Chapter Text
He might not know these people very well, but Leo thought that in some way he did not dislike their company. A joke or two, some small talk, a shy smile.
In fact, the evening had ended relatively peacefully.
Donatello glanced at him from time to time, asking if he was all right, or if he was in any way uncomfortable. Michelangelo was amused, claiming that this ‘new Leo’ was much more fun than the old one (which helped his ego). And Raphael never left his side, always helping him with everything. Even the humans were pleasant, helping him to adjust in some ways.
They generally seemed more comfortable with his presence as the hours passed. Sitting together in front of the TV, he couldn’t help but notice that everyone was less tense than in the morning, making small talk and waiting for Mikey’s show to start.
So Leo decided to start the interrogation that had been on hold for a while.
“So…” he began, and everyone was watching him, attentive to every word that came out of his mouth (too much attention, wasn’t it? It was even a little uncomfortable), “what exactly happened to end up in this whole situation?
Of course, the reactions were similar to what he had imagined.
Donatello frowned with obvious doubt on his face, the human beside him stirred uncomfortably.
“Of course, let’s see…” he began with a small pause and a look of uncertainty in his eyes, “God, I don’t know where to start…”.
Raphael frowned and turned his gaze to Leo.
“You remember what I told you about Splinter, don’t you?” he asked, staring into Leo’s face.
(“Blue,” a voice said behind him. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the broken teacup on the floor).
“Amm, sure,” he replied with a certain amount of doubt, “you mean our pops, right?
He asked the last question and looked around.
Everyone gave him a strange look and Mikey put a hand to his face in an obvious attempt to hide his laughter.
Leo’s smile faltered at the reaction of the others.
“Did I say something wrong…?”
“No, I guess you did not,” Donatello replied, looking at him sideways, “although I have to admit it’s still strange to hear you talk like that…”.
“You mean the voice?” asked Leo, obviously trying to focus his attention elsewhere.
“Yes,” he replied, “something like that…”.
“Our… father, he had a family before he had us,” Raphael supplied. “A little daughter and a wife.”
Leo listened attentively. It didn’t matter that such an idea was very… strange.
“He lost everything because of this man… Oroku Saki, and devastated, he went to New York, where he found us for various reasons.”
Raphael pressed his lips into a thin line.
“We thought him dead a few months ago, now we know the truth, he is a threat…”
Donatello stood next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
“You tried to confront him,” Donatello continued, “but that didn’t work very well, and now we have no idea where he can be found, neither he nor Master Splinter…”.
Leo felt a heavy silence in the room. Surely they must feel unprotected, without their father and with their brother completely amnesiac. An uncomfortable realization enveloped him.
A sound coming from the television distracted everyone from their sadness.
“Look!” said Michaelangelo, pointing happily, “the show has started!
Everyone relaxed their shoulders a little, ready to sit down and watch television with their brother. When a crackle of electricity went through the house and the power went out.
“Oh my…”.
“Are you kidding me?”
“My show!”
“Relax, it’s just a fuse,” Donatello’s voice was heard over everyone, in the direction of the lanterns.
The little light left by the fire in the fireplace went out after a short moment, leaving everyone with a dejected feeling.
“Now we need more firewood,” Raphael added.
So Donatello’s lantern went out, leaving only more grumbling.
Raphael left the house, claiming that he had to go get more firewood, while Donatello tried to change the fuse.
“It’s impossible,” he found himself saying, “for some reason it doesn’t light.
To prove his point, he tried turning on some of the lights, to no avail.
“Don’t worry,” April replied, “I’m sure Raph will be back soon and we can light the fire.”
The energy in the group was anxious, but they waited patiently. Leo watched as April put a hand on Donatello’s shoulder, comforting the turtle.
“Why isn’t he coming?” asked Michaelangelo after an hour had passed.
They all looked at each other anxiously and left the house.
When Raphael did not return, many turned their gaze to stare at Leo, who was slow to understand that they were waiting for directions.
Their confusion must have been reflected back to them, because the panic began again.
Leo took a few steps back, staggering on his bad leg.
Did they really expect him to lead them? An uncomfortable feeling rose in his stomach, this didn’t make sense.
Seeing his hesitation, Donatello was the one to step forward.
