From where Leo and Don were seated on the couch Mikey and Jassie's eyes started to drift down with their heads dipping down lower and lower before they sprung back wide open to look up to the TV screen where a movie was playing right now before starting to close them again a few moments later as they were falling asleep as Leo had Mikey on his right side while Jas was on Donnie's left side making Leo look at his brother's as they were too watching the two struggle to stay awake, as they were all done eating and placed the items used away it was Don's idea that they watch TV together while Splinter went to watch his shows in his room for he believed that it would be a good way for them to adjust and feel more at home as they all got seated at their usual seat which in Raph's case the beanbag chair. It felt good to watch TV together, for in truth since they had moved to the new lair it was a rare thing to spend time 'together', Leo recalled how each of them had struggled with Mikey and Jassie's death, Raphael worked himself into a frenzy pounding and beating his punching bag until his knuckles were bruised and bloodied and would deny treatment whenever Donnie would offer it as he had become closed to the others while often spending hours and sometimes even days shut up in his lab building everything that he couldn't understand as he as well changed.
With a sigh he recalled all the nights he'd gone to his room going through meditation into the state of emotionless nothingness as to hide from the feeling of guilt and pain that were now always with him as they claw a tearing at his insides making him second guess himself as a leader, it was like-. But his thoughts were pulled away from him as he heard the faint sound of bumping into something, looking his eyes widened and a faint smile spread across his face as he found that Mikey and Jas had given up at staying awake and were now sleeping with their heads hitting the other. From the other side of the couch Raph spoke softly as to not waken them "There out...again" Donnie nodded "There dimension probably has a different temporal rate than ours" making Raph roll his eyes "In english Einstein" as it was now his turn to roll his eyes "It means time moves different here. And if I had to guess I'd say probably faster. They get tired much faster because they haven't adjusted to our time-frame yet. I can run some tests later, but for now sleep is good for them" he explained this time in an easier way for them to understand what had just been said.
Nodding Leo and Don shifted to the let them fall into their arms before picking them both up gently as to not waken them before taking them to their rooms to rest while they rolled a little on their chests both of their scents rolled onto them making them shuddered from how similar there scents were almost alike, but after taking a few deep breaths they got up and walked over to the rooms they both had only to see that both of them had a reaction from being apart meaning that if they didn't want them to wake up it would be best if they slept in the same room for now. Taking them to Mikey's room Leo pushed lightly with his foot onto the closed door to let them inside so as to let them get to bed to sleep for now only for him to realize that to pull off the blanket he would need both hands and with him and Don armless for they had to hold Jas and Mikey how would they pull it-. But his question was answered for them as behind Raph spoke "Here" a moment later Raph moved forward, gripping the blanket on the bed before pulling them back, allowing Leo and Don to lean down and gently place the two onto the bed before watching Raph cover the two with the blankets as Jas then went to cuddle onto Mikey making Leo bit his lip noting that it had become slightly raw after all the recent times he's chewed on it. Don felt his heart clench even if this wasn't THEIR Jas and Mikey...they were so much like them "Come on. We should let them sleep...in peace" he said as Leo nodded as Don was right, it wasn't...healthy to watch them both sleep. It was creepy and wrong, and almost stalker/serial killer-etc.
But even as he tried Leo found that he couldn't move from his spot, he simply couldn't look away from the sleeping turtle in front of him like Don couldn't look away from the young girl as they both saw that they were sleeping the same way as there little brother and older sister would: Jas slept cuddled on the side when with someone while Mikey was on his chest again he bit his lip, just how similar were Michelangelo and Mikey, Jasmine and Jas? It was for sure that they both had a very different kind of relationship with their brothers as she with their friends that Michelangelo and Jasmine had with all of them. Their brothers seemed to view them and use them more as a maid and servant then a sibling while their friend played her more as a slave or a criminal then a friend as Leo felt his hands ball into a fist, he wanted to run, to yell, to find Jas and Mikey's brothers and friends, grab them by the throat and shake them, to demand to know how they could treat them like that when they did nothing wrong to deserve it in the first place "Hey" as he was so focused on the many things he wished to do to them that he hadn't heard Raphael speak to him but he did feel his hand touch his shoulder, making him flinch and jerk: spinning around to look at his brother as thought he'd been caught doing something wrong.
