"Hey, guys!" April's voice cut across the atrium, and Raph's head snapped up from where he was doing origami with Donatello, a smile bursting across his face as he gave her a wave.

"I'm grabbing some pizza," she continued, "since the Mikes are busy, and Donnie's craving. I'm getting double the usual for all ya'll, so… send me a text if you need anything. And I don't have Mayhem for quick delivery, so I don't know how hot it's gonna be when I get back, so be ready for eating immediately."

"That sounds great!" Raph encouraged, giving her a thumbs up. "Thanks, April, we owe you! We'll be in the kitchen when you get back, promise!"

"No problem, big guy!" April beamed, sparing a glance over his head at something on the other end of the atrium, and then turned back towards him and blew him a teasing kiss, giving one last roll of her wrist as she pivoted on her heel to strode away. "Cya later, boys!"

"Bye!" Donatello returned brightly.

Raph let his attention drift back to the origami in hand, smiling proudly down at the half-folded crane. He was enjoying the mindless, simple task. He felt half bad that he was focusing on it rather than on Leo, but… It felt nice between his fingers and it kept him occupied.

"Hey, um," Raph huffed out, glancing up at Donatello. "Thanks for showing me how to do this. It's pretty relaxing." He creased the paper how Donatello had showed him, the process freshly memorized.

Donatello stared at him for a long moment, not saying anything until Raph peeked up at him to see what was happening. At his questioning gaze, Donatello jolted. "Heh, sorry! I'm just not used to Raphael being so blunt with his gratitude. Anyway, it's no problem at all, I'm just glad you're more open to direction then Raphael."

Raph preened under the praise, then realized he hadn't seen Raphael since… probably seven paper cranes ago. He jolted, snapping his head around to try to find his counterpart, and spotted him on the other end of the atrium with the Leos.

Despite facing Raph, Leon's eyes didn't slide over to his oldest brother like they normally did, instead pointing his full attention to the movements Leonardo made towards Raphael. Their counterparts' movements towards one another were almost lightning-fast, and Raph was hardly able to track their movements.

From watching, Raph could figure out that Leonardo was on defense, but he parried each of Raphael's movements with a practiced ease that made Raph suspect that if it was a sparring match, their skill level would be evenly matched. Compared to Raph's family, where Raph won easily no matter who he spared by simply pinning them with his weight, it was a sharp contrast. Raph wasn't sure if it was welcome or not.

"How long have they been…" Raph gestured towards them, keeping his gaze on Leon and how wide-eyed and intent his little brother looked, following Leonardo's movements. He cringed as he watched Raphael make contact with the blue-clad turtle. "...training?"

"Oh, that." Donatello replied, somehow sounding surprised and bored at the same time, rolling his eyes and inclining his head towards his brothers, but let his stare fixate on Raph. "It's been about fifteen minutes. Didn't you notice?"

Raph shook his head. "Not… really? I noticed that Raphael… little Raph, the little man, had left, but, uh."

"Not immediately?" Donatello supplied, arching an eyebridge. At Raph's nod, he shrugged. "Yeah, that over there is pretty a-typical for us. I'm actually surprised they're not slamming each other into the ground right now. It's like neither of them are trying."

Raph rounded his attention back over, frowning as he watched them fight. "They're not?! But they're fighting like… not out of a Lou Jitsu movie."

"You get your fighting style from movies?" Donatello blinked, cocking his head. "That would explain… quite a bit."

"Like what?" Raph asked, staring down at him.

"...nothing, nevermind." Donatello shook his head, returning his attention back down to the origami. His eyes drifted up after another second, not on his brothers like Raph's gaze was, but remained on Raph. "Okay, very odd question. But you are the… oldest of your brothers, right?"

"I thought that was a given?" Raph blinked, snapping his head over to Donatello and frowning. "Why? Isn't your Raph?

Donatello made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat, his entire head rolling with his eyes. "No." His expression folded into something of wonder, and he hummed out a breath. "He's the second oldest, actually. But you… You have the personality and actions to back up your age, even though you're only… what, fourteen?"

"Fifteen, actually." Raph chuckled anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck with a slight laugh. "Do… I look that young?"

