usually, it was napping in between duties. “I don’t know if I would say early riser, it would depend on what shift I was on, but I never went over my allotment. Sensei said I was a morning person though.”

That gave Raph a Leo Chasm and again he was struck by the similarities between his teacher and this other turtle who wasn’t his past self. It was so bizarre.

“Well, what did you do when you weren’t fighting aliens or whatever?” Raph tried to sound neutral as he rested his elbows on his knees and Casey mirrored his posture.

“There was always something to do, some shift that needed covered or something to be repaired. Sensei and I would spare or sometimes I would try and meditate with Master Michelangelo.”

He could tell it wasn’t what Raph wanted to hear, but in a display of tact, he didn’t push. “Raph usually works out in the morning. You’re welcome to join if you ever want to spar or lift weights.”

That perked Casey up right away. “I’d love too!”

Rapheal seemed caught off guard by that. “You serious? No one ever wants to work out with Raph.”

“No really, that would be great. Can we go right now?” And they did. Raph showed him around the dojo not knowing that Casey had already thoroughly inspected it on his nightly patrols. It had an open area for sparring as well as weights and benches. Once Casey had confided in him that he hadn’t ever used weights before Raph had excitedly gone over each piece of equipment and how to use it. He gently corrected Casey’s form when trying different exercises and seemed like he was going to burst from happiness to finally get to share one of his favorite hobbies.

They hadn’t had weights in the future, they were impractical to carry around and definitely not something someone would decide to take in an emergency. At first he had been amused at the idea of just moving and lifting a heavy object before he realized in a sense he had been doing that for years. At first, it had been his own body weight more than once he had his Sensei or sometimes Master Michelangelo or Commander O’Neil helping out. He had dragged Sensei across the floor using straps or Commander O'Neil would put a foot on his back and give him resistance when he was doing push-ups. She would sit on Sensei’s back while he did his and he didn’t even look stressed by it. The show-off.

They had been at it over an hour when they emerged sweaty and red-faced but both were practically beaming. Despite the workout, it felt like some of the weight had been taken off Casey’s shoulders. His blood rushing and his muscles sore from use felt natural. It felt good to have burned off some energy. He wasn’t used to all this sitting around and having a physical outlet made something in his chest loosen.

“Hey, do you think we can spare tomorrow?” He asked, looking up at the taller boy. Raph looked like someone had just given him an extra rat for dinner.

“You mean it?” His eyes were literally sparkling with joy.

“Yeah, if you're up for it.” Casey grinned back at him, equally enthusiastic.

“YES!” Raph bellowed. “Up top!”

Casey had to get on his tiptoes to meet the high five but he slapped hands with Raph with a loud clap.

Their enthusiasm wasn’t even dimmed by Donnie’s aggravated “I will bring untold tortures upon you if you don’t. SHUT. UP” coming from his car.

Notes:

A short one but Casey get to be a little happy in this one.

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Summary:

Donnie gets to play doctor and scare the crap out of Casey.

“Ah come on. I just go him clean.” Leo whined when he came out to investigate the shouting only to find a sweaty and red face Casey Jones. Raph just looked confused as Casey plucked at his sweaty shirt looking sheepish.

“We were working out and I didn’t want to do it in the pajamas.” He said, and Raph clapped him on the back.

“Don’t listen to him. You’s go wash up and we’ll get your close in the wash, and they’ll be done by the time April gets here.” He had totally forgotten that April was coming today. Still, he beamed up Raph still riding the post workout high. Scooping up the pajamas he had left off the couch he headed off to the shower, missing the whispered scolding the eldest turtle was giving Leo.

Once he emerged back in his pajamas and squeaky clean and more relaxed than he could remember. There was a delicious smell coming from the direction of the kitchen and Casey’s stomach gave a loud rumble. He made a quick detour to toss his clothes back in the wash before heading to the kitchen. Michelangelo was at the stove, bleary eyed but still flipping eggs like a pro. He gave Casey a sleepy smile when he saw the other boy. “Nice pjs.”

“Uh thanks. Se- uh Leo showed me how to use the clothes washer and let me borrow this.” Casey didn’t know why he felt the need to justify the borrowed clothing, but luckily Michelangelo waved him towards the table.

“I’ve got your oatmeal going, I’ll bring it with the rest of breakfast.” The youngest turtle said, and immediately shushed Casey when he tried to say he didn’t need to. He even did the hand flap that instantly brought to mind the older version of himself. It made his chest seize for a moment but he shoved the thoughts into the little box he put all unwanted thoughts and set about setting the table for the others despite Master Michelangelo’s token protest.

Splinter wandered in first, bleary eye and seemed to navigate more by memory than sight. He pulled out his chair and grumbled a good morning. From the last few days, it seemed he usually sat there and slowly woke up before making himself a cup of tea. Having nothing else to do, Casey got up and filled the kettle and set it on the only open burner on the stove. Mikey raised his eyebrows and Casey just shrugged. Master Michelangelo had used to save some of his leaf rations and would dry them for tea. He had always said they weren’t the right kind of leaves, but he would make do. He and his father had perfected the process sometime after the apocalypse started and he always had a smile when he told Casey about it. The process was easier here, like everything was. He placed a little satchel in a cup and once the water was ready he poured it in and took the cup over to Splinter.

The rat seemed surprised as he sat it down and looked up at him. “Uh, thank you Future Boy.”

Casey gave him a cheeky smile. “Mickey said I couldn’t help with breakfast, but he never said anything about tea.”

Splinter stared at him oddly for a moment before picking up his tea and taking a sip and setting it back down.

“It hasn’t steeped yet.” Casey said apologetically.

“Do you like tea Future Boy?” Splinter asked, seemingly fighting away the last of his early morning grogginess to stare at the young man seated by him.

Casey shook his head with an involuntary wrinkling of his nose. “I prefer to eat my rations.” Master Michelangelo had always been willing to share his meager stash of ‘tea’, but Casey didn’t much care for the taste of the drink and actively disliked the texture of the rehydrated dried leaves. They always got stuck in his teeth, but not eating them was an unforgivable waste. He would rather eat his leaves normally, thank you very much.