Not long after he felt Raph's arms wrap around him, pulling him into a small hug as his body moved on its own, his arms wrapping around Raph's hips, pulling them both just a little bit closer after a moment he heard him speak "What's wrong?" he asked but he just shook his head "N...n...nothing" he simply replied to him but Raph smirked at him "Liar. Tell me" he told him making him take several deep breaths as Leo felt his body move on its own again, turning his head back to them for a simple moment before saying anything "I'm...I'm scared...what...what if..." he shuddered, taking another deep breath as he then felt tears beginning to well up in the corners of his eyes. He then felt Donnie move in, adding his arms to the hug; but it did nothing to stop the waves of fear that were raging and crashing inside of him "What if...tomorrow...there gone? What if...what if we...lose them again?" he asked as he felt like his body was falling apart as his legs trembled, as his sides heaved and shook as tears streamed down the sides of his face, he felt his brothers press in, hugging him tighter as more tears began to fall as he struggled while doing his very best to remain as silent as possible so as not to wake the- "We'll be here. I promise" making them instantly break apart as they turn to look at Jas who was now standing up with the help of her arms holding her in the bed while watching them, Leo bit his lip how much- but her next words answered his question "I promise...we won't disappear again. We'll be here when you wake up" as he felt his heart clench not just at her words but "Jassie...I...I..." he struggled to speak as he wanted to believe her, he wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would both still be here when he woke up tomorrow, but somewhere, deep in the back of his mind was the nagging thought. The little, nagging evil voice that he could not silence, no matter how hard he tried, the voice that told him that this was all a dream, that he would wake up tomorrow, they would be gone and everything would go back to the way it had been before but as if on cue Mikey woke up to look at him and as if he knew what he was thinking he spoke "You...you could stay here...with us" making Leo's eyes widen "Wh...what?" as he then watched Mikey shift nervously.
Looking at the blankets he held in his hands before continuing "You...all of you could...stay here with us. That way...if...something happened to us...at least...you'll know" he explained as he forced himself to move, to look up from the blankets he was holding to Leo, Raph and Don who continued to stare at him as against his will he shuddered slightly before moving closer to his sister "Sorry. I just-" he started to say something to make them forget about the idea and just sleep alone "Ok" making everyone turn to look at Donnie who'd spoken. They all watched as he shrugged in response to their looks "Mikey does make a point if...if something does happen...and they...leave...it would be nice to at least know about it rather than be stuck not knowing" he explained before walking closer to the bed as Jas had taken out her hand for him to take as he lied down next to her while after a few moments Raph glanced at Leo "Well...if Donnie's staying...so am I. Leo?" as he spoke those words he shifted, turning to look at Leo who felt his throat go dry as he bit his lip as he turned, looking at Mikey and Jas who both shifted slightly under his gaze.