"Maybe a little younger." Donatello conceded, his expression crumpling from one of humor to one of caution as he watched Raph's face clench. "No offense, but you… ah, you all seem pretty young. I'm surprised you're even allowed on the surface, but… at fifteen, I guess it makes sense that you are?"

"Are you the oldest out of your brothers?"

"What?" Donatello blinked, shock warping across his expression. A moment later he puffed up with pride. "No, I… Do I act like it?"

Raph shrugged, relaxing his features into a cheerful, more calm expression. "I don't know, I don't really pay attention to that stuff. You're just tall. You're the biggest out of your brothers, so… y'know."

"You base ages off of height?" Donatello balked, miffed as Raph nodded. "So… then that's the age order? You're clearly the oldest, and then it's less obvious who's next. Either… the Donnie or Leon - oh, that sounds off - and then Mikey's youngest. Of course he is, he always is, isn't he?"

"Yeah! Donnie first, then Leo." Raph reassured, finishing off the last of his paper crane and holding it up proudly. He hesitated for a moment, frowning down at Donatello. "Wait, so if little Raph's not the oldest, and you're not the oldest, and if Mikey's the youngest…?" Raph paused at the quirk of Donatello's eye bridge, daring him to go on. "Leo's the oldest?!"

"Nice deduction." Donatello said in a voice where Raph couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. His tones weren't as easy to read as Donnie's. "But, yeah, then Raphael, then myself, and finally Mikey. I guess our ages could technically be defined as a hierarchy, though that is weird to say. Just… how much responsibility we have within our group."

"Leo being the oldest." Raph repeated softly, staring vaguely over Donatello's head and not at the adult at all. "I mean, I guess that'd explain the whole… boss man thing he's got going on, but…I'm proud of him? For taking responsibility?"

"It's a good thing he's the responsible one." Donatello allowed, gathering up all the paper cranes they had made into his arms. "We wouldn't get anything done if he wasn't." He counted up the birds, humming under his breath. "Twenty-five cranes… not too bad. But I'm almost out of paper…"

Raph, successfully sidetracked, held out his left palm for Donnie to deposit them in, staring at the white birds quietly. "Twenty-five? Not bad? What're you talking about? We did great!"

"Sure," Donatello allowed, "but it's not even close to a thousand." At Raph's baffled expression, he sighed out a breath. "It's this old Japanese legend. Fold a thousand cranes, get a wish. I don't necessarily believe in it, but it gives me something to do with my hands, and, hey, with possession? Anything's possible. Especially since with different dimensions, there's different rules."

Raph nodded slowly, staring down at the cranes. "What will you wish for?"

"What else?" Donatello huffed, running a hand along his scalp. For the first time, Raph noticed how naked his forehead looked without goggles. "That we would be safe and finally free of Shredder. Well, it started off as just for Leon, with the first few, but it's not just him in trouble anymore, is it? Leonardo's going to get in over his head trying to help before we know it, if he isn't already, and we all know that when Leo jumps off the cliff, Raphael's going to follow. And where our two fearless leaders go… Mike and I are going, too." His gaze drifted up to Raph. "I assume you and your brothers are the same way."

"Yeah. Safety's a good wish." Raph agreed, slowly reaching out to rest his right hand towards Donatello's shoulder. The slightly smaller boy bristled for a fraction of a second then relaxed before Raph could even consider removing his hands, giving a small shrug with the shoulder not touched.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure if it'll work, even if the myths are real. Or maybe especially since they are, since you have to wish the same thing on each crane, and I switched from just being Leon to including everyone after a few. So maybe a few more cranes will take care of that particular problem…" Donatello trailed off, his attention turning towards their brothers. "Oh, boy. They're actually training Leon. He's not just observing."

"What?" Raph whipped his head around to stare at his little brother and Donatello's older two brothers.

Sure enough, the session between Leonardo and Raphael had long since ended, and presently the Leos stood facing Raphael, hands balled at their sides. Leonardo reached out while Raph watched, placing one hand on Leon's shoulder and the other on his lower shell, pressing enough that Leon straightened, shoulders rolling back to give him a more threatening stance. Leon nudged himself into a position where his legs were less drawn together, and Leonardo nodded in approval, mimicking his stance.