Luckily Splinter didn’t comment further, just humming before sipping his drink. The others trickled in not too long later. Raph coming straight from the shower and Leo all by dragging Donnie to the breakfast table. Raph and Casey helped bring the food the table, mostly just eggs, sausage, and toast though of course Casey had his half cup of oatmeal and today Donnie was opting for a nutrient packed juice. They mostly ate in silence and Casey actually had an appetite thanks to the workout. He was to busy scrapping up the last of his oatmeal to notice the pleased smiles Mikey and Raph exchanged over his head. His stomach was pleasantly full and he was happy to just sit with the others as they ate.

“Knock knock!” A familiar voice called from the direction of the front door. Moments later April came in carrying a tower of boxes with bags hanging off her arms and a bulging backpack on her back. They all blinked at her for a moment before Raph and Casey scrambled to take the load from her.

“Um April,” Raph asked cautiously as he set the boxes down. “What is all this?”

“This? This is all the stuff Donnie asked me to get for Casey’s tests.” She unslung the backpack and plucked some bacon from the tray on the table.

Leo eyed the pile then looked over at Casey. “Geeze. Is there anything you aren’t testing him for?”

“No.” Both Donatello and April answered in unison. The others didn’t seem to pay their synchrony any mind but it made Casey’s stomach clench. It had been so long since he got to see Uncle Tello and Commander O’Neal together. It...it was going into the box. Shoving the thought down he slammed the lid and brought himself back to the present.

“...and then I thought we could do some shopping. How does that sound Future Boy?” Command O’Neal smiled at him, so relaxed and happy, and he would have agreed to walk into the technodorme unarmed to keep that look on her face.

“Yeah, sure.” He just hoped this ‘shopping’ wasn’t too strenuous. His muscles were feeling weak still from the morning’s workout and he didn’t know how well he would be able to keep up with her if things got dicey.

“That’s the spirit!” She said, throwing an arm around him. Pausing, she took a large sniff of the air and then leaned in close to sniff again. “Is that my shampoo?”

Casey had begun to stammer out an answer, but Leo cut in smoothly over him. “Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. He was seriously starting to reek, and I didn’t think you would care.”

“Nah, not at all, I’m sorry I didn’t think about it sooner. We’ll get you the basics while we’re out.” Snapping a finger she pointed at Donnie. “I’mma need a list.”

Raising a drawn-on eyebrow, a metal clawed arm emerged from the battleshell and placed a tablet in his hand. “Do you want it in alphabetical order, by category, or importance of need.”
“Category.” Looking back at Casey she gave him another blinding smile. “This is gonna be fun! Depending on when we get the tests back we may even be able to get something to eat while we’re out.”

With that thought to bolster him, Casey was all but dragged the room to the lab with Raph helpfully bringing up the rear with the supplies. April and Donnie seemed a little too excited for his taste as they went about setting up the equipment and talking about how much of his blood they would need. After depositing the equipment on the work benches, Raph came over to stand with him, the two of them sharing an awkward smile.

“Man, Raph does not envy you.” The oldest turtle said quietly as they watched an alarming number of empty vials being set out.

“Oh my Rosalind Franklin! I’ve been looking for one of these!” Donatello draped himself over a piece of equipment and squished his face against him, showing more physical affection towards it than Casey has seen this version of his Uncle display.

A large hand settled on his shoulder, and without thinking Casey leaned in…and then immediately tensed. There hadn’t been any thought, he was just so use to his Uncle Leo doing the exact same thing his body had moved before his mind could react. He jerked away, straightening and then leaning away. Raph pulled his hand back and looked as uncomfortable as Casey felt.

“Uh,” Raph started, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m –“

“Give me your blood!” Donnie appeared in front of Casey, one of his battle shell arms reaching towards Casey’s arm. Flinching backwards, Casey reached for his hockey stick and felt his terror spike as he realized he didn’t have it. He was tumbling into a full blown panic when April came up behind Donnie and smacked him upside the back of the head.

“Donnie, what the heck are you thinking?! You can’t just walk up to people asking for their blood.” She rolled her eyes and then blinked. “Uh, Casey, you okay?”

Casey felt his heartbeat in his ears and he was horribly aware of three sets of eyes staring at him. He wished he had his stick. Or his mask. Or was in his hiding spot. Taking a shakier breath than he was cared for he plastered on a small smile and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh yeah, uh, I’m good.”

April all but dragged Donnie backwards away from him and then patted a table. “Come sit.”
Casey hopped back up on the table, going for calm and casual. He plastered on a grin and held out his arm. “Do you worst.”

Donnie gave April a cautious side eye before going in much more slowly and taking his samples. There were quite a few blood vials taken before Donnie was satisfied. Raph was his rock through the hole procedure despite being obviously gross out at all the blood. Still, he leaned against the table and distracted Casey with planning their next work out and what Casey wanted to improve on. He was just going over the magical properties of something called ‘whey’ when Donnie finally released him.

“Alright, I was going to skip the skin test since we have the blood test, but if you want to eat out during your trip we might want to do the big ones to be safe.” Donni said as he pulled off his gloves and immediately pulled on a new set. He sent another glance at April before adding. “It’s up to you of course.”

Casey also looked at April and shrugged. “I don’t mind, but I don’t want to take up April’s whole day.”

“Ah,” April said, throwing an arm around Casey and pulling him into a side hug. “Don’t worry about it. We have all day, this won’t even take an hour. Right Donnie?”

“Right.” He said, pulling out a case from the box that April brought. “We were just going to prick your skin forty different time to see which ones caused redness and swelling. It is very gross but at least we’ll know what if any things in the environment will kill you.”

There was a resounding silence before Raph sighed heavily. “Donnie we really need we work on your delivery.”

From there is was nearly an hour of Casey’s back being poked and prodded with little sticks to see what he reacted too. He had been hoping for nothing, after all the idea of perfectly non-spoiled food making someone sick or even killing them was something he had a hard time wrapping his head around. He understood poison, but from what he understood an allergy seemed like a poison of varying severity that only affected certain people, which he found alarming. Unfortunately for him, he did have reactions.