Was...was this even a good idea? It had only been five months and a half since Michelangelo and Jasmine had died, five months and a half their brother and sister had been ripped from this world, for five months and a half he'd struggled with feelings of shame, pain and anguish over the losses, in those five months and a half he'd grieved, cutting himself off from his family in punishment for his failure to protect Michelangelo and Jasmine. But it went beyond punishing himself, as part of him...part of him knew he was attracted to Mikey like part of Raph and Donnie liked Jas so how could they not be? Yes Mikey was smaller than Michelangelo and he had freckles on his face while Jas was thinner than Jasmine as their eye color weren't the same as her hair was a darker shade of brown from their Jasmine, but within them both was the same spark, that same kind of gentle loving tenderness that had made Leo fall for Michelangelo while Raph and Don fell for Jasmine in the first place so was it ok for him to feel attraction towards another turtle after such a short period of grieving? Was staying the night in Mikey's room such a good idea? Would he be able to control himself and keep his emotions under control? Would he be able to keep himself from crying? If as they had often done when he was near Mikey like when his brothers were near Jas: his hormones flared up would he be able to restrain himself? Would he be able to keep himself from ravaging Mikey? Would-
But all of those thoughts died as he felt another, much smaller body press against his in a soft hug "I promise Leo. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise" Mikey said as he could feel him being so stressed and scared right now as he then took a deep breath, feeling his entire body shake and shudder as he slowly looked down, finding that Mikey had gotten out of bed and was now hugging him, as he bit his lip till the faint taste of copper filled his mouth, he watched as Mikey looked up at him; those perfect blue eyes gazing through him and into his soul. Painfully he swallowed, doing his best to bring his suddenly pounding heart under control "I...I...I..." but his words refused to come out as he kept his gaze into his eyes as they were so perfect, Mikey's eyes shown up at him, a kind of fleeting desperation reflected in this. Leo felt his heart jolt slightly as something in his brain clicked; Mikey WANTED him to stay, as he took another shuddering breath, reaching out to gently cup Mikey's face into his hands, he bit his lip as he continued to look at him as it felt like he was being sucked into those perfect blue eyes as his mouth opened and closed but no words came out, his heart hammered in his chest and he felt light headed, after what felt like an eternity he then managed to speak "Ok" as he watched, his heart jolting slightly as Mikey smiled up to him "Thank you" he simply said to him as Leo felt dazed as Mikey reached out to grip his hand, slowly leading him towards the bed, he bit his lip, doing his best to resist the urge to grab and kiss Mikey as the small turtle crawled back under the covers with Jas and Donnie before shifting over to make room for Leo.
Slowly he moved, his mind barely in control of his body as he followed; crawling under the covers before turning so he was facing Mikey, a moment later Raph came in the bed as his chest was on Donnie's shell for he was facing Jas as her back was on Mikey's shell, it took a bit of maneuvering to get comfortable, because of the size of the bed they were forced to press into each other, an action that tested Leo's will as he felt Mikey move in, his head coming to rest just in front of Leo's neck while Jas moved her head closer to Donnie's neck making her breath on him as it caused him to shiver when she sighed into his neck. Against his will Leo shuddered, each time Mikey exhaled the breath ghosted against Leo's neck like for Don before wafting upwards, offering him a few seconds where he could smell nothing but Mikey's scent, across the mattress he felt Raph move, his arm coming out to... Leo's eyes flickered to his red banded brother as he felt Raph's hand tug his arm over so it lay across Don, Mikey and Jas in a kind of hug, as in truth he knew why Raph had maneuvered him this way; so this way they could both help to make sure no one fell out of bed during the night, but that did not stop Leo from understanding the secret message that Raph was also having trouble controlling himself, that together, through his contact they could stop the other before they did something.
Gently Leo shifted, reaching out to give Raph's wrist a gentle squeeze, a silent thank you, to his brother who returned it a moment later, taking several deep breaths Leo forced himself to close his eyes, he hadn't expected to sleep, he expected to lay there, mind racing until the morning came but he was asleep in seconds helping Leo relax the whole time in his sleep as they were all in need of it right now making Raph smile over to Don as they were both still awake "Ya think this helped him?" he whispered as they saw Leo move closer to Mikey making Donnie chuckle before looking at Jas as she was sleeping "Let's hope so right now as he needs this more than we could think" he answered as he stroked her filthy hair not caring for that right now simply helping her snuggle closer to him until she tried to hug him and Raph in her sleep making them do it back to her as they didn't want her to be scared of it before they both fell asleep. Jas woke up before any of them did the next morning as she felt stuck and trapped right now, as she started to move carefully as to not wake up the others she got out of bed and of the room without any of them waking up, as she walked around the lair she could see candles lit in master Splinter's room before his shadow came to open his door "Enter my dear we have much to discuss about" he said as she walked over to his room like he asked of her, when she got inside she sat down with him as he was looking at her carefully while not scaring her "I know that there are many things that you hide from us about yourself but I only wish to help you and your brother to open up to us all as you stay here with us" he simply explained to her as she was struggling with keeping her deepest secret inside.