Both punched slowly in the general direction of Raphael, Leonardo gesturing to his arm as they moved, fingers moving like waves as he danced his palm up his arm, and then proceeded to straighten his fist.

They punched again, this time closer to Raphael's position, and the short red turtle moved to intersect, lifting his arm into a block and tapping his forearm against Leon's wrist. Leonardo made a sharp motion with his own body that Leon copied, his upper half almost twisting at a ninety degree angle to his lower half as he drove his second fist cautiously into Raphael's cheek. The movement was done with the cautionary slowness all three of them had been practicing, so Raphael was unaffected, nodding approvingly.

"Are they…" Raph felt his hands tighten on the paper cranes, rumpling one or two of their feathers, and he was quick to ease up, sending the origami structures an apologetic look. "Are they training?"

Donatello shot him an odd look. "That's what they've been doing this whole time, we talked about this."

"Yeah, but… they're actually, seriously training. It's not just a little fight that Leo's watching, they're actually showing him how to… why? He does know he can walk off at any time, right?" Raph asked, casting Donatello his most desperate expression, nonverbally begging him to understand.

"He could." Donatello agreed. "But that's not how Sensei taught us, and it probably won't be how Leo teaches, either. It's a choice to start training, but it's a commitment, too."

"But that doesn't sound like Leo." Raph pointed out, running his fingers over the wings of the paper cranes, a chasm forming between his eyebridges. "He hates training. Did they blackmail him?"

"Huh. Hates meditating, hates training… Hey, is your Leo the pessimist?" Donatello teased, his question obviously rhetorical. "But, no, don't worry. My Leo would never force him into anything. Whatever he's doing is by his own ambition."

"But I know Leo, and he would never-!" Raph's protest died in his throat at Donatello's expression, and he bowed his head reluctantly. "…and you know your Leo, too." He allowed. "So, one of us is wrong about our Leo."

"Hey, sub-local genius, here." Donatello scoffed with mock offense, elbowing Raph's upper arm. "I'm never wrong. At least, I haven't been since I was sixteen, and I'm not about to ruin my streak now."

"Wow." Raph grinned, despite his confusion over Donatello apparently being older than he was. Well, it made sense, with how he acted and talked, but he was still so small by comparison. "And here I thought you were more mellow than Donnie, but you've got that flower thing he's got going on down."

"...Flower thing?"

"You know, like…the narcissism? Is that what it's called?"

"…Okay, you're getting it mixed up. Narcissus is the flower, narcissism is the behavior." Donatello rolled his eyes, holding his hands back out for the cranes. "So, yeah, I guess I have some degree of narcissism, but my brothers will never believe you if you told them I confessed."

Raph frowned at his lack of paper cranes in hand, pouting at his bare hand at the idea that their counterparts wouldn't believe him. He knew he had only just met them, but com'n, he was the most trustworthy out of his brothers! He was almost positive he was more trustworthy than any version of Donnie would be, at least. "Aw…"

"April wanted us for pizza, remember?" Donatello pointed out, nodding his head towards their brothers. "Go get them, and I'll put these away. We should talk for a bit in the kitchen before we eat. There's a couple things I think we should discuss. Where are the Michaels?"

"Probably in Mikey's room." Raph pointed to the orange curtain pulled over Mikey's doorway two floors above them, striding out into the middle of the atrium with Donatello following along until they both had a clear view of the room. "Right up there!"

"Thanks." Donatello nodded, scampering back towards the bags as Raph turned towards Leon and his companions.

As he watched, he had to fight back the wince that pulled at him as Raphael threw a particular speedy punch that Leon just barely managed to block. Raphael tossed out his knee to catch Leon off guard, but with a well-timed shove from Leonardo, Leon managed to duck and cause Raphael to lose balance and roll off his shell. Leon made a desperate scramble to grab Raphael's arm, still braced against Leon's, before it slipped out of his grasp, but fumbled it in the end, and Raphael bounced back several steps, shadow-boxing the air.

