Chapter Text
Leo had spoken a lot of “last words” in his life -almost always as a joke, but watching as Krang One lumbered towards his slouched form, all grating metal armor and fury, Leo wished he could have thought of something more meaningful to say as he released his hold of the last Krang and watched the light of the portal close in on itself. Instead of saying something noble or brave to commemorate his short but eventful life, of course he chose to crack a joke. Raph had been telling him for months to take his new role as leader seriously, but Leo could never seem to measure up. Everything that happened, this whole invasion situation, was because he couldn’t stand to be serious for even a second, and yet, he continued to jest even in what he believed to be his last breath. But no one was around to hear his jokes anymore. Not Mikey, who would often either join in or groan depending on how corny his pun was. There was no Raph to grumble as he hid a smile, nor was there a Donnie to scoff and tell him to get lost. It was just him, and he couldn’t manage to take even his own death seriously.
“You’ve been portal chopped!”
The false bravado laced in his voice did little to hide the pure terror surging through his veins as he floated, weightless and boundless through the stale air of the prison dimension. Krang’s punch barely seemed to register through the pain already thrumming through his body, but his crash landing sure did. There was little Leonardo could do to defend himself as his new alien cellmate advanced on him. He was completely spent, his last stand to keep Krang from reaching the portal having taken the last of his energy. So he lay there against the stone, head bowed and limbs twitching, and awaited his punishment.
“You..” The glowing red eye of the armor gleamed, and Krang raised his fist in preparation, “You ruined everything!” Leo couldn’t even cry out as the air rushed from his lungs from Krang’s initial blow, “And now, my wrath will be reserved for you alone.” At first, Leo raised his arms to try to cover his face, (his “money maker” he once would have called it) but Krang quickly tore his arms away. Trying to protect the little sanity he had, Leo refused (beyond the initial damage check) to even glance at the bloody mess his right arm was. Blow after blow rained down on the slider, blood spilling from his lips as Krang seemed to hit every surface of Leo’s already battered body.
“You think you’ve won, you wretched little PEST!” As soon as Krang spat out his last word, Leo felt the armor’s clawed foot slam into his plastron and the two fell through the earth and slammed into a subterranean part of the island.
Leo felt the cracks along his carapace spread as he was crushed once more between the ground and Krang. And Pizza Supreme it hurt. Leo coughed again, blood spilling between his teeth and leaving a metallic taste in his mouth. Krang finally pulled his foot up with a satisfied chuckle and glowered as the teenage turtle struggled to breathe. With strength he didn’t know he possessed, Leo carefully removed the photo of his family from his side pouch and let his arm rest on the ground, the picture clenched in his shaky grasp. The last thing Leo wanted to see was not this pink bubblegum bastard leering down on him but the smiling faces of his family. He wanted to think of what it was like before all of this. Before the Krang, before the Shredder, before Draxum. He missed when they were actually kids and the worst thing they experienced was parental neglect and pizza shortages.
Against his wishes, Leo felt tears well up in his eyes and spill down his face. Blood and tears mixed in their race to the ground, but Leo could only smile as he remembered his childhood in the sewers with his brothers. He remembered all the Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu marathons, Mikey’s tinkling laughter as they pranked their older brothers, Raph’s hugs and soft churrs as he comforted Leo through yet another nightmare, and he remembered all of he and Donnie’s video game competitions. If he had known this is how he would have ended up, 16 and trapped in another dimension to be beaten to death, he would have treasured those moments more. Anyone would have, really.
“WIPE THAT GRIN OFF YOUR FACE!” With a roar, Krang launched Leo completely through the island and soaring through the debris of this desolate dimension once more.
The slider thought he should be feeling more right now like the agony of his right arm or the twisted limb he once called a leg or even the fact he could only see out of one eye, but it felt as though his body was disconnected from his mind. He knew he should be in a lot more pain, but the only thing he could really focus on was the picture still in his grasp. Despite his weak grip, his family’s smiling faces continued to stare up at him. He just wanted them safe. It wasn’t about him. Leo let his eyes shut, tears trailing down his face in a steady stream. It would be nice to die now, he thought, before the pain fully caught up to him. Drifting alone in the prison dimension, Leo did his best to curl around the picture as if he could absorb any of the warmth of his family in his final moments or protect it from the hopelessness that seemed to permeate this rotten dimension. He did seem to be getting warmer, now that Leo considered it.
A beaming orange light clashed against the dull purple surrounding him, and Leo squinted against the brightness. A new buzzing energy entered the space around him, and though he craved nothing more than reaching out towards that energy, he couldn’t. Curling tighter around his picture, Leo thought he could actually hear his brothers. It sounded like they were shouting at him through the walls –all muted and indecipherable.
