Raphael watched as Leo dozed off on the couch with his head in Raph's lap in the middle of their movie. Machi sat curled behind Leo's knees and looked comfortable enough to fall into sleep at any moment herself. Even Akito had momentarily given up sulking in his room to join them on this rare day that both of their parents were home in the middle of the day, and had sprawled himself out on the armchair next to them.
Raphael let his eyes roam lazily over his family members as the fingers on one hand traced over the patterns in Leo's shell. His other hand held his T-phone and he sat trying to figure out how to tell Casey and April that he was going to quit working in the garage. With Leo injured and home recovering, they didn't expect him in today, or for the next few days probably, which bought him some time.
He wasn't purposely trying to stall, though, and he had zero doubts about his decision to quit and be with Leo, but he'd been working in that garage with them for almost fourteen years now and he owed it to them to give them the news sooner rather than later. They would need to make arrangements, whether that be Mona full-time or something else, so that the business didn't suffer.
"Hey, pops," Akito said, quietly, not wanting to disrupt his dad or Machi, who had fallen asleep finally with her head resting on top of Leo's legs.
Raph pulled himself away from his thoughts and nodded silently in response to his son.
Akito paused. Now that he had his father's attention, he was suddenly nervous. But he figured his pops would understand, maybe even more than his dad. "I can't stand not knowing where Violet is," he said. He spoke slowly, keeping his voice low. "Or if she's okay. I know you'd both kill me if I left to try to find her. And the truth is, I wouldn't even know where to start. But I feel pretty useless just sitting here."
Raphael considered his son's sad face. "Well, it probably wont make ya feel better, but yer right," he finally said, matching Akito's quiet tone. "We would kill ya if ya ran off suddenly."
Akito pursed his lips into a straight line and remained silent, waiting.
Raph sighed and looked down at his sleeping Leonardo. When Leo went missing, Raph found him. He always found him. This was slightly different, though, since Violet hadn't been taken. Although, the situation still made Raphael want to rip Usagi's ears from his head for leaving Akito and Leo to worry. That was probably not the sentiment to mention to their son, however.
"I know ya miss her. I know it. But she's not exactly missin. We don't know that she's in danger. She's with her uncle and he has the right to call upon his family to help him do whatever it is that he does." Raphael wasn't exactly sure what Usagi did, mainly because he never cared enough to ask. "I'm sure she'll call as soon as she's home."
Akito's eyes dropped back to his lap and Raph cringed inwardly, knowing that although he'd given the correct, grown-up-answer, it was the wrong teenager-answer. He knew that if he was in Akito's position, the only thing he'd want to hear would be: Gear up.
"I know it stinks," he offered.
Akito nodded and stood quietly before leaving to lock himself away in his room.
Raphael watched him go, desperately trying to think of something to say that would bring him back and keep the four of them sitting together. His attention was drawn away from Akito's door though as he felt Leo's head shift and suddenly those blue eyes were staring up at him.
"Don't feel bad, Raph," Leo whispered.
Raphael smirked down at Leo and Leo's ability to read his thoughts. He glanced down at Machi and found her still sleeping comfortably against Leo's legs.
"He came to me specifically and I can't do jack shit to help."
"He came to you because he's knows what a strong protector you are," Leo whispered back. "And he's going to be one as well." Leo leaned into Raph's hand as he felt Raph's thumb run down the side of his face. "But this problem is out of our hands. At least until I get my hands on Usagi," he said with a frown.
"Hey, you keep yer hands off that damn rabbit."
Leo chuckled out silent laughter before whispering back, "Sorry, Takara. Poor choice of words."
Leo watched as Raphael paused at their door and made a show of checking to see if he had his bike keys on him.
"Yer sure yer okay with me leavin?" he called over to Leo once he'd dug the keys out of his jacket pocket.
"We're just going to sit here and watch another movie," Leo said with a yawn. Akito had rejoined them and he currently had a fox tucked into his two sides. Well, as tucked as Akito could manage considering he was now much taller than Leo, but Leo appreciated the effort.
He wasn't going to tell Raphael, but his head still hurt and he gratefully felt himself begin to sink into another nap, aided by the warmth provided by the kids. He glanced over at Raphael again, though, and struggled to stay awake so he could figure out what was causing Raph's hesitation. "Be right back," he whispered to the kids and pushed himself to stand so he could limp over to where Raph stood.
He nodded to the door as he approached and Raph opened it and stepped out into the hallway with Leo.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Leo asked.
"No," Raph said. "I just don't want to leave you here."
"You want me to go with you?"
"No, ya need to rest."
Leo smiled and wisely kept his thoughts about how adorable Raphael was as a mother hen to himself.
"Well, they live pretty close to us," Leo said, gesturing with one hand in the direction of Casey and April's apartment door. "You could wait till they come home."
Raph shook his head again, ignoring Leo's smug smile. "I don't want to associate this conversation with their apartment. Plus, I should probably grab some of my stuff and bring it home."
"So go," Leo said with emphasis now that he was pretty sure he'd run through all the reasons Raph was stalling.
Raph nodded and ran a hand down Leo's arm until he could grasp Leo's fingers within his own. "Promise to keep off that ankle and ask the kids to get ya what ya need?"