"That was good, but you're still too tense." Leonardo instructed, mimicking Leon's attention. "Tense actually makes you easier to knock off balance. It might make you feel stronger, but that's a trick of your mind. You're not supposed to be strong. You're not a samurai, you're a ninja, and we prioritize speed over power. You could've caught Raphael's arm if you weren't trying to keep your movements so rigid. Flow. Raphael, do the same sequence you did on him on me, but this time-"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Raph didn't actually feel too particularly apologetic. He was still confused by Leon's sudden transfer to training. If Donatello had been right, and that it had been Leon's complete decision… What had caused the shift? "But, uh, April's grabbing pizza, and we're going to hang out in the kitchen to wait for her."

Raphael huffed out a breath, tilting his head. "We're kinda busy-"

"Yeah, uh, Donatello said we should." Raph explained, jerking a thumb backwards towards the young genius.

"Eh, what the Don commands…" Raphael huffed out, rolling his eyes toward Leonardo.

"Right." Leonardo chuckled, patting Leon's shoulder. "We can keep training later. Just remember to keep yourself loose. When you fought us in the sewers, you did that pretty well."

"You got it, Le-! Um." Leon spared a glance at Raphael, who made a subtle bowing motion. Leon mimicked the bow at Leonardo, a smile brewing over his face. "I mean, hai, Sensei!"

Leonardo breathed out a light hum of mirth, giving a shorter and more dismissive bow back. "Good job!" Leonardo praised before straightening, peeling away from Leon and returning to Raphael's side, the two exchanging a quick nod before falling into step beside each other.

As Raphael and Leonardo left, Raph stayed behind with Leon, placing a hand on his shoulder and preventing him from moving. The touch was unexpected, and Leon jerked with surprise, rounding his wide-eyed gaze up at Raph. His oldest brother's expression was tense in an expression Leon couldn't read, mouth set in a stubborn line.

"What's going on?" Raph implored, squeezing slightly. Leon frowned up at him, confused over Raph's reaction.

"I'm doing some training." Leon shrugged, pushing off his hand. "Why? What does it look like?"

"Like training…" Raph allowed, frowning at him with a crease forming on his face, worry lines scrunching up his features. "But… you? Training? That's great that you are, but… really? So you won't join Donnie, Mikey and I during our training regimes, but you'll join them?"

"Aww," Leon huffed, rolling his eyes. "Is Raph jealous?"

"No!" Raph squawked, not taking it as the tease it was, but instead bristling at the accusation. "Raph isn't!"

"Yeah, okay." Leon waved, huffing out a sigh. Yeah, he should've guessed that Raph wasn't going to react well to the joke. Then again, he didn't think that Raph would react poorly to him training. Which, yeah, he kind of got. After all, Leon hadn't been good about training his whole life, but he hadn't had a reason to learn, either. It was only when things got serious, like, say, the whole Shredder armor getting stolen, that he ever thought about training. And maybe he should've kept up training after that whole ordeal, but he hadn't.

No matter what Raph said, however, he was pretty sure he was jealous. After all, Raph had never convinced Leon that there was worth in training, and now a stranger they met not even twenty-four hours ago had taken up the mantle of Leon's sensei? Yeah, Leon could get the frustration.

Unbidden, his attention drifted over to where Leonardo and Raphael were talking to Donatello, the three turtles engrossed in a conversation. Raphael barked something out at Donatello that Leon didn't catch, but it made both Donatello and Leonardo explode into a fit of laughter. Leonardo thumped his back heartedly, and Raphael shoved him off, a bright grin spreading across his face.

Without thinking, Leon burst out "They work so well together. They seem close."

Shell.

Leon snapped his mouth shut immediately after, squeezing his eyes shut. Why, why had he let his big stupid mouth suddenly start going? It had been true, too. During the training session, Leonardo and Raphael had interacted in perfect sync, and had known exactly what each other were doing at any given time.

But he shouldn't have relayed his observation. It didn't matter, anyway. It's not like anything would come of it. Leonardo and Raphael were close, practically twins, and Leon and Raph were just… in each other's orbit. And even though Donnie had said that Raph had just been scared, it had been more than that, hadn't it? His anger came from fear, but… it had also come from a real, deep frustration. Frustration at Leon.

