Chapter Text
Leo just watched. He looked at the scene in front of him and didn't know what to say. At what point did his world collapse?
He couldn't even say a word, but Krang was laughing. He looked at Leonardo and admired the view, as the leader of the entire rebellion officially looked defeated.
The next thing Leo knew, he was running back to the main base. Alone.
.... . .-.. .--.
____________________________________________
A few days earlier
Casey Jr hated early mornings. He understood why he had to get up so early and how many responsibilities he had as a sensei's assistant, but he dreamed of being able to sleep in at least once.
To his surprise, no one woke him up today. When he opened his eyes, his watch read 12 p.m already. Huh. Casey sat languidly on his bed and yawned. Did everyone forget about him today? Or maybe Casey forgot about some important event for which he was supposed to wake up himself?
Casey's eyes widened, suddenly becoming fully awake.
“I overslept and everyone's dead,” he whispered in fear. He got out of bed and got dressed as quickly as possible, then grabbed his hockey stick and ran out of his room.
“SENSEI!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. Where was everyone?
“No! This is a total disaster!” He heard someone yell from one of the rooms. No. No, no, no, this can’t be! Casey ran towards the doors and opened them with a harsh push, without even considering to knock. “WHAT’S-” Casey’s jaw dropped in shock and awe.
Every member of the resistance was now looking at him with a wide smile. From the crowd emerged none other than his sensei.
“Case!” Leonardo laughed. “You’ve made it just in time!”
Casey gripped his hockey stick tighter. “In time…for what?”
Master Michelangelo was the second to appear in front of him with something in his hands. “Your birthday party, silly,” the box turtle smiled at him gently.
Oh. Yeah. His birthday.
"What is this?" he asked, looking at the round pink thing in the master's hands.
"Cake. We gathered all the ingredients for this very occasion. Your uncle has been trying for months to create the perfect strawberries from the last seeds we had," Michelangelo replied.
Casey didn't get to celebrate his birthday last year. It was the day when the entire base was attacked and in the middle of this fight, his mother died.
Today marks a year since that incident, and Casey has just turned fourteen.
He put down his stick and looked at the cake uncertainly. Should he celebrate on the day he lost one of the most important people in his life?
As this thought passed through his mind, he looked up at Master Michelangelo and his sensei. Soon after, Uncle Tello also emerged from the crowd and smiled at him. Casey wanted to shout at them for a moment, tell them that they shouldn't be happy on the day when everything lost its meaning.
It then dawned on him that each of them understood him and his pain. Last year was hard. Surviving this year was even worse. But they were all here and that should be celebrated. And the fact that Master Michelangelo and Uncle Tello went through so much trouble to make a cake for him in the middle of the apocalypse was worth admiring. Casey smiled widely and ran up to each of them to hug them. When he reached Leo, sensei picked him up laughing and spun him around.
“I'm sorry we scared you and that no one woke you up. We skipped your training today because we wanted you to focus on something more important.”
“You mean…on what?” Casey asked and sensei laughed.
“On yourself,” Leonardo and Casey turned towards the crowd. "All together! And one, and two, and three!”
Master Michelangelo lit a candle on the cake and the entire resistance started singing their own version of the song "Happy Birthday".
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Casey
Happy Birthday to You
From the whole resistance
We are your family,
May Krang never stand a chance against you,
Happy Birthday Casey Jones!
______________________
His party lasted the whole day.
Casey knew every person who was in the resistance. He was surprised by the fact that regardless of whether anyone liked him or not, everyone showed up at this (im)modest celebration of his birthday. Everyone also approached him to exchange a few words with him. Master Michelangelo cut him a piece of cake and then gave him a handmade cape in Casey's favorite color.
He didn't get a gift from everyone; he received letters from some, and simple words of encouragement and support from others. He was grateful for everything.
However, Casey seemed to not be a big fan of having all the attention on him. At some point it simply began to overwhelm him. Too many people appeared in his personal space, too many times he heard someone calling his name, too many smiles in his direction, and definitely too many glances that sometimes seemed less friendly than they probably should have been.