“Le..”
“..ardo! Ra… gr.. ..im!”
Something curled around him again, and he whimpered in pain as he instinctually retracted fully into his fractured shell –not once releasing his hold on the photo. But this didn’t feel like the Krang... Whatever this was, it was gentle. He couldn’t believe something this great existed in the prison dimension. Not only was it gentle, but it was warm. Leo hadn’t even noticed how cold he was until whatever this was surrounded him. It was warm, so so warm, and it felt sturdy, and unrelenting –in a good way. It hummed, and Leo felt protected as he was cradled in its hold. Warm, sturdy, gentle, and protective…Leo felt more tears leak from his eyes. Hopefully, it would protect him from Krang in his final moments.
Leo felt the thing begin to pull him, and through his shell, he saw the orange light from before getting closer. The closer he got, the warmer he got and the louder the voices of his family became. Is this real? Is the pain making me hallucinate? A screech of rage sounded faintly behind him, and the gentle pulling turned into a yank.
“..urry! It.. ..urts!”
“I’m tryi..”
“I CAN SEE-”
“I s.. too.. ..nnie! …lmost got him!”
A loud whirring began and the orange light mixed with a neon purple blur that whizzed past him. The last thing Leo heard from the stiff silence of the prison dimension was Krang’s pained shriek before the chill of the prison dimension fell away, and Leo was greeted with sirens, screams, and.. arguing? Leo felt a shaky hand gently tracing his plastron, seeming to go around the cracks and fragments sticking out.
“Why did it take so long!” Donnie…?
“It didn’t! You’re acting like I didn’t want him back too. I had to be sure I wasn’t grabbing a random floating rock!” Raphie? “Look at him, he’s completely retracted! And… and Raph can’t exactly do any precision work right now.”
“Guys..” Mikey’s choked up voice sounded the closest.
He must be the one tracing my shell…
“It doesn’t matter… We have him back. That’s enough.”
Silence, until, “We don’t even know if he’s alive…” Leo doesn’t think he ever heard his twin sound like that. Donnie sounded completely depleted, close to crying, and just wrong.
“Don’t say that!” Raph sounded choked up too.
Okay, Face Man time, I gotta cheer them up. Leo thought, still somehow riding his adrenaline high to hide the pain. Squinting through one eye and ignoring the arguing that started up again (this time with Mikey joining in), he eyed the opening of his shell and began to force his shaking limbs out. It was a monumental task, and Leo could feel the pain begin to seep in as his body fought against him. Once his aching limbs were fully stretched out, Leo took stock of his surroundings.
“Hey.”
The arguing came to an abrupt halt, three pairs of eyes snapping to his prone form. No one moved. The brothers seemed suspended in time –waiting with bated breath as if this were a fragile dream that could be blown away by a single gasp.
“Eww, are we in Staten Island?”
“LEO!”
Leo felt more than saw his younger brother hugging him. Warm. Bright. Buzzing. Big sobs shook his small body, and Leo wished more than anything he could just move his limbs to return the hug and comfort Mikey. But he didn’t need to hug Mikey, as large arms soon wrapped around both of them. Gentle. Sturdy. Protective. Raph’s sobs unfortunately shook both his younger brothers as he clutched them close to his chest.
“Don’t you ever do that again! That was so, so brave, but you are never allowed to do that again. In fact, you aren’t even allowed out of the house for a year. No, ten years! Scratch that, you’re never leaving my sight again.” His eldest brother continued to murmur his plans for Leo through his sobs and churrs.
Leo felt a smile tug on his lips again as he greedily absorbed the love he felt from his brothers, but someone was missing. Risking a glance at where he heard Donnie, he found his twin staring back at him with wide eyes, shaking and hugging his arms around himself. Leo felt his smile fade when he noticed the soft shell was using his claws to scratch at his biceps, and the slider raised a shaking hand towards his twin.
“Hey, ‘Tello, don’t do that.” Leo stated dumbly, voice raspy and quiet.
“YOU BIG DUM DUM!” Donnie shouted as he rushed the impromptu turtle pile. Donnie didn’t cry. He was too cool for that and had a reputation to maintain, so Leo ignored the tears that spilled from his twin’s eyes as Donatello squirmed his way into Raph’s arms.
Leo basked in the warmth and ignored the shaking sobs from his brothers that rocked his body. He made it out. He didn’t know whether to be thankful or angry. Luckily, he didn’t have to decide right now. The pain came rushing back into his body, and the last thing he heard was his own shriek of pain -a mixture between a sob and a chirp, and Donatello’s,
“Get off! Quick he’s-”
Before Leo was gone to the world.