“Alright,” Donnie said, stepping back and stripping his gloves again. “You can put your shirt back on. It looks like your allergic to some pollens, though I’m going to guess it is mild. Your biggest reactions are to strawberries and bees. Honestly I thought there would be more due to your limited exposure to most things, but still to be safe I’m going to send you and April with an EpiPen. I’m not sure how bad the allergies are for sure and I’d rather you not die due to lack of precaution.”

From there Casey was given a lesson on how an EpiPen worked, and they showed him pictures of what strawberries and bees were. Casey couldn’t figure out if he was more or less horrified once he found out how small bees were. Tiny assassin bugs were not something he had expected in the supposedly idyllic past. April was quick to reassure him that they generally left you alone if you left them alone.

Finally, he was free to go to the surface with April. They had to convince him to leave his armor and cape behind, leaving him feeling rather naked in just his pants and undershirt. He nearly had a fit when they said no to his hockey stick and mask, and even his gloves. In the end, April had to practically drag him from the lair. As he was just about out of earshot, he could hear Raph calling his brothers together. “Okay guys, we need to learn about EpiPens.”

Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Summary:

Casey Jones vs The Mall

Notes:

Very small chapter to tide you over. Sorry for the slow updates.

He hadn’t had much one on one time with the past version of Captain O’Niel and he found himself at a loss of what to say. Luckily, April seemed happy to fill the silence. Apparently, her apartment complex had only suffered a few broken windows and nothing more serious. Overall, it seemed the majority of the city’s damage had been in the area under the Technodrome and parts of the subway due to the chase she and Master Splinter had led the Sister on. The downtown area would be under construction for quite a while. April seemed most happy about school being cancelled until further notice.

“But it’ll give us time to get to know each other.” She said, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

I’ve known you since the day I was born. He thought. You taught me to tie my shoes. Instead, he gave her a smile. “Do you think we could go to the Hidden City?”

He had heard so much about it, he had never thought he would be able to see it. According to the history, the city had fallen in the eighth year of the invasion.

“Yeah,” April said happily. “We can take you to see Senior Hueso, Run of the Mill is all our favorite place.”

It took all of Casey’s self-control not to start. Senior Hueso had been a very important person to Sensi, he had heard so many stories about the Bone Man. He had vague memories of Junior, the skeleton, never failing to make him laugh. Junior had fallen in the Great Northern Incursion that had wiped out the last Canadian base. Was he even born yet? How old would he be now? He couldn’t recall how old Junior was when he died, only that he had been younger than all the turtles.

The box, all these thoughts needed to go into the box. He pushed the thoughts back, back, back into that box in the back of his mind that was getting fuller by the day. Despite it all, he managed to keep it together through the long walk through the sewer.

The surface was loud. He had seen it at night when he had first arrived, but now, in the late morning, it was positively packed with people. When they first emerged from the sewers in an empty alleyway, the first thing he heard was the horns. Cars were brightly colored and honking at each other, he was used to the rusted or burnt husks of the future. He scanned the sky out of habit, searching for flyers or the krangified lurking on rooftops. Others had told him the skies used to be blue, and he liked it, but it was so different from the red he had grown up with. Between that and the lack of cloud cover, the world was literally brighter than he had ever seen. He wished he had his mask to shelter his eyes with. When he looked back, April was watching him with an inscrutable expression.

Looking towards the end of the alley, people were walking by, paying no attention to him. Most were looking down at their phones or staring off into the distance ahead of them. He couldn’t imagine having that kind of lack of spatial awareness. Even now, he could feel the back of his neck tingling with the urge to check his six, but he refrained.

Looking back at April he bounced on his toes and gestured at the mouth of the alley. “I’m ready when you are.”

April’s cocked eyebrow implied disbelief but she was kind enough to not call him on it. Instead, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through the list that Donnie had sent her. “I was thinking we could start with the clothes and go from there. We can get your size and style, and if it gets too overwhelming, we can just head back to the lair. Sound good?”

Casey shot her a thumbs-up and a grin. “Sounds good.”

She stepped out of the alley and seamlessly into the flow of traffic, moving so naturally that the crowd didn’t pay her any mind. Casey, on the other hand, had to immediately dodge someone to distracted by their phone to notice him. For him, it felt like one long flail from the alley to their first stop. There was no time to think other than to dodge the crowds and to keep April within arm's reach.

April had said The Mall was a good place to start, since they had a wide variety of stores, so he followed her across the insanely massive parking lot and tried not to gawk at everything. It was massive. Sprawling where the towers he had previously seen had been tall, everything in the past seemed so big. The first thing to hit him was the smell. He didn’t even have the words to describe it, it was a frying smell kinda, but not really like rats cooking in their own fat. But there was something else, something he had no context for.

He was so caught up that he hadn't noticed he had stopped until April called his name. “Casey? You okay?”

Blinking back to reality, he brought his attention back to her. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just the smell…”

He trailed off, not even sure what he wanted to say. Still, she seemed to understand and smiled at him. “Yeah, that’s the food court. What do you say we do some shopping, then we can stop there for lunch. We can try out some new foods for you.”

Casey still felt full from breakfast, but the smells were so enticing he couldn’t stop his mouth from watering. He eagerly nodded at that.. The food court was right inside the doors and he didn’t know how anyone made it further inside and not just spend their time with the food. He probably would have stood there like an idiot if April hadn’t come and linked arms with him, pulling him past the enticing food.

Stores seemed to be small supply rooms that specialized in particular items like clothes or shoes. Most had mannequins modeling their wares, and the rest of the windows were covered in posters of young, attractive people. As Casey stared at a poster of a smiling blond woman, a thought hit him. He turned in what felt like slow motion and surveyed the flow of humanity around him. There was a wide gambit of ages, from little old ladies in matching outfits walking at a fast pace all the way down to infants asleep in little push carts. Babies. He had never seen a baby before. He had never met anyone his age before. Now, there were literally millions of other people younger than him. With a bolt of dawning horror, he realized he was older than Master Michaelangelo.