“I think we should split up,” he said unconvinced, looking sideways at Leo.
Leo relaxed a little, trying to shake off the strange feeling.
“Mikey and Casey will go together and I’ll go next to April.”
Michelangelo and Casey complained for different reasons, but Donatello ignored them.
“Who are you going with, Leo?” he asked, looking directly at his brother.
Leo opened his mouth to answer, approaching the group with his crutch, when a small stone caused him to stumble slightly.
His excitement quickly dissipated.
“You know what? I think I’ll stay here,” he said, trying to sound relaxed “I don’t think I’m much use in this whole situation,” he said, pointing to his bad leg.
Donatello frowned and gave him a pitiful look.
“It’s okay, you can stay and wait in case Raph comes back,” he said, giving an excuse to his pride.
“Exactly,” Leo said, “Have you seen Don? I knew you’d understand, being so smart and all,” he added with disdain.
A look of indignation crossed the face of the purple-headed turtle, but he was interrupted by the red-haired girl.
“Guys, we need to find Raph. In case you forgot.”
Donatello closed his mouth and nodded stiffly at her, gave Leo one last puzzled look and left, April following close behind. Michelangelo and Casey followed in the other direction.
So Leo was left alone.
It didn’t matter, did it? He could handle anything, his only job was to wait for the others to return. Easy.
Thoughtfully, he leaned back on his good knee. So, he ended up like this because of a fight against this Oruko Saki guy, right? The name sounded familiar and he felt a glimmer of hope that he might get his memories back sooner than he thought.
Because no matter how friendly everyone seemed to be, Leo could see how tense they were, how they saw him trying to find someone else.
It had only been a day since he had woken up, and yet they all expected him to take charge of the situations that came their way.
All in all, the picture didn’t look good for either of them, and Leo didn’t know how to feel about it.
(“We need to be together as a team!”).
Leo stopped halfway to the house.
He turned back to where he had heard the voice. Only to find a dense forest staring back at him.
(“Nothing I’m doing is working!” said another voice, deeper and angrier).
Leo felt his heart race at the sound of the voices. He knew them, how?
He took one last look at the house and in the direction the others had gone, then returned his gaze to that particular spot in the forest.
It wouldn’t hurt to check, would it?
He took a few steps into the vast, dark forest.
“I feel like we’re being watched,” April had dictated to Donatello after a while of walking, still without a clue. A severe headache throbbed in her forehead, which she felt was an omen of what was to come.
Donatello watched her with worry, glancing sideways at the forest.
“We need to find Raph now,” he said, uncertainty in his eyes.
“I agree, but it will be difficult—“
A loud shout echoed through the forest, his voice was recognizable.
“That was Mikey,” Donatello realized, pulling out his bō and running alongside April towards the problem.
April ignored the strange sensation running through her body and the terrible pain in her neck. Running alongside Donatello, they arrived at what looked like an abandoned hut.
“Let him go, creature!” yelled Casey, swinging his cane at what looked like a monster made of weeds. It was holding an unconscious Michaelangelo.
Donatello wasted no time in joining the fray with an angry expression on his face.
April drew her weapon and was ready to strike when the creature reacted.
It caught an unsuspecting Casey Jones off guard, grabbing him by the torso and throwing him toward Donatello. It approached while they were disoriented.
She could only watch in horror as it slowly knocked all of her friends unconscious, knowing that she was next.
She took a few steps back, still not giving up the fight. Swallowing her fear, she tried to attack it when one of its roots wrapped around her arms and legs. She fell to the ground, fear multiplying.
“Help! Leo!” she cried in desperation. Hoping that maybe the one in the blue bandana would hear her.
Then everything was filled with darkness.
“覚えて.”
Leo heard someone whisper in his ear.
He held his breath and turned his body slowly. He could almost feel the warmth of the other person, he just had to turn around to see who it was.
There was no one.
Where the mysterious individual should have been, there was nothing but air.
Leo’s heart quickened without understanding why. Something was missing, he could feel it.
He closed his eyes and tried to keep his composure.
“Leonardo…” a voice whispered to him from the trees beyond where his eyes could see.
“Leonardo…”
His feet began a new walk, towards the familiar voice.
“Help! Leo!” the cry was heard throughout the forest.
