Ch 21 And a Revelation.

A moment later, Leo and Raph stepped out of the transporter room and made their way to the same courtroom where Leo had been only twenty-four hours earlier. "It's weird," Leo muttered as they walked, "It hasn't even been a week since I woke up and so much has already happened."

"Life doesn't tend to slow down for you, does it Fearless?" Raph asked.

"Fearless?" Leo looked at him in bemusement, "What's that name all about?"

"Like I said before, I've seen how you are," Raph chuckled, "You face the unknown fearlessly, and I think that is a nickname that suits you," He nodded toward Leo, "Just like that blue looks better on you than black ever will."

Leo nodded absentmindedly, "You know Raph, sometimes I think life could be so much easier if I knew everything that was going to happen. If the unknown could be obliterated, I wouldn't have to be afraid of it. Then I could finally know what it feels like to be truly fearless."

"Deep Leo," Raph muttered, "Very deep."

As they continued down the hallway, they could see Splinter, Donnie, Mikey, Slash and Bishop standing just outside the courtroom door.

"What's with the welcoming committee?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure," Raph responded, "Let's ask them."

Before Leo could question any of them, Splinter walked over to him, "Before we go inside and speak with the High Council," He said, "I believe Vice President Bishop would like a moment of your time, Leonardo."

"But Mr. President…."

"Please Leonardo," Bishop walked over to him, "It is very important and you really need to hear this."

Leo huffed in annoyance and nodded toward him, "Go ahead, tell me whatever you think is so important that it's going to make up for what you, Baxter and Griffin did to me."

"Maybe it won't make up for what's happened to you, Leonardo," Bishop said as he looked toward Slash, "But it might put things more in perspective for you," He held his hand out as Slash stepped forward, "Do you have the picture Mr. Slash?"

"Right here sir," Slash removed a photo, yellowed and wrinkled with age, out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Like I tried to tell you earlier," He said handing the picture to Leo, "It's about Lotus," He watched as Leo cautiously took the picture in his hands and looked at it with slowly widening eyes, "After NASA announced your disappearance, Lotus spoke with the NASA personnel department. I found out later she had wanted to know what recourse she had if you two had been a family before you left," Everyone watched as Leo's jaw slacked opened and stare in shock at the picture, "Since it wasn't my department, I didn't think much about at the time and it wasn't until I was told you had been found that I decided everything needed to be told," He pointed to the picture, "And I think this picture will explain everything."

"This is my great, great, great, great, great grandparents wedding picture," Slash told them as everyone looked over Leo's shoulder to see a picture of a light green skin turtle with green eyes in a wedding dress standing next to a very large spiked turtle in a tuxedo and standing in between them was a much smaller turtle with blue eyes also dressed in a tuxedo.

"Hey!" Mikey cried out and brought his right hand up, he pushed a button on his sleeve and everyone watched as the picture he had scanned that first night in Leo's room appeared above his hand, "That's the same female turtle that's in this picture."

"Yes Michelangelo," Bishop said as he looked over the picture on Mikey's scanner, "But there is so much more to tell."

"I…I don't understand?" Leo whispered, "I thought everything was destroyed?" He looked up at Bishop angrily, "Is this some kind of trick!?" He demanded, "Did you make this up to try and ….and do what? Confuse me!" He shook his head. "How could Slash have this if the Kraang destroyed all the buildings in every city?"

"Yes Leonardo," Bishop nodded calmly, "While it is true that many buildings were destroyed when the bombs first went off, other things were not," He waved his hand at the picture, "And I'm sure many of the inhabitants that survived the first attack attempted to go back to their homes to find whatever they could in the way of mementos and other reminders that would help keep their past alive for future generations."

"Much like Yoshi's memory box," Splinter stated as Leo continued to stare down at the wedding picture.

"Leo," Donnie looked at Leo as his eyes glazed over and he suddenly looked much greener then before, "Who is this?"

Everyone watched in concern as Leo, who looked like he just got punched in the stomach, staggered back and leaned against the wall, "It's my fiance and one of my co-workers from NASA," He told them as he dropped the picture. He shook his head as his breathing came in gasps while attempting to take in everything he was now learning, "She married Spike?" He whispered as he attempted to catch his breath, "And they had a baby?"

"No Leonardo," Bishop picked up the picture and looked it over, "She had a baby, and then two years later, she married Spike," Leo looked up at him in shock, "She didn't want anyone to know and I didn't realize it at the time, even after Spike announced he was leaving NASA I really didn't think anything of it since I wasn't in control of personnel but," He picked up the picture and pointed to the small turtle, "The child in this picture is about three years old."