Leo nodded.
"I'll make dinner as soon as I get home."
Leo nodded again, although he quickly regretted it as it sent a wave of pain across his forehead. He kept his face smooth however and gratefully slid his eyes shut as Raphael leaned forward to kiss him goodbye.
He watched Raphael disappear into the elevator and was about to head back into their apartment when the stairwell door suddenly opened and his five bunny students, followed by Usagi, slowly moved into his hallway.
Leo's immediate happiness to see them again was tampered, however, by their downcast faces. Not one of his young students was making eye contact with him. And Usagi looked irritated.
"Leonardo," Usagi said upon seeing him in the hallway. "May I have a word?"
Leo watched as some of the bunnies seemed to flinch under the harsh tone. He didn't say anything in return, just knocked on his own apartment door.
Akito answered a moment later with a confused expression that quickly disappeared when he saw the hallway full of bunnies, and Leo watched him zero in on Violet in particular.
"Can you bring me my crutches?" Leo asked him. "And then see if your friends would like something to eat while I talk to their uncle in the dojo?"
Akito nodded eagerly and held the door open further to allow the bunnies to enter. Violet's eyes rose to meet Akito's as she passed before lowering just as quickly. He moved quickly to retrieve his dad's crutches and hand them off to him before corralling the group into the kitchen. Machi quickly joined them as well and began helping Akito pull out snacks and drinks for the sullen, abnormally quiet bunnies.
Akito stared at all of them as they ate in silence. He looked to Machi who shrugged at him in confusion. Unable to stand this crappy reunion any longer, he grabbed Violet's hand and pulled her away from the group and into his bedroom. He shut the door behind them before swinging her around and into his arms for a hug. Her arms quickly found their place around his middle as she pressed her face into his shoulder.
"I've been so worried, Vi," he said.
She lifted her face from his shoulder so that she could look at him. "Uncle Usagi said we were going on a mission with him but we weren't allowed to tell anyone. Not even you or Master Leonardo," she whispered to him quickly. "I'm so sorry, Akito. I hated not telling you. And then we left our dimension and I had no way to contact you. And then -," she cut herself off and lowered her eyes again.
He cupped her face and pulled it up so that she was looking at him again. "Are you okay Violet?" Her eyes were sad and it tugged at him. He quickly lowered his face to hers and kissed her before she could even attempt to answer. He could see that she wasn't okay. Just like her siblings, his friends, weren't okay either.
She squeezed him tighter and kissed him in return. She'd thought about this while she was away. Thought about just being back with Akito where she always felt safe. Akito pulled away from her too soon and she was again faced with his questioning face.
"What happened?"
Violet bit her low lip and hesitated. "I'm not allowed to tell you," she said finally. She watched his face shift into honest confusion and even a hint of betrayal that made her stomach hurt. She grabbed at his arms, forbidding him from pulling any further away from her. "I almost don't want you to know," she said. "It wasn't like the patrols you and your family run."
Frustration covered Usagi's face and he didn't attempt small talk as the two rode the elevator upstairs. Usagi pushed the dojo door open and tromped inside, although he held the door open for Leo and his crutches to pass through before turning away from him to pace the floor.
Leo waited in silence. He wanted to know what had happened and he especially wanted to know why his bunny students appeared so upset. He briefly thought about sending Raph a text about their visitors but decided against it. Raph would turn right around and come home and he knew Raph wanted to get his conversation with Casey and April over with already. He sighed as he waited for Usagi to pull it together and begin talking.
Usagi's ear twitched at the sound of the sigh and he finally turned towards Leo.
"When I asked you to train my nieces and nephews, I expected to choose one of them as my successor. You remember that?" Usagi asked angrily. He didn't wait for Leo's nod before he continued. "But you wanted to train them as a team and I foolishly allowed it because I wanted you to continue training them. I also didn't pull them when I could see that you were not only training them as a team, but you were training an outsider as their leader." Usagi scowled. He knew it was also his own desire to remain within Leonardo's world that had prevented him from saying this before. But that was also before this botched mission was on his record.
"What are you trying to say, Usagi?" Leo asked, his frustration growing as he could sense Usagi was about to complain about Akito.
"That since I've been forced to accept all of them as a team, that I expected to see them working as a team when I took them out on this mission. But apparently they're incapable without that damn fox son of yours."
Leo bristled in irritaton at Usagi's harsh words regarding his son and the team he'd created. "Exactly what kind of mission did you bring them on?" Leo asked, letting his own anger show. He knew how capable the bunnies were in action, so even if they'd had to adjust, Leo found it hard to believe that they had been completely lost without Akito. "And how could you just disappear with them like that? You had to know how worried the rest of us would be, especially Akito."
"The type of mission we were on is none of your concern," Usagi said, narrowing his eyes at the blue-clad turtle. "And in case you forgot, I'm allowed to take them anywhere I want. Your approval is not required. Not to mention the fact that you don't currently wish to speak to me."
"I'm always willing to speak to you about my students," Leo countered. He watched Usagi practically roll his eyes and stare off across the large room. "Then why show up now?" Leo asked angrily.
Usagi scowled back in return. "I agreed to give them a chance to say goodbye."