He stopped abruptly. He caught the tone of April’s voice.
Divided in his decision, he looked in the opposite direction, where their friend had called for help.
Strangely, the voice was silent.
Gathering his courage, he took one last look at the forest area of the mysterious voice and headed in the opposite direction.
His friends needed him.
The monster would not let them go.
Donatello tried everything, distracting it, attacking it, trying to scare it, but nothing seemed to work.
He watched the plant that was now the remains of his brother, helpless over its fate or what might happen to any of them.
Useless, useless, useless. He said in his head. The fear only grew with time.
The stress of this unreal situation settled heavily in his head. The worst part? Knowing that it was all his fault.
Because he knew that the mutagen from the city could not reach the forest, the only source was himself. The altar it had built for the medicine was more than obvious. The whole situation was all his fault.
Leo will never know what happened. He thought bitterly, gritting his teeth in anger. He looked around at his friends, still unconscious beside his brother.
He closed his eyes tightly, helpless.
The sound of something banging on the door drew the monster’s attention. His friends stirred and began to wake up.
Donatello seized his chance and tried to free himself.
“Hey! Ugly Thing! I’m calling you!”.
Leo. Donatello thought fearfully.
The monster’s roar rang in his ear.
“Really? That sounds very interesting, amigo” Leo said in reply.
He walked as fast as he could on his crutch.
The mutant followed him at an alarming speed, never letting him out of it’s sight.
He lowered his body as far as he could, dodging the mutant’s claws, which almost hit him. He ran away, the monster following him.
“All right, easy Leo, you got this,” he said, trying to calm himself.
Quickly he ducked to the ground, causing the mutant to trip over him from the suddenness of the change. Leo raised his crutch and buried it firmly in the mutant’s face.
The mutant let out an angry scream, trying to pull the wood out of his face.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Leo hobbled over to the small shed and quickly locked it.
“Leo!” the others shouted, relief in their tone.
His eyes landed on the small mound of dirt on the ground.
“What’s-?"
“That’s Raph, long story. Get us out of here first,” Donatello interrupted, sounding exasperated. Beside him, Michaelangelo stirred uncomfortably, hanging upside down.
“Yeah, bro. This place is horrible!”
Leo grabbed one of the gardening tools and cut and helped each of the chained with plants.
The monster’s roar came from behind the door, alerting everyone.
They raised their weapons and stared at the door. Behind them, the shed opened and the mutant’s head emerged.
“Get back!” they shouted as they tried to attack.
Leo staggered and grabbed the first thing at hand, which turned out to be Donnie’s medicine. He tried to throw it at the mutant when he saw it react in fear.
“Strange” Donnie began, “it seems to be afraid of the mutagen…”.
A plan began to form in Leo’s mind.
“Mikey!” said Leo, addressing the youngest, “I need that rope”.
Mikey smiled happily and took what his brother had pointed out.
“Whatever you say, dude!”
“All right, on my signal then…”
Leonardo took the bottle and pushed the mutant back as it tried to attack, unsuccessfully due to the help of the others.
He managed to lead it to a tree, where Michaelangelo encircled it with the rope.
The monster screamed and struggled, but was unable to escape.
Donatello took a few steps forward and looked at everyone with relief.
“That was close…”
Leo nodded wryly as he remembered something else.
“Emm, sorry to ruin the mood, but Raph isn’t going to stay as a pile of leaves, is he?” he gave a small, unfunny laugh.
Donatello frowned, almost as if a bucket of cold water had hit him.
“I’ll check him out,” he muttered and quickly left the scene.
Leo blinked. It was okay.
His eyes wandered to another part of the forest where the voice had called him. And he knew very well that hearing voices was not normal at all, but it had to mean something, he just knew it.
In the end, Donatello managed to remove all the mutagen from the monster’s body and put it back into Raphael’s body.
Everything was fine, it really was.
As things calmed down, everyone went back to their rooms and decided to get some well-deserved rest.
Lying in bed, in the house where he knew all his friends and family were, Leo couldn’t help but think that something was missing, something really important.
He slept with a feeling of loneliness permeating his skin.
(And he dreamed of a caterpillar and a hippopotamus. And a girl with a cheeky smile, high braids, and a yellow jacket. And he dreamed of another life that he would not remember the next day).