"Do you have friends like us?" she asked him as it made him smile for her to ask "Indeed although we did not have a Slash we did meet an April when Baxter Stockman tried to eliminate her for what she knew, Casey battled Raphael one night and became friends as for our Leatherhead he was raised by the Utrom's and accidentally got mutated as he was in a strong bond with Jasmine like our friends in different ways" he explained as she was nodding all the time "I wish to meet them so I can talk about my friends for I would be more comfortable that way but only one at a time" she said making him nod before they walked out "They received a call yesterday from my sons and are coming today to visit as it has been a long time since there last visit" he explained to them as she nodded while she trembled from seeing them. But the feeling of those furry paws on her arm made her look at him as he showed her that breathing would help her calm down as they would come over later on, as they walked to the kitchen to talk together before they came, the lair door opened as a huge alligator walked in with a few bags making Jas shrink under the table to hide only to be pulled up by Splinter as he wanted her to relax right now as the large alligator walked over to them "I hope I am not here too early for I had to get a few things out from my home and bring them here" he said before looking at Jasmine "Leatherhead this is Jasmine, Jasmine this is our good friend Leatherhead" master Splinter said to them as an introduction for them "I see so you are the young girl who came with her little brother Michelangelo" Leatherhead said as she nodded to him before handing her a few of the bags "When Jasmine was...when she...when she was still with us I had a few gifts for her birthday as I was traveling only to return for the bad news, as I had nothing to do with them I believed that you might like them instead not as a replacement Jasmine but more of a welcome to our home gift" he explained as she took them with trembling hands "Thank you" she said as she was still scared of him she knew that this wasn't her Leatherhead for his skin color was more of a bluish green with a scar where his heart is.
When she opened one of the bags there were dresses of all kinds of styles and colors with little items to put on with them, another one had shoes for them as for the last one it had two kimonos one red the other pink with a short white fighting kimono with black and pink at the sleeves and part of the outfit while from over her breast to her shoulders is made of a dark see through fabric with six like black and white tails with bells on each of them, she has hand pads like gloves with shoes made of fabric a white with black and pink bow and a huge blade yari with a smaller one on the bottom as where the larger one was there was a pink pearl with a dark red/pink ribbon like for her shoes "I love them all thank you Leatherhead" she said with a smile to him. "Well then I must go and see how the boys are doing. I will be back soon" Splinter said before walking away from them see how they all were doing leaving the two alone for now "I knew a Leatherhead where I lived" she said before telling him what he looked like "He helped Donnie with all kinds of things but, whenever I was alone with him or the others were somewhere else he would touch me sexually until someone came in the room. Whenever he calls it's for me to come and help him with something when really" she started to tell the truth as he was clenching his hands into fists as he started to hate this Leatherhead "I only told this to someone else only because they found out what I do after words, he would force me to kiss him and do certain things and if I didn't do them like he wanted he would make me...make me...s-suck him off and would force me to swallow" she said as tears stung her eyes enough to make her cry.