Casey Jones, the last child of the Apocalypse, wasn’t even the youngest person in the lair.

There wasn’t one thing on in this entire reality that was familiar. He was as much a stranger to this time as the Krang were.

His arms felt heavy and numb. His chest was tight. He couldn’t breathe. It was too much. It was all so so much. The box in the back of his mind was bursting. He wanted his family, he wanted to go home. A home that would now never ever exist.

He didn’t even hear April calling after him as he ran.

Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Summary:

Casey is lost and having a very very bad time. Everyone else is panicking.

Panic will get you killed. Sensei had told him over and over again. Panic makes you stupid. Panic will get you killed. Take a deep breath, kiddo, and think.

 

He wasn’t thinking; he just ran. It was a sprint out of the mall, the automatic doors taking too long to open, so he wedged his hands in the gap and forced them open. People shrieked or cursed at him as he pushed passed, but Casey was beyond hearing. It was all just noise. The brightness of the non-choked sky nearly blinded him as he exited and somehow managed to spur his already frantic pace into a dead sprint. He raced through the parking lot and shoved his way through a crowd of people waiting by the roadside and stepped right in front of a speeding car.

 

The silver vehicle slammed on its brakes, tires squealing on the road and sounding far too much like an angry Krang. If there was one thing Casey Jones knew how to do, it was how to think quickly in a life-or-death situation. He launched himself upwards and forwards, sliding across the hood of the car and to the other side, where he kept running without missing a step. Horns honked and people shouted, someone on the other side even tried to grab him, but Casey dodged their grasping hands. The streets were too dangerous, to crowded, he needed to find somewhere safe. He had chanced a look behind him, checking for monsters not of this reality, and nearly lost his feet when he ran smack dab into someone.

 

Casey stumbled backwards, the woman’s cry of surprised pain shooting right to his core. He stared down in shock at the dark-haired woman who was now sitting up, sobbing as she clutched her wrist to her chest. His dawning horror was interrupted by a pair of hands grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

 

A red-faced man pulled him in close and started screaming in his face and shaking him like a krang hound. He could hear his voice, it was impossible not to since they were nearly nose to nose, but he couldn’t understand any of it. It was a wall of noise his brain refused to even attempt to comprehend. His breath caught in his throat as his head snapped back with another violent shake, but when he was pulled back, he came back fighting.

 

He followed the forward momentum, slamming his forehead into the man’s nose, feeling as the bone shatter under the force of the blow and the hot splash of blood on his face. His arms shot up between the man’s hands and pushed outwards forcing the man to let go. The stranger was reeling, and Casey almost pressed the attack to finish off the attacker, but a flash startled him. He took half a step back from the man who was now doubled over, clutching his face as blood poured between his fingers, and saw that he was surrounded by people. Dozens of them were standing in a circle around the three of them, phones out and pointed at him. Some were shouting, but most were staring at him in horror. Like he was a monster. Casey’s gaze swung around the crowd and then back to the couple. He was going to be sick.

 

“I-I.” His voice broke, and he had to take several gulping breaths before he could try again. “I’m so sorry. I- I didn’t mean to.”

 

He took another step back from the couple, hands coming up to cover his mouth as horror and nausea filled him. Panic filled him again, and he looked wildly around for an escape. There! They were practically standing in front of an alle,y and he could easily dodge past the few people standing there. Taking one last look at the couple, he whispered one last sorry to them before racing down the alley. People jumped out of his way, and he sprinted down the alley. This one had a chain link fence blocking it off, but it was barely an inconvenience for him. Casey ran straight at it, launching himself up as high as he could and pulling himself up and over the fence, jumping down and running on.

 

He ran and ran, sticking to the alleyways instead of the crowded and exposed main streets when he could. When he was forced to cross the main roads,he tried to find quieter side streets. Several times he went to the rooftops and leapt the distance. He ran and ran until suddenly there was no ground beneath his feet.

 

With a startled yelp, Casey fell forward, tumbling and rolling until he slammed to a stop. Gasping for breath, he lay there staring skyward.

 

-

 

“Go fo-”

 

“DONNIE! I LOST CASEY!” April shouted, the camera bouncing and giving Donatello a blurry view of April’s forehead. He started tapping away at his wrist computer, pulling up her location as he hurried to his lab.

 

“Okay, I’m sure he just got distracted. Did you try the food court? He is very food motivated.” Seeing her tracker at the mall, he started accessing the mall’s cameras, both inside and out. One showed April frantically looking around.

 

“Dangit Donnie, he’s not a dog!” She said sharply. “We just started shopping, then he just took off. I don’t know what happened.”

 

“Hmm.” Cycling through both the internal and external cameras didn’t show Casey anywhere. Frowning, he started expanding his search outwards. “I’m not seeing him, but there seems to be some sort of commotion at the intersection straight ahead of you.”

 

April immediately started jogging in that direction, pushing through the crowd and looking around. She looked down at the camera tearfully. “Donnie, I don’t see him.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Donnie said stoically. “I know just what to do. GUYS! APRIL LOST CASEY.”

 

-

 

It took Casey a while to realise the green thing moving above him was leaves. Part of it was that awareness was slow to come back to him from the distant place his mind had gone off to, part of it was that he didn’t realise leaves could look like that. The only trees that they had were squat purple things that Pop Pop Draxum had created by splicing several types of mystic and mundane trees together to survive the apocalyptic conditions. They had been kept in the heart of the base, one of their most secure areas, but being the nephew of the leaders of the resistance had its perks. Master Michaelangelo liked to meditate amongst the trees, he said it made him feel close to his dad. Casey’s insides felt scooped out and left him feeling hollow, but some part of his mind was stuck on the image of his Uncle Mikey amongst the trees. Is this what he meant by feeling close to his dad? He hoped not, he couldn’t feel much of anything at all.

