AN: yukio87 and tmntsurviver: I'm glad you appreciated the chapter! Thanks for letting me know!
Techno Dawn: Indeed. I wonder if the others will make the job easier for him… Thanks for reviewing!
Miraculous Pink Ninja: It's not pre-made, so don't be disappointed when I won't be able to update that quickly and enjoy it while it lasts! ;)
Pancake: Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree with you, Leo needs more weapons. And I must say he didn't think about the poor people watching TV, ahah!
Jokermask18: Thank you! It means a lot to me to know that this story is appreciated. :)
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They ran until they arrived at the lair. Michelangelo was here, watching TV on the couch. As soon as he saw them arrive, he jumped on his feet.
"Guys! What happened?"
He noticed Donatello's pale skin and the bump on his head.
"Donnie! Are you hurt?"
Raphael caught his breath. The tension of the recent events, the exhaustion of the fight and run, his anxiety for his purple-clad brother and his own helplessness got the better of the red-clad turtle. His temper snapped and he lashed out at the only target he wasn't afraid to hurt.
"It's your fault!" He shouted at Leonardo, jumping at him and sending a powerful kick in his plastron.
Leonardo hadn't been expecting it and didn't dodge in time. He doubled up in pain and sidestepped to avoid the next assault of Raphael, still in a rage.
"Raph! Stop it!" Casey exclaimed, launching himself at his friend to prevent him from attacking again.
"It's…his…fault!" Raphael panted. "I warned him!"
"Snap out of it, dude!" Casey shouted. "In case you didn't notice, he probably saved Donnie's life back there, and he certainly saved mine!"
Raphael paused, still breathing heavily. Michelangelo had put an arm around Donatello's shoulders and was sitting him on the couch with the gentleness of an experienced nurse. He sat down next to his brother, watching the others with a stern expression.
"What happened?"
Leonardo straightened up, groaning. Whatever the universe, Raph knows how to throw a punch, he thought wryly. When is he going to understand that I'm not the enemy?
Raphael clenched his fists and turned over to face Michelangelo.
"What happened? What happened?" He spat. "Hun happened! He attacked us with more Purple Dragons than I had ever seen and he…" He abruptly stopped, finally noticing that Donatello hadn't uttered a word since they had fled the battlefield. His anger receded, leaving only the anxiety.
"Donnie… Are you alright?" Raphael asked hesitantly.
"What is going on here?" An ominous voice asked, and everyone turned around to face a very distressed Master Splinter.
The giant rat looked at each of them in turn. He watched Casey still locking Raphael in a restraining embrace. He frowned at Raphael's stiff posture and at his clenched fists. He glared at Leonardo, who had his hands still clasping his aching stomach. He observed Michelangelo, whose arm was still around Donatello's shoulders. Finally, his eyes rested on his purple-clad son, still sitting motionless and in a state of shock. Splinter's ears twitched.
"Donatello, my son," he called softly, kneeling beside his son. "Talk to me."
Donatello slowly raised his head at him.
"Father," he answered, his voice thick with repressed emotion. "Father, he knows… who she is…"
Splinter briefly closed his eyes, obviously relieved that his purple-clad son wasn't in a catatonic state. He rested his palm on his shoulder and turned his gaze back at Raphael, Casey and Leonardo.
"I want to know what happened," he stated calmly. "In detail."
Raphael swallowed hard and Casey finally let him go to better hide behind him. Leonardo forced his hands to rest at his sides. In his own world, he would have been the one to report to Splinter what happened in a battle. But in this world, he was unsure as to what to do. He looked at Raphael and waited for him to speak first.
Raphael snorted, obviously uneasy to be the focus of everyone's attention.
"Why don't you ask him?" He said derisively, indicating Leonardo.
Nice, Raph, Leonardo thought wryly. He sighed. Let's get this over with.
Splinter was now glaring at him. Leonardo could hear the repressed anger and worry behind his calm tone when he asked him.
"Tell me, Leonardo. What happened to my sons?"
Leonardo took a few seconds to steady himself and sort his thoughts. He reported calmly.
"Donatello and I had been investigating the place where I landed in this world. We were returning to the lair when we met Raphael." The blue-clad turtle left behind the fact that Raphael had been stalking them and that he himself had thrown a shuriken at him. No need to aggravate the situation, he thought. "We had a… discussion, and Casey joined us soon after."
Leonardo pretended not to notice Splinter's raised brow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Michelangelo had brought a first-aid kit and was bandaging Donatello's head.
"That's when Hun and a group of Purple Dragons attacked," the blue-clad turtle went on.