Leon dared risk a peek up at Raph, flinching at the expression his oldest brother was giving him. Raph had heard the deep longing in Leon's voice, and it was clear he was trying to figure out what to do about it.

Raph glanced up towards the trio of brothers, and then back down to Leon, crossing his arms in a way that looked like he was hugging himself, brow pinched. "…Leonardo and Raphael?"

"I didn't mean to say that." Leon admitted, taking a step back from Raph. "Y'know, good old exhaustion, making you say things you didn't-"

"You slept only a couple of hours ago for over seven hours." Raph grunted, not believing Leon for a second. "You're fine, Leo." His expression shifted slightly, a softer look coming across it. Leon hated that look; it usually meant that Raph not only had known he was blundering, but also knew what he was trying to hide. "Aw, buddy… you're thinking about the night Pops made you leader, huh?"

'No', was what Leon wanted to say. And for the most part, it was true. Leon hadn't been thinking about it. However, now that Raph mentioned it, his head pulsated so loudly with intrusive thoughts, chattering away about the hatred his family had felt for him, that it seemed like he had been thinking of it the whole time.

"It's hard to not think about it." Leon countered, furrowing his eyebridges at the far wall across the atrium and avoided quite looking at their counterparts. Raph tensed, and Leon went to defend himself. "Because that's when I got possessed, remember?"

"Oh." Raph nodded, taking a few steps forward so that he lingered in front of Leon instead of behind him, pivoting to face him. "Yeah, I remember. But I also remember that even before Shredder got into your head and messed stuff up, we had a… Well, maybe it wasn't before he got in, but it was still bad. We fought, then, too."

"I know." Leon dismissed, frowning as Raph fell into a crouch, taking a sharp step back from his red-clad brother. "Raph, you can stand up when you talk to me. I'm not a kid."

"Right." Raph rose to his feet with a sharp jerk, staring down at Leon with a sympathetic expression. "Look, I'm not sure how much you remember about that conversation-"

"Not a lot." Leon admitted. He didn't meet Raph's gaze, keeping his eyes rooted firmly on Raph's feet. When Raph wasn't at his eye level, it was easier to avoid his gaze, even though Raph preferred when his brothers looked at him. Especially during fights.

"Well, I'm sorry." Raph chirped, reaching for Leon again, but withdrew his hand again at Leon's flinch. "Why don't you like me touching you anymore, Leo? I'm trying to fix things. I know I got upset, but I-"

"I know, Raph." Leon sighed, stepping back again and finally meeting Raph's worried-filled eyes. "Look, can we just… forget it? The only thing we need to remember from this whole conversation is that I'm training now, okay?"

"And that I'm sorry." Raph suggested softly, his expression tightening little by little. "Remember that, okay, Leo? I don't want you to be upset with me, or think you can't tell me stuff, or-!"

"I know, Raph. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't mean to say anything." Leon huffed, massaging his forehead. As great as it would be to be close to Raph, things between them weren't going to be normal for a long time. Not until Shredder was gone, and there was a balance between Leon being leader and Raph being… What? The protector? The tank? Whatever it was, Leonardo and Raphael had already figured it out. And as much as Raph insisted it was fine… It wasn't. Not yet.

"Okay, Leo." Raph said lowly, taking a step back and staring after him with wide eyes. "Whatever you say…."

Standing close to Raph made Leon feel like he was drowning, guilt and frustration pooling at his gut. And he did feel jealous. Jealous of Leonardo and Raphael for being so close, and angry that he and Raph wouldn't have a relationship like that for a long time to come. Sure, Leon was obviously closer to Donnie then Leonardo was to Donatello, and he wouldn't trade that for the world.

And yet… And yet…

Leon pulled away from Raph, sucking in a quiet breath as he walked further from his brother. He summoned as much causality as he could as he went, striding towards the three brothers. Donatello left as Leon neared, heading off for the ramp.

"So," Leon rocked back on his heels as he faced Raphael and Leonardo, summoning his most cocky grin to ward off any doubts his counterparts might think up surrounding his emotional state, placing his hands confidently on his hips. "What's the whole… kitchen meeting about?"