A sudden look of dawning crossed Leo's face, "OH MY GOD!" He suddenly cried out, he put his hand over his mouth and attempted to hold back the sobs that were erupting hard from his throat, "She was pregnant, and…and with MY child!" He looked at Bishop with a mixture of emotions crossing his face, "But…. She never said anything to my father?" He looked from one mutant to the other and shook his head as tears continued to run down his face, "Why?!"

"NASA surmised you may have been abducted again by the Kraang and I suppose it is possible she may have been afraid for her child if the inhabitants of Earth or the Kraang knew of you having a child," Bishop mused, "Although I can't say for certain if that is the reason she chose not to let anyone know, I can say that..." Bishop placed a hand tenderly on Leo's shoulder, "I do remember how scared she was when she learned of your disappearance and, I also remember it was Spike who was there for her….." Leo looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, "And your son."

"I had a son?" Leo whispered, staring hard at the floor.

"And your son, as well as his children and future grandchildren, became an intricate part in dealing with the Kraang when they first invaded fifty years after you disappeared," Bishop told him proudly, "In fact, when our paths crossed, I knew your son as Captain Leonardo Snapper," Bishop waited a moment for Leo to take in the information.

"That was Spike's last name," Leo whispered, he looked up at Slash, "Is that your last name too?"

"We haven't used last names in decades Leo," Donnie explained, "After the bombs went off, families were separated and mutants sprang up everywhere so it just seemed pointless."

Bishop nodded, "Unfortunately, I never got to speak with Lotus regarding all that happened with her after NASA announced your disappearance but…." Bishop nodded, "Because he looked so much like you I had to do a little digging and I discovered this," He handed Leo a long white envelope; "One of them is a forgery," He told him with finality.

Leo cautiously opened the envelope and gasped. Inside were two birth certificates and Leo noted on the first one, the mother's name was Lotus Blossom while the father's name was his, but on the second the father's name showed Spikes'.

"Leonardo Snapper always knew Spike as his father," Bishop continued, "Even though Lotus named him after you."

"But Mr. Vice President," Slash stepped forward, "My family was always told that the boy in this picture was adopted."

Bishop nodded, "He was adopted," He stated, "Your ancestor adopted him after he and Lotus were married," He turned back to Leo, "I don't know if he ever knew about you but I was proud to serve with him as well as his future generations."

"I had a son," Leo whispered again, "And I had grandchildren and they had…" He looked up at Bishop, "What happened to them?" He demanded, "What happened to Lotus and Spike and….and all of them?"

"Even if the Kraang's chemicals did not affect the mutants like it did the humans; it did change life drastically for them and many of the elderly were not able to survive like the younger ones could," Bishop shook his head sadly, "After several years of living underground and dealing with the chemicals, many of them perished."

"And what about my son?" Leo asked anxiously, "And...and all the others that came after him?"

Bishop lowered his eyes, "Your son fought bravely against the Kraang and gave his life trying to get the humans out of Dimension X," Bishop told him sadly, "I still mourn him and all the mutants that didn't survive to this day."

"He…..He di…" Leo choked on the words as all the information continued to sink in.

"And your grandchildren along with their off-springs helped defeat the Kraang in the first invasion," Bishop told him proudly, "Many of your descendants went on to live full lives but unfortunately procreation was not possible," His eyes looked from one turtle to the other, "But that did not stop one descendant from trying to have children with his mate."

"So wait, what you're saying is I have great, great, great, great, great grand-children?" Leo looked at Bishop in amazement as the Utrom nodded to him, "Well, where are they?" He demanded, "Are they still here on Earth or did they go to one of the other planets that the humans were located to?" He looked around wildly as he thought of the possibility of still having family somewhere nearby, "And what about other possible relatives, are they still alive as well?"

"I'm afraid your fourth generation grandson died in a shuttlecraft accident, Leonardo," Bishop noticed the other turtles and Splinter look at him in surprise, "But like his ancestors before them, your fifth generation grand-children also fought hard to defeat the Kraang," He coaxed Leo's head to turn toward the other turtles, "And you have been fighting right alongside them all this time," He told him, nodding to the other three turtles that were staring at Leo in disbelief.

"WHAT!?" The three brothers cried out.

"Leo is our great, great, great, great, great grandfather?" Mikey said with wide eyes.

"I don't believe it!" Raph exclaimed, "This is incredible!" He took the picture from Bishop and stared hard it at, "All this time we were fighting right alongside one of our ancestors and we never knew!"