He didn't even realize he had stopped breathing until someone placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality.
“Casey?” asked sensei, removing his hand from his shoulder immediately when he jumped at his touch. “Is everything alright?”
"Yes Yes of course. I just…I think I need a break.”
"From what?" Leonardo looked at Casey and then at all the people around him and suddenly understood the problem. “From the crowd?”
Casey nodded. “I'm sorry sensei-”
“Woah, Case, you have nothing to apologize for,” Leo smiled before nodding towards the exit. "Follow me. Let's go for a walk.”
“But…what about the party?”
“They'll be fine without us for a while,” he replied. "Come on."
Casey grabbed his hockey stick and followed his sensei out. They walked in silence most of the way. It didn't bother him though. He certainly needed to calm down his thoughts, which were one big chaos. After about an hour, Leonardo stopped at the top of one of the destroyed buildings and sat on the edge of its roof. Casey did the same.
The day was ending and they watched the sun slowly set. Finally, Casey looked at Leonardo thoughtfully. “How did you know I needed to be away from everyone?”
Sensei also looked towards Casey. “You remind me of each of my brothers in a way. After all, we all raised you together,” he smiled at him. “Apparently you're just as introverted as your uncle.”
“Hm,” Casey went back to watching the sunset for a moment. “Do I have anything that reminds you of my mom?”
Leo lost his smile a little at this question, but he didn't get rid of it completely. “Your courage. Loyalty. Honor…a strange love for burnt potatoes…”
"Heyi!" Casey laughed at the last answer and pushed the sensei playfully. “Throwing them away is a wasted meal and they're not that bad!” Leonardo shrugged, laughing as well.
“I won't delve into your culinary tastes, but I will definitely silently judge you every time I see them on your plate.”
After a moment of laughing, they stood up from the edge of the roof and Casey hugged his sensei. "Thank you… for everything."
“Of course.” Leonardo hugged him back. “Happy birthday Case.”
________________
After returning, the party was still going on, but Casey decided to go to bed. Leonardo didn't try to stop him and wished him a good night and then went to see how everyone was doing. After about an hour, everyone realized that Casey was no longer among them, so the party slowly ended. Everyone returned to their rooms and other resting places. The only ones left with Leonardo were his two brothers.
Mikey grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floor of all the debris. “I guess the birthday was a success?”
“There were a few people who thought it was a waste of resources,” Donnie muttered. “I had to exchange a few words with them to get them to shut up.”
“I think everyone needed a little fun. "Not only Casey but everyone in the resistance had a really rough year," Leo said. “I don't even remember the last time we organized something like this.”
“About two years ago,” Donnie replied, looking at the data from his wrist device.
“Exactly,” Leo nodded. “Don't worry, Don. Not everyone can understand this. And they don’t have to anyway.”
“This was also necessary for survival,” smiled Mikey. “Oh, you won't even believe how nice it was to see everyone so happy and so…devoid of any worries.”
—-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Not everyone can [kshhhh]. And they don’t have to anyway.”
“..devoid of [ksshhhhh] worries”
Krang had been listening intently to the communicator for several weeks. Since his brother finally returned from his journey to the other side of the globe, they managed to repair the recently found communicator, which still had a drop of dried blood from the red turtle it belonged to. The communicator was signed on the back with the name 'Raph'.
He wondered for a long time how to make the resistance unable to defend itself against a mass attack. He single-handedly killed one of their strongest leaders, and even after that, they managed to pick themselves up as if nothing had happened.
No.
They came back even stronger than ever before. Full of hope and determination .
Pathetic.
Krang was unable to hear every word, which made many sentences seem meaningless. He couldn't decipher their plans or their next moves. However, there was one word, no,
a name
, that was said countless times.
Casey
.
An idea appeared in Krang's mind. If this 'Casey' is so important to the entire resistance, perhaps it's worth getting to know him better. Perhaps killing was not an answer after all.
Breaking and returning
however is a whole different concept.
Krang smiled.
It was time to plan another surprise attack.