Leonardo and Raphael's gazes went over Leon's head to probably look at Raph, and then they exchanged a glance. Leon could see the unspoken conversation pass between them, and even though he couldn't translate what they were saying, he knew it wasn't anything good.

"Primos," Leon chided, lifting a hand to snap his fingers and regain their attention. "Com'n, now, why are we meeting up?"

A smile swept over Leonardo's features, too wide to be genuine. "Donnie wants to discuss a couple things. Like ages, and…" Once again, he and Raphael exchanged a look. "Ranks."

"Ranks?" Leon echoed, looking between them, confused. "Like… one star, three stars, five stars? Or like, general, lieutenant, commander? We know someone who was a commander."

"More of." Leonardo gestured between Leon and Raphael, his smile dropping as he struggled to explain. "Roles. Leadership. Your brothers are always looking to Raphael for answers, and my brothers are looking to you. Donatello's right; it'll be good to clear it up."

"Oh, okay, cool." Leon agreed, casting a look over his shoulder as Leonardo and Raphael turned away. His anxious gaze met Raph's, and his oldest brother arched his eyebridge, giving Leonardo a pointed nod.

Ooh. Right. That was why Leonardo's brothers apparently looked to Leon for answers with… not just Shredder, but everything else, too. Leonardo was the leader. Had been for a long time, while Leon had just been in charge for a week, and he hadn't even managed to do that without getting possessed.

Leonardo's brothers were expecting Leon to be as great as his counterpart. Well, maybe not yet, but they expected him to grow into his greatness. Big footprints to fill and all that, and yet Leon didn't feel nearly as intimidated as he should.

Leonardo was going to show him how.

Leon felt a skip return to his step, anger and jealousy bleeding out to be replaced by anticipation. He was going to be mentored by Leonardo, and then they were going to beat Shredder, and after that?

Leon was going to be the best leader he could be.

(:)

As Leonardo entered the kitchen, Raphael at his side, his attention was immediately drawn to Donnie. The younger purple turtle's head jerked up at their arrival, his expression maintaining its blank look. Leon poked his head over Leonardo's shoulder, his own face brightening upon seeing Donnie.

"Hey, Dee!" Leon greeted, dodging between Raphael and Leonardo's shoulders and shooting across the table. He launched himself right onto the table, sliding across it in some random action movie pose, rolled right into the ground, and then popped up like nothing happened, draping an arm around Donnie's shoulders. "How are you doing?"

"Leo." Donnie grunted.

"Good to hear that!" Leon beamed, tugging Donnie's into a lean against his own shoulder, fist-pumping.

Not for the first time, Leonardo wondered vaguely if he had been that excitable as a kid. From Raphael's smug expression, it was a definite possibility. Not that Leonardo minded, but it was a slight surprise every time Leon exploded with energy. Especially compared to how grumpy and generally exhausted he had been when they first met the group, and how it took them an extra seven hours to truly interact with him.

"Anyway," Donnie huffed out, pulling his head as far away from Leon as he could get. With a disappointed sigh, Leon let him go with an overzealous pout, striding away to the empty chair on Donnie's opposite side. "I wanted to. Apologize. I shouldn't have snapped over something that wasn't your fault. Besides, you were right. There were no obvious signs that you should've known. The one scroll that did mention anything was just..." He waved his hand dismissively. "Not to mention all of my scans turned up empty, and every cipher in the world failed to work on the scrolls, so it appears they were as cut-and-dry as originally advertised, and…"

Leon's arm came over Donnie's shoulders again, drawing him close as Donnie slapped a hand over his eyes. A groan of embarrassment pressed out from between Donnie's lips, and he half-twisted away, his arm wrapping around his lower plastron as he did.

"Hey, it's alright." Leonardo reassured, slapping on his most comforting smile. It was hard for any of Leonardo's brothers, including Leonardo himself, to admit when they were wrong. Especially around whatever age Donnie was. He was proud of the kid for admitting it, even if he wasn't sure what brought about the change. "I understand why you panicked. It wasn't expected, and if it was one of my brothers…"

"We would've reacted the same way." Raphael nodded, nudging Leonardo's shoulder. "Believe us."