Leonardo knew that Splinter would want to know how Hun had found them. They were supposed to be ninja. Stealth was supposed to be a second nature to them. Well, I can't really tell him that Donnie and Raph were shouting at each other, right? Or that I was enjoying myself immensely watching them. And technically, the Purple Dragons followed Casey who followed Raph who followed Donnie who was with me. It's everybody's fault, so it's no one's, he tried to convince himself.
Leonardo quickly went on, not wanting to let Splinter time to think about it.
"They had exoskeletons. We fought them, but Hun managed to hit Donnie. We fled and came back here."
He stopped. It was one of the less detailed reports he had ever made. Leonardo knew that if he had been in front of his own father, his fingers would have been fidgeting and his voice would have been slightly higher-pitched than usual at the thought of concealing so much from him. But it wasn't his own world, it wasn't his own father, and Leonardo was too exhausted to think twice about it. In front of him, Raphael didn't add anything. He probably wasn't very proud of his stalking-followed-by-fighting-his-sibling act and had no wish for his father to know about it.
Splinter didn't seem entirely convinced though, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Donatello's voice spoke first.
"You said her name was April. How? How can you know her?"
The purple-clad turtle had obviously recovered from his earlier shock. He stood up and moved to face Leonardo, oblivious to everybody else in the room.
"I want…no…I need to know everything you can tell me about her."
Leonardo sighed.
"Can we sit down? It's quite a long story."
And so Leonardo ended up telling them who his April was. He told them her full name, that his father was a scientist, that the Kraang in his world had tried to abduct her and that his brothers and he had saved her. He added that she had psychic powers but left behind the fact that she was partly Kraang. This story is crazy enough as it is, he thought. He also didn't tell them that she was training as a kunoichi under Master Splinter's guidance. No need to rub it in.
Donatello took notes from the beginning to the end.
"April O'Neil," he muttered thoughtfully. "And Kirby O'Neil. With these names alone, I can begin to work. Thank you, Leo," he added sincerely.
"You're welcome," Leonardo sighed.
He tilted his head. Donatello was chewing his pen, observing him with an inscrutable gaze.
"So in your world, you did manage to help her," the purple-clad turtle finally whispered. The anguish in his voice made Leonardo wince.
Michelangelo reacted immediately and threw his arms around his brother's shoulders.
"It wasn't your fault, Donnie," he told him fervently. "There was nothing more you could have done."
Donatello's shoulders sagged.
"I know it here, Mikey…" The purple-clad turtle pointed at his head. "But I don't know it here," he finished, pointing at his heart.
Master Splinter sighed. He had remained silent with the others, listening carefully to the blue-clad turtle.
"We already went through this, my son."
Donatello lowered his head.
"I know, Sensei. And I had accepted it, but now…" His gaze hardened. "Now I have been given another chance, and this time I won't fail."
Leonardo noticed the concerned glances that Splinter, Michelangelo and Raphael exchanged. Raph told me that Donnie had been depressed, he remembered. I hope I didn't make things worse by telling him who April is.
Master Splinter shook his head.
"And I'm sure that you will use this chance wisely, my son. But for now, it is time for all of you to go to bed. And for Casey to go home," he added with a nod in the teenager's direction.
Casey took the hint and stood up.
"Bye, guys. Goodbye, Master Splinter. See you tomorrow, Raph," he said before leaving.
Donatello tried to head for his lab instead of his bedroom, but Raphael calmly blocked his path.
"No way, genius. You won't be of any help if you can't keep your eyes open."
As Donatello was beginning to protest, he took him by the arm and began dragging him into his room.
Splinter watched them leave.
"I'll need to meditate about tonight's events," he said. Without another word, he left for his own room.
Michelangelo and Leonardo stayed alone in the living room.
Leonardo smiled tiredly at the orange-clad turtle.
"Goodnight, then. See you in the morning," he said.
Michelangelo muttered something vague without looking at him.
"Mikey?" Leonardo asked hesitantly. "Is something the matter?"
The orange-clad turtle suddenly raised his head and looked at him fiercely. Leonardo glimpsed tears in his eyes.
"Is something the matter? Is something the matter? Do you have any idea how it was to see Donnie so depressed all these months? And now he may very well relapse!" Michelangelo wiped his eyes with irritation. "Why did you have to come here? I don't want him to go through this again, I don't!"
"Mikey!" Leonardo exclaimed. His heart ached.
He tried to grasp Michelangelo's arm, but the orange-clad turtle evaded him and ran away from the room. A few seconds later, Leonardo heard his bedroom's door slam.
The blue-clad turtle closed his eyes to prevent his own tears from escaping. I'm sorry, Mikey, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, he thought. Rationally, he knew that it wasn't really his fault. But like Donnie had said, he knew it in his head, not in his heart.
Shaking, Leonardo made for his improvised bedroom.
Why am I even here? Why? He thought in the darkness of the room which had never belonged to a Leonardo.