 

Next, he became aware of a sharp rock pocking him in the back and tears streaming down his face. He idling wondered how long he had been crying for. Looking past the leaves, he saw the sky was now purple; he didn’t even know it could be purple. The air was cool and would only get colder, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Sensei would be mad, but the numbness he felt made even that feel distant. Rolling over, he looked around his surroundings. There was the steep slope he had fallen and more trees than he had ever seen in his life. They were tall, brown and green instead of purple. There were leaves just lying on the ground like they weren’t a year's worth of rations for the entire resistance. There was a little short bushy tree that only came to his waist. Odd chirping noises of varying pitches and tones seemed to be coming from all around him. A small shape flew through the foliage, and Casey nearly dove to the ground out of instinct. The little winged thing just flew on out of sight. A bit, maybe? Uncle Tello had taught him some basic zoology, but it had been years since he had looked at any of the old records. He couldn’t remember most of them, but he was pretty sure birds were the ones that flew.

 

He could hear the sound of vehicles in the distance, but his stomach lurched at the idea of going back out into the mass of humanity. Casey Jones wasn’t the type to hide from a dangerous situation, which is why it was so surprising that he couldn’t bring himself to leave the little spot of isolation he had stumbled into. Light was quickly fading, and he instinctively reached for his mask before he remembered he had left it at the lair with his body armour and hockey stick. They had even made him leave his gauntlet behind. Stupid, he was so stupid. Casey knew better than to go anywhere without his gear, but he had let them talk him into it, and now here he was lost alone in the dark. All he had on him was the boot knife he was pretty sure the others didn’t know about, but that was a cold comfort. Fear started to penetrate his veil of numbness. What was he going to do? Wander around and hope the others found him? The future was such a big place; how would they ever find him when there were so many people here?

 

Casey wrapped his arms around himself and looked around again. There were lights in the distance. He could go that way if he needed to. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid to run off like that, and he honestly couldn’t say why he did it. One moment he was standing next to April, and the next he was running for his life. So so stupid. Now he had no idea where he was or how to get back. He could climb up that hill, but then what? Also, there was that man and woman he had hurt. Would people be looking for him? Hunting him down like an infected? Surely the past had some way of dealing with someone who hurt other people. Nobody would believe him if he said it was an accident. He had no way of contacting the others without his comm, which was with his gear. He was all alone.

 

Unbidden, a memory sprang to mind. Sensei had his serious face on, trying to hide his worry as Casey was about to step out past the walls for his first-ever mission. “Casey, if we get separated, stay put."

 

“But Sensei,”He had said, “What if there are Krang around? Or hounds.”

 

“Run if you can, fight if you have to. Hide. Stay alive.” He kneeled and rested his hands on Casey’s shoulders. “No matter what, I will come to find you. I will always come for you, Casey, I promise.”

 

Eyes stinging Casey looked around him, knowing that his Sensei wasn’t coming.

-

“We have to find him,” Leo said, nearly frantic as he stood behind Donnie and stared at the dozens of traffic cam videos he had running. “I thought you had trackers on all of us.”

 

“Aren’t you the one always telling me I need to ‘respect personal space'?" Donnie said, complete with air quotes. “Besides, I didn’t have time yet.”

 

“But he’s out there all alone. Lost.” Mikey’s voice wobbled, and his eyes brimmed with tears. “Scared.”

 

“I’m going as fast as I can,.” Donnie said, waving up at the monitor. “I’m trying to follow his trail through the city, but it’d be a lot easier if you all weren’t bothering me!”

 

“Alright, let's all take it down a notch. Donnie, nobody is saying you ain’t workin’ hard, we all just worried about Ceej.” Raph said, holding his hands up in surrender. “Why don’t you tell us what you’ve got so far, and we can get out there and stlookingkin’.”

 

With a defeated sigh, Donnie turned back to his computer and pulled up a map of the city with several red dots marked on it. “Alright, so he and April made it to the mall but weren’t inside long before Casey ran off for whatever reason.” He selected the dot over the mall, and it pulled up a security video showing Casey freeze, staring at a window display. The young man then slowly turned, scanning the crowd before bolting. The camera switched to one pointed at the door, showing him forcing it open and running. It changed again, showing him running through the parking lot towards the busy street.

 

“From there, he ran to the intersection.” The video switched to a traffic camera showing Casey running right into the road without looking. Mikey made a whimpering noise as a car slammed on its brakes, but they could all tell it wouldn’t stop in time. Just as it was about to make contact, Casey swung his legs up to slide over the hood and kept running. Several cars also hit their brakes to avoid smashing into Casey, but he seemed oblivious to them all.

 

Several blocks down on the map, he selected the next red dot. It showed Casey looking behind him, seemingly looking for something, when he slammed into a young woman. She went sprawling backwards and tried to catch herself. From the angle, they couldn’t see how bad it was, but she clutched her injured arm to her chest and appeared to be crying. The muscular man next to her seemed enraged as he grabbed Casey by the shirt and shook him back and forth.

 

A low, dangerous growl left Rap, more akin to Savage Raph than the gentle giant he normally was. “Why ought I oughta”

 

Casey seemed to snap out of his daze, following the momentum and slamming his forehead into the man’s nose. The three of them gasped, but Donnie, eerily calm, the image froze on Casey’s face. Wide eyes and his face covered in another man’s blood, he looked terrified. “He took off down that alley behind him, and that was the last confirmed sighting I have of him. I think I caught a glimpse of her here.” He pointed to the next couple of points on the map. They were not in a straight line. The next point was much farther down and several blocks over. Finally, the last dot just showed an odd shadow that seemed to show someone jumping from rooftop to rooftop. This dot would mean he had moved 180° from the last sighting.

 

“As you can see, his movements don’t seem to follow a pattern and appear to be random. If he keeps moving at his current pace, that would leave us a wide search area.” Clicking a few keys, a large circle encompassed a large portion of the map, including part of Central Park and the waterfront.

 

There was a long moment of silence before Raph broke it. “Well, what are we waiting for. Let’s go find Casey.”

 

“Whoa, slow down there, big guy. Love the enthusiasm, but we can’t just wander around and hope we find him.” Leo said as he studied the map.

 

“Well, what do you suggest then? Cause Raph ain’t gonna just sit here and do nothing.”