"Okay, um. Ugh, thanks." Donnie groaned, peeking through his fingers at them. "I need to apologize to Donatello as well, where is he?"

"Donnie's, uh, grabbing the Mikeys-"

"We're here!" Donatello exploded from behind Leonardo, squeezing underneath Raph's arm and ducking into the room; the Michaels, who trailed behind him, offering matching cheerful waves to their respective Raphs as they passed. "Sorry about the wait!"

"Hardly a wait at all." Leonardo reassured, stepping to the side to allow Donatello to squish past.

Donatello moved to the head of the table on the opposite end of the room, beside Donnie, and Michelangelo sat down on his left, and Mikey sat on Michelangelo's other side. Leonardo moved to sit across from Donatello, with Raphael sitting between Leonardo and Leon, and Raph squished next to Leonardo's other side.

Donnie nudged Donatello's arm while everyone was getting settled, huffing out something quietly that Donatello greeted with a warm smile and a slight nudge. Donnie hummed out a breath, and the tension in his shoulders fell away. He said something back, so quietly that Leonardo doubted either of their brothers perched beside them could hear, either.

Leonardo found he could breathe a little easier when Donatello relaxed. Donnie wasn't angry at them anymore, and maybe things could be at peace between their two groups again. Leonardo really wasn't excited to be kicked out of the lair, again, if things went south.

"Okay, anyway," Donatello cleared his throat after a few beats of silence, drawing away the awkward silence from the room in two words. Seven heads pivoted to face him, and he smiled with the faintest twinge of anxiety. "So, anyway, I was talking to Raph, not my Raph, other-Raph, and I realized there are some differences between our two groups that should be brought to attention."

"Oh, right!" Raph nodded excitedly, placing his hands in a folded bundle on the table. "Like age order! So, um, our age order is me, Donnie, Leo, then Mikey!"

"Right, and ours is Leo, Raph, me, then Mikey." Donatello agreed, nodding cheerfully. "Our only common thread is that Mikey's the youngest. Everyone else is shifted, like it's a cycle or something."

"Boo!" Mikey wailed, pouting. "Why are we always the youngest?"

"Do you want to be the oldest?" Leon returned, smirking as Mikey deflated and nodded along in acceptance. "Yeah, exactly, I wouldn't, either. And yet…!" He made a flourish gesture at Leonardo.

Leonardo beamed, and did a short bow right back. "Right. I assume it's probably a good idea to also mention that I'm the leader. And the same can't be said about you four, right?"

"Actually…" Leon chuckled, casting a half-desperate glance towards Raph, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. "I mean, it's sort of new… the same day I got the… um, upgrade, y'know, promotion or whatever, I got possessed. Noticeably possessed, at least."

"That's one way to put it." Donnie grumbled, rolling his eyes towards the far wall.

"Two ways, actually, hermano." Leon snarked right back, nudging him. "But, uh, yeah. So new situation and all that, so. Don't expect leader-y stuff out of me too quickly. Ow! Donnie, don't…!" Leon rubbed the side Donnie had elbowed him on, grunting. "Okay, ow, I'm getting there. Eventually."

"Right. Anyway!" Donatello continued, clapping his hands together. "Thanks for that segue, but! Also, our ages. My brothers and I are twenty."

"All of you?" Mikey gaped, taking in the sharp nods all four gave him. "Okay! I'm thirteen, and then Dee and Lee are both fourteen, and Raph is fifteen! So we've got some age difference. More variety, baby!"

Different ages? Leonardo blinked, looking from Raph to Donnie and the two brothers spaced between them. "How does that work? Did you get mutated on different days?"

"Nope! But Pops didn't like the idea of raising four babies at the same time, so he thought it'd be easier to just raise a toddler, two babies, and infant! So he gave us different ages." Mikey shrugged, still smiling. "Now, I don't know if that actually worked, but the ages stuck, so here we are! If we're going by when we get mutated, we're just a few months over thirteen!"

"Holy chalupa, you're young…" Leonardo gasped, staring at them. He had known they were young, but he had been picturing all of them at around fifteen. "Other than Shredder, what other threats have you faced, then?"