"Leo," Mikey jumped up and down, "This means we're family," He started laughing, "And now you have a reason more than ever to stay with us!"

"This is so amazing!" Donnie cried out, "I can't believe it...there's so much I want to ask you and want to show you as well as you show us and..and..." Donnie took a breath, "I think my head is going to explode!" He said breathlessly as he wiped the tears that were flowing down his cheeks.

Leo looked from one turtle to the others in disbelief, "I can't believe I didn't see it," He whispered, "Why didn't I see it before?" He looked at Raph, "You have her eyes," He looked at Donnie, "You're tall and like she, so intelligent," He shook his head, "And Mikey, you have her laugh and happy attitude," He ran a hand over his face and shook his head in disbelief, "You all act so much like her why didn't I see it before?"

Splinter put a paw on Leo's shoulder, "You have been so overwhelmed with so much, Leonardo," He told him gently, "No one can blame you for not taking the time to stop and see what was right in front of you."

Leo nodded and wiped his face as emotions overwhelmed him, "You're so right Master Splinter," Leo responded with a teary eyed smile.

"GRANDPA!" Mikey suddenly shouted and leaped into the older turtles arms while everyone around them laughed joyfully, "See guys," Mikey looked at his brothers as the others gathered around and hugged Leo tightly, "I told you he looked like us and I was right, wasn't I?" He pulled away and smiled proudly, "Wasn't I grandpa?"

Through the tears, Leo laughed, "Yes you were Mikey," He agreed as he hugged them hard. After a few moments of basking in the glow of his family's warmth, he stepped back and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder, "But keep in mind even though I've been in stasis for almost five hundred years, I still feel like I'm only thirty seven so how bout we stick with Leo or Leonardo instead of grandpa?"

Everyone smiled as Mikey agreed happily, "You got it gramps…uh…Leo."

"So Leo," Donnie smiled down at him, "This means you are going to stay now, right?"

Leo looked from Donnie to Raph and smiled, "I told Raph earlier that I've been thinking too much about the past," He told them, "But I also told him I was afraid of losing my future the way I did back in 2012 and because of that I wasn't sure if I wanted to put down roots here," He ran a hand gently over Mikey's cheek, "But now I know I already have roots here and I don't want to waste time being afraid of what I might lose," he looked to Donnie and nodded, "So yeah Don, I want to stay, and I want to get to know my family."

"And we want to get to know you too Leo," Raph said with a shaky voice.

The turtles laughed and once again brought each other into a hug, "Well alright!" Mikey yelled, "It's time to party!"

Leo laughed and held his hand up, "High three everyone!" He exclaimed excitedly, everyone looked at Leo in bewilderment and the blue eyed turtle huffed, "There is so much I need to teach you guys." He held his hand up again, "Slap my hand up high guys," He instructed. The other brought their hands up and, laughing, the three turtles high threed each other.

After a few moments of celebrating, Raph looked from Leo to Slash, "You know Slash, this means you're also related to us."

Slash smiled at the three brothers, "I have always felt a kinship toward you," He smiled at Bishop, "Thank you for clearing this up for all of us Mr. Vice President."

The group talked excitedly and Leo looked at Bishop, "Yes Mr. Vice President," He said as he held his hand toward him, "I guess I owe you my thanks as well as an apology."

"It's alright Leonardo," Bishop said as they shook hands, "I could never blame you for feeling the way you did."

Leo nodded then looked toward the courtroom door when it started to open. Everyone looked to see Admiral Leatherhead peeking out at them, "Did you have a chance to speak with Leonardo Mr. Vice President?" he asked.

"Yes Admiral," Bishop nodded, "Is it time?"

Leatherhead opened the door wider and beckoned for everyone to enter the room, "They are waiting for you Leonardo," He said, stepping aside to allow the captain to walk in first.

Leo looked back at the others, "Thanks for everything guys," He told them, "No matter what happens now, it's nice to know I've been with family all this time," he took a deep breath, "Well, let's get this over with," he said and walked into the courtroom with everyone following behind.

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Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, and to all of you who guessed that Raph, Donnie and Mikey were descendants of Lotus and Leo, great job. I guess my stories are becoming too predictable or I need to start changing my theme. Also to guest, I hadn't thought of doing a sequel to this particular story but I did have some one-shots based on the space turtles from season 4 of the 2012 series that I may try to get to. One more chapter, thanks and peace :)

P.S. But if anyone would like to continue this story or any of my stories, I give my expressed permission to do so, just please let me know so I can read the story too. :)