 

“Nobody is suggesting that,” Leo said placatingly. “We just need to work smart. I say we spread out to different parts of the circle and move in towards the centre. We’ll get April to take a point, and Donnie and fill the gaps between us with some drones. If we make it to the centre without finding him, then we’ll rotate some and make our way back out again.”

 

“That’s smart.” Raph conceded.

 

“Of course it is, it’s my plan.” Leo puffed up a bit. “Alright, Donnie, put five starting points on the map and-”

 

“Six!” Splinter said, coming into the lab. “Don’t think I will just sit here while Future Boy is out there.”

 

“Six points it is Papa.” Donnie did some quick calculations and soon there were six icons spread out across the boundary.

 

“Great,” Leo said, pulling his odachi and moving it in a circle. The blue of his portal filled the room with its softly glowing light. “Let’s go find our Future Boy.”

Notes:

A very special thank you to WierdScribe95 for their constant support and for keeping me motivated.

This had started out as a fun shopping trip and to give Casey and April some time to bond, but apparently Casey's PTSD won't allow for that. And now we are here.

Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Summary:

Casey has unhealthy coping mechanisms to the shock of nobody.

Notes:

As always, no beta, so sorry for the grammatical mistakes. And I'm sorry to all the New Yorkers, I know nothing of the actual geography so just hand way all the incorrect parts.

It was getting cold. He had goosebumps on his arms that he hugged to his chest. Casey knew it wasn’t so cold that hypothermia would be a concern, but he didn’t know how much the temperature dropped at night here. The cape he had been talked into leaving at the lair would have been enough to ward off the worst of his chill. To his surprise his stomach was making itself known, even though he had only skipped two meals. In a way, being hungry and cold felt more familiar, it was grounding. Casey Jones was always hungry, cold, and tired; it was how he thrived.
Something about it helped him slip back into the mindset that had kept him alive for so long. Practicality pushed itself ahead of the fear and sadness, there was always time for those later. Later… so Step One: Assess the situation. Okay, he was in a hidden area with no hostiles in sight. Good. But he had no idea where he was or how to contact help. Bad. He had no food, water, and only a boot knife as gear. Also Bad. Also, also, potential hostiles in the city due to his own actions. That was…yeah, bad.

Step Two: Make a plan of action. Stay and hope for rescue or try and make his way back on his own. As reluctant as he was to leave, he knew his best chance was to try and make his way back to where he had separated from April. Hopefully they would find him there or he could try and navigate back to the manhole they had come from. To his shame, he hadn’t been as diligent with making their route as he should have been, he had been too focused on keeping up with April.

He was slipping. Really this was a good reminder to not get lolled into complacency by the comforts of the past. If this had happened back in his time he would have been as good as dead. Never let your guard down, and he just needed to remember this. Never leave your gear, always have a plan. He needed to find a way to integrate present Donnie’s tech with his gauntlet. It had navigation and communications, if he had either of those now this wouldn’t be an issue. Surely, his gear with its modern tech would be able to interface with this practically ancient technology that Donnie had now…not that Casey would ever phrase it like that to him since he valued having all his limbs attached thank you very much.

Now, he needed to decide if he was going to try the hill or look for an alternative route. Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to look around first just in case there was an easier way. Moving in the opposite direction of the slope he moved quietly and cautiously through the foliage. The leaves underfoot were louder than he felt comfortable with, but without his grapple he had limited options. Slow soft steps were the name of the game, even if it would add to his travel time. A lack of caution is what got him here in the first place so he was okay taking the extra time.

There were more hills and slopes than he was expecting but he did see lights ahead and that gave him the confidence to keep moving forward. The trees were helpful in navigating the rougher terrain and saved him on more than one occasion when the leaves tried to take his feet out from under him. They turned any slope into hazard but it wasn’t to bad now that he new to watch for them, it was similar to the loose gravel he was more use too.

When he finally reached the end of the trees he was surprised that it ended on a trail. Stepping over the thigh high thin fence was barely an inconvenience, and he was boggled by it, wondering what they could be trying to keep containing such pathetic fortifications. But still, he was glad to be out on an actual dirt trail. It was mostly clear of leaves and gave him an easy decision; left or right. The sky had given away to light grey and he was glad to be out of the trees before it when to total darkness since he didn’t have his mask. Though, from the haze of the sky he was starting to think that the city would keep the sky from going truly black and that was mind boggling. The base has spotlights and lights on the interior walls but away from the walls it was truly pitch black. The Technodrome was the brightest thing, dominating the skyline over what had once been New York.

Shaking his head to clear it, Casey brought himself back to the current present. He chose the left-hand trail since the sky seemed brighter in that direction and headed off.

-

Central Park at night…alone… was only totally a little bit scary. That wasn’t to say he was scared, oh no no no. He totally wasn’t scared. He had been in the park at night loads of times before. Sure, he usually had his brothers and April with him but really being alone wasn’t at all different. Besides, what if Casey was here alone. Now he had to be super scared. After all, Casey seemed to be scared all the time. He thought the other boy thought he hid it or maybe wasn’t even aware of it, but the only time he had seen Casey totally relaxed was after his workout with Raph. Even when he was sleeping Casey had been tense. Mikey just hoped he would relax once he got use to not living in an apocalypse.

If he didn’t he may need to talk with Dr. Feelings.

Still, totally not being scared even slightly, he made his way through his part of Central Park. It made his feel better knowing Dad and Donnie were both not to far if he needed help. He was only slightly jealous that Dad got the fun part of the park while he had the not at all spooky foresty part. He had already been through his part of the city and was working his way towards the center of his part of the pie right into the park.

“Casey!” He whispered yelled. It was after dark but there were still other people around and he know police officers sometimes patrolled the park. So, he was stuck trying to be loud enough to be heard, but no so loud non-Caseys would come investigating. It was a delicate balance.

It was dark out, but the street lamps kept it from being to horror movie, but it did make it chilly enough that Mikey wished he had his hoodie. Checking his phone he saw it was supposed to get all they way down to 60°, and while nobody would die from it, it made his heart hurt to think of Casey alone, cold, and scared.