"Um…" Leon's eyes crossed outward, and he hummed in thought. "Let's see… Hypno, the Foot, though those guys go hand-in-hand with Shredder, I guess, uh… those crab-brothers? They're not super funny, though. So unmemorable. Meatsweats and Ghost Bear, the celebrity bad guys, and I guess there was that one boy… streamer, guy? Stockboy, or something?"

"Ooh, was that Dexter's last name?" Leonardo hummed, half playfully and half seriously, trying to slot it into place.

"Man, thanks!" Michelangelo fist pumped, leaning across the table to get a high-five from Leon. "I've been trying to remember his name all week! Not sure that his first name is 'Dexter' though…"

"Yeah, what was his first name? Rex? Bex? I think it had an 'x' in it." Donatello bemused, scratching the side of his face. "Oh, who knows? It doesn't really matter. Ever since he got his wings trimmed he hasn't been a nuisance."

"Wait, were those all the villains you guys have fought?" Raphael asked, bridges knitting together and clenching.

"We don't know any of them. Except for Brixton Stockboy or whatever."

"Baxter." Mikey corrected with a touch of desperation.

"Yeah, I don't care. Him and the Foot. But, seriously, anyone else? Anyone big? What about the Kraang? Have you fought the Kraang?"

"Again, we do not know who those are." Donnie admonished, face palming. "We have Baron Draxum, instead."

"Hey! Dad's not a villain!" Mikey whined, looking like he was about to shoot out from across the table and snatch Donnie, presumably to do something painful to his older brother.

"Not saying he is!" Donnie promised, holding up his hands placidly. "But Donatello and I were discussing earlier, and apparently in their dimension the Kraang mutated them. So instead of us being mutated by the Kraang, we were mutated by Draxum. Capiche?"

"There was also Big Mama!" Leon added, face twisting. "She's about as big and ugly as they come. Don't tell Papa I said that."

"You guys don't have the Kraang?!" Raphael confirmed, looking between them. "Well… uh, what about the name 'Utrom?' Bishop? What… What about the Triceratons? Mona?"

"Sorry, little guy, we have no clue what any of that stuff is." Raph shrugged, face deflating apologetically. "But… maybe warn us? Just in case? We're just starting to actually fight and have adventures, so… maybe…?"

"Okay, so the Kraang are these brain alien things. Utrom are the good-guy Kraang." Raphael explained, scowling slightly. "They look practically identical, but the Kraang refer to Kraang in what is known as the person of thirds. That's the quickest way to tell the difference. When they don't refer to themselves like that, you're pretty much always safe, and you can trust them."

"And then Bishop is a weird… martial arts Utrom. He doesn't look brainy, and if you saw him walking down the street, you'd think he would just be a normal person. And he seems suspicious at first, but he's safe." Leonardo reassured, leaning forward on the table. "So you don't have to worry."

"Maybe worry a little bit." Donatello suggested, pinching his fingers together with a wince. "Our interactions with Bishop, the Kraang, and the Utrom might vary across realities."

"And Urma. If April has a friend named Urma, be careful with her, and whatever you do, don't bring her here." Leonardo continued, partially ignoring Donatello. "Just to be safe."

"Yikes." Leon breathed, gnawing on his finger nervously. "Could you… write all that down? There isn't any way we're going to remember all of that."

"Oh, please," Donnie scoffed with the largest eye roll, elbowing Leon sharply enough in his stomach that Leon gasped for breath. "I record everything. Is there anything else we should know for the future?"

As Leonardo's mouth opened to respond, there was a shift in the atmosphere. A shudder ran down his spine, and he noticed that all three brothers tensed, feeling it too. The four younger turtles went still when they noticed the sudden rigidness of the olders, eyes widening in curiosity.

Leonardo reached one hand up for his swords, fingers grazing the hilts, his heartbeat still steady despite the pulsing in his chest. His head twisted around slowly, and he felt more then saw his own brothers turn to look, too.

And just like that, all the fight bled out of them, and Leonardo's hand dropped.

Standing in the doorway, a short, plump rat appeared. He had none of the height expected of him, and couldn't be standing more than three feet tall, but nonetheless it was…

It was Master Splinter.