The search party had missed dinner, which meant both Casey and April had missed lunch and dinner. He sent a quick text to the group chat reminding her to get something to eat. They really needed to get Casey a phone. He had been able to use his mask as a communicator during the fight but you couldn’t really send memes via mask, well he didn’t think so anyways. Still, he just wanted to find him so they could all go home and have dinner. Now that Casey was cleared they could feed him all sorts of stuff. Once he got the all clear from Donnie he had spent the morning looking up recipes and getting groceries. He had been planning on making a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and roast broccoli, all things that should be theoretically easy on the stomach of someone not use to modern foods. Donnie had been patiently answering all his questions about Casey’s dietary needs when April called. He felt like such a jerk for being disappointed he couldn’t make the planned dinner tonight, but Casey was just so thin and he ate so little. Some part of him felt like if he could just get Casey healthy, then everything would be okay. His internal Dr. Delicate Touch was telling how silly it was, but he didn’t want to hear it. If they could just get him eating normal food at normal proportions, they maybe they would stop watching every corner and shadow like something was going to jump out and attack him.

But first they needed to find him.

“Casey! You there?” He whisper yelled through his cupped hands.

-

Casey wanted to wrap his arms around himself to fight of the chill, but he knew better than to not be at the ready. He kept his arms relaxed and loose at his sides, running through all his survival lessons as he walked. More than once he had crouched and grabbed for his boot knife at a unexpected snapping noise in the underbrush, but so far no attacks. He wanted to keep his knife in his hand, but he hadn’t seen anyone outside the family carrying weapons and he didn’t want to stand out. The way he saw it there was no perfect answer, so he kept the knife tucked away and his senses on high alert. Which is how he heard what sounded like his name. It was very faint and he wasn’t certain it actually was his name. Plus, there were so many people in the past there had to be more than two Caseys in the city.

Besides, another part of his mind said, the Krang are perfect mimics. Again, he told himself the Krang were gone and it was safe…but still. Cautiously he moved in the direction of the voice may have come from. Every bend or turn in the trail he was peering around the corner checking for potential hostiles, he walked in a half crouch so his knife was in easy reach. A quiet stillness overtook him. Stalking through enemy territory was normal and right. There was no room for doubts, the nagging thoughts gone silent to allow him to focus with the singlemindedness that allowed him survive for so long. Hearing approaching footsteps he carefully stepped back into the tree line and crouched down, hand hovering at his knife handle. Breath came slowly and silently and he went perfectly still, ready to pounce.

In the gloom and through the foliage he couldn’t see the face of the person coming up the trail, but with the green legs and orange knee pads with their red faces didn’t leave much room for doubt on who it was.

“Mikey!” Relief rushed through him and Casey launched himself out of the bushes.

Mikey shrieked loudly, cowering back and pulling his nunchaku. The two of them blinked at each other in surprise before both began talking at once.

“I’m so sorry- are you alright?”

“Casey are you hurt?”

Catching themselves, both laughed awkwardly before Mikey came over and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay, we’ve been worried sick! Wait, you are okay right?”

Stepping back, the youngest turtle held him at arm’s length and frowned. “You’re all dirty, what happened to you? You have a leaf in your hair.”

Casey ran a hand through his hair, dislodging the offending leaf. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Mikey made a pfft noise with a flap of his hand. “No bigs. What about you, are you okay? Your- ah- your face is covered in blood.”

Casey blinked at that, fingers roving over his face until they probed a tender spot on his forehead. But there was no cut so how did he…oh. “Uh, it’s not mine.”

Mikey blinked at him for a second before he made a O face. “Riiiight, the headbutt.”

It was Casey’s turn to have a moment of confusion before realization hit him. “Ah, Donnie.”

They both nodded and descended into an awkward silence before Mikey took a deep breath and put a hand on Casey’s shoulder. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m all ears if you do.”

Casey felt something hot in his chest and it took him a second to breath through it before he could get the words out. “I don’t want everyone to see me like this.”

The youngest turtle’s face twisted into so sadness and something else Casey couldn’t describe, before the hand on his shoulder moved to his back and started pulling Casey down the trail. “No worries buddy, there is a pond over this way we can get you cleaned up in before we call the others.”

His hand stayed there they entire way.

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: A quiet moment

Summary:

Casey gets a second to breathe, but the box is getting fuller.

The water turned Casey’s goosebumps into full fledge shakes. He was smart enough not to use his shirt to dry himself and instead just shook himself vigorously to dry off which got a laugh from Mikey. He was grateful that the youngest turtle didn’t fuss over him and instead seemed happy to let Casey set the pace. They had walked in silence, neither mentioning the elephant in the room. Like Mikey had stated, there was a pond not too far from where they had run into each other, though it took a bit of convincing on the turtles part that he wouldn’t taint or waste the water for washing off.

It was odd, the way Mikey would open and close his mouth, obviously trying to restrain himself. It was endearing but made a small ache in Casey’s chest. Master Michelangelo had two modes, whirling dervish and serene stillness. This younger version seemed to still be learning. Maybe it had to do with growing up, all his uncles were able to wait him out when Casey was holding something back. Master Michelangelo would simply sit in silence, meditating or repairing their meager supply of clothing, waiting until Casey would fill the silence. Uncle Tello would ramble about topics or set him to a task only to hit him with a precision strike of ‘are you ready to tell me now?’ when Casey was least expecting it. The weight of a heavy arm across his shoulders and a gentle ‘hey kiddo’ and Sensi would have him undone. His eyes stung at the thought so he turned them upwards towards the sky until the feeling passed.

Feeling eyes on him he finally brought his own down too meet Mikey’s. “Everyone told me about stars but I haven’t seen any.”

“Oh yeah,” Mikey seemed relieved to have the tension broken and gave Casey a lopsided smile. “It’s all the city lights, they block them out. Maybe we can go on a camping trip to see them. Raph would love it but we’ll probably have to hogtie Donnie.”

Sensi had mentioned camping before, real camping. They had made camp when they went of missions far from base, but as they made shelters in the rubble of destroyed cities Master Leo would wrap a arm around him and told him about it. He didn’t like talking about the past, but that night he was in a special mood and had told him about the shelter Donnie had built and how upset Uncle Todd had been. He had smiled with tears in his eyes and had gone quiet after that. He barely spoke until they were back at base. It was only eight months after they lost Uncle Tello.

“I think I’d like that.” He said, holding the memory close. “We can use my grappling hook to drag Donnie along.”

Now that the fear and uncertainty were gone sadness seemed to be trying to creep in. His box of unwanted emotions seemed have loosed the lid and try as he might it didn’t want to stay in place. Still, he tried anyways. Push the sadness down, deal with it later, problems now.

“What about the others?” Regroup, safety in numbers, get back to base. Practical issues to solve helped firm up the box and made it easier to push the sad feelings away. “They aren’t still out looking are they?”

“Oh snap!” Mikey smacked himself in the forehead and pulled out his phone. “Hey Case get over here- hey guys! Look who I found!”

Casey moved up behind Mikey and waved down the phone screen filled with his future family. The cacophony of noise was indiscernible, and he automatically swept the glade with his eyes to make sure nothing was attracted to the noise. Sometimes he wondered how they survived the initial invasion since they were all so…loud. Mikey had to hold his phone as far from them as he could just so they wouldn’t go deaf and the two of the met eyes before dissolving into laughter. That seemed to set off another wave of yelling from the phone before Splinter’s yell of “QUIET!” but through.

“Now,” the rat said in the reining silence. “Blue, please get Orange and Future Boy back home then pick up the rest of us. Everyone else just stay put until then. Understood?”

After a chorus of acknowledgments the call was ended and it was quiet. Casey took one last lungful of the cold night air. “So how bad do you think it’ll be?”

Mikey chortaled. “Oh you are so toast. Donnie is going to stick every single tracker he has onto you and Raphie probably won’t let you out of his sight. Leo’s going to be the same way but think he is way more stuble about it. I don’t even want to think what April’s going to do to you.”

That hit him like a krang train. “Do you think I have time to hide before Leo gets here?”

“Don’t you dare.” Leo said, stepping through his portal. “April will murder me if I lose you again.”

--
April was first brought back, pulling Casey into a tight hug before smacking the back of his head then pulling him in for another hug. “Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, do that to me again. I was so worried!”

He awkwardly patted her on the back, not quite sure how to respond. This April was still slightly shorter than her future counter part and it felt wrong somehow. His Aunt April would wrap her arms around his shoulders and he would hug her around the ribs and they would squeeze each other for all the were worth before she would get him in a headlock and ruffled his hair until it looked like he had just escaped a hurricane. But his April had him around the ribs. He was taller than her. Everything about it was wrong.

Perhaps he looked as distressed as he felt, because Mikey stepped forward and all but peeled April off of him. “Alright, alright, let the boy breath. Oh hey, what do you think would be the best first midnight snack for Casey?”

And with that he started moving them towards the kitchen. Casey felt some of the tension melt away and he was all but forced to sit at the table while Mikey fluttered around the kitchen, never letting there be a pause in conversation.

One by one the family reformed, joining them at the table. Splinter sat at the head of table like usual, a cup of tea set down moments later. “Thank you Orange, that is why you are my favorite.”

“Gasp!” Donnie said, coming to sit next to Casey. “Papa I am wounded. How could you say such a thing?”

The bickering continued as they all fell into a natural rhythm. Nobody brought up the events at the mall or any of the evening, they all just sat around content in each other’s company and Mikey whipped up something quick for dinner. It was easy for Casey to just sit back and relax in the conversation, though they kept trying to pull him into the conversation. He liked listening though, seeing the dynamic from the before when they were all so carefree in a way he never knew them.

There was a lull in the coversation when Mickey dished up the fried rice and Casey tried his first bite. Much like the pizza he had on his first day, it was very salty. Salt was a rare thing in the future and here it was almost overpowering. He really liked the little white meat they called chicken and he loved the little green balls they called peas. The rice he was familiar with but with the brown sauce it tasted totally diffent. Finally he wasn’t sure about the eggs. The taste was unlike anything he was familiar with but the hardest part was the texture. But he would never turn down food and gave a chipper ‘it’s good’ which got a cheer from the group. He just made sure he had the chicken with the eggs since they help mask the weird texture. He struggled to get through his usual half a cup of food, it sat heavy and he worried about making himself sick but he couldn't not finish it. Luckily for him Raph seemed to notice him picking at his food and asked if Casey wouldn’t mind if he finished his portion since Raph had finished his, and the others had cleared the serving bowl. Casey was all to happy to oblige him.
Casey went off to use the bathroom and as soon as he was gone Donnie used one of his claws to toss the leftovers. “If you throw up because you don’t want Casey to feel awkward, I will call you a dumb dumb and I will take blackmail photos.”

“Better than him making himself throw up. That would make him 50/50 for hucking when trying new foods.” Raph said defensivly. Donnie even had the wherewithal to keep his voice down and put trash over the food to hide their deception.

“Whose on Casey duty tonight?” Leo chimed in. “We can say April’s taking the couch if you’re cool with it Ape.”

“Oh yeah, there ain’t no way I am going home tonight. I’m about ready to drop.” She hand her elbows on the talbe and like she said, she looked exausted.

Splinter wasn’t any better, yawning loudly. “Well you boys figure it out. I am going to bed.”

“Good night Papa!” Donnie said loudly, ignorning Leo’s loud cough of ‘suck up’.

Casey came back, rinsed and changed into dry borrowed pajamas, waving goodnight to the rat as he went.

“Hey Case, you mind bunking with Raph tonight? April’s gonna stay over.” Raph said, slightly louder than necessary.

Casey looked quizzical at that. “Sure? But I can just sleep on the floor. I don’t mind and the rug is soft.”

“Nu hu, no way.” Raph said. “Come on. Raph is going to introduce you to his teddies.”

He all but pulled the boy after him. As he did Casey and Mikey locked eyes and the younger turtle mouthed ‘told you’ before stiffling giggles.

Notes:

A little interlude with the family. A shorter chapter but