He was now enraged from this beast for doing such a thing to her that he simply wanted to find him and demanded why he would do something like that, but he heard the sound of unwrapping making him see that she was removing the straps from her arms to see the many scars she had on both of them "Once I left I would do this after making myself throw up before wrapping them and walking back to the lair like nothing was wrong but really the person who knew would come to see me in my room to see what I did to myself making them tell me that it wasn't the answer but. I've been doing this for over two years since we first met and I still am! Whenever I sleep, I see him and it makes me do this all over again!" she said as she wrapped them up again to it from anyone else who would come in and see them. He knew that the turtles would need to know about this but this was something she knew about, something she just told him for she trusted him, something that was a deep and dark secret and she told no one else but another person so how could he tell them and not feel bad about doing it later? So, he decided to wait for her to do it herself instead and would be there for her "Do the others know?" he asked as a shake of her head told him what he wished to know "Just you now" she answered back to him before taking the bags to her room leaving him there for now. He turned to the lair door to see April and Casey walk in with a few bags in each hand "Oh hey Leatherhead! You just got here?" April asked as she walked over to him with Casey "Not long ago as I was introduced to Jasmine by master Splinter" he said as they were placing the bags onto the table before looking at him "She was...nervous when close to me as she told me about the Leatherhead she knew" he explained to them as she came back over to see the two humans making her start to get a little scared until she saw how different they were to her Casey and April: her April had short orange hair that she had in a ponytail, light blue eyes and light freckles but this one had more of a light orange hair color that was in a bun, no freckles and her eyes a darker blue, her Casey had black hair, lost a bunch of his teeths, had blue eyes and wore a bandana around his head while this guy had raven blue hair, his eyes were hazel brown, had all of his teeths and no bandana.
She never thought that people from one dimension would be different from the ones in her dimension really "Oh hey! You're Jasmine, right? I'm April and this is my husband Casey" she said making the two guys turn to her, as she lightly lifted her hand and waved barely "Hi there" she said to them before walking over to them in light footsteps as she was nervous right now of them and more scared of Casey "So...Raph said ya knew us in yer world an' LH here told us you told him about yer LH an' stuff. Could ya tell us about em an' maybe how ya meet em in the first place?" Casey asked her as she sat down on the same chair, she was on for when they ate spaghetti last night. She really wanted to just leave and go back to the guys right now but the feeling of maybe bonding with them was too good to pass up on "Well my Leatherhead was used by the krang and mutated by force after his master flushed him down the toilet, he would...sexually harass me most of the time, we first saved April on the first night we left the lair and...she was always telling me and Mikey...not to touch any of her things for we might break them or something even because...were too stupid and Casey came in the lair...by following Raph, he would...beat me with his hockey sticks in my room and then leave...without telling the others and would do it again if I tried to tell someone about it" she explained as she was scared of their reactions so she decided to not look at them right now, the couple couldn't believe that her Casey would use her as a punching bag then a friend while her April would be so insulting.
April was the one who spoke first by looking down to Jas as she was shorter than her "Listen ok? I would never tell you not to touch anything that was mine or that you were stupid, Casey has hockey stuff with other things but he would never hit you and Leatherhead was good friends with Jasmine and never touched her in a way like that and would never do it to you alright?" she explained as the shorter girl simply nodded back to her before talking again "Alright, before Jasmine...left us she ran out of cleaning supplies and I never got to buy them until now, so let's get you cleaned up ok?" she asked as they left for the bathroom together to get her cleaned leaving the two guys alone for now. Jas made sure not to let April see her arms as it was something she wasn't ready to show her yet and she understood enough to leave it be for now while still letting her know she would want to know at some point making the girl nod as April got back to work at cleaning her long hair, she had to sadly cut parts of it for there were to damage at places and was left be by her as she understood that she have needed to cut it sooner or later, it took some time but April had to cut it from her knees to under her butt making it slightly shorter than before but she did curl it and with a ribbon tied it into a ponytail "T-thank you" she said before walking out with her as she was now clean and wore her usual outfit as they went back to the kitchen.
Once there Jas saw the four turtles were already up and talking with them as Splinter walked over to her while April went to Casey's side "You look much nicer now" he said as he took a small strand of her hair into his hand making her smile lightly "Thank you" she said to him before walking together to the others as they were still talking while not noticing her until after she sat down while Leatherhead spoke to Donnie and April about an idea he had about this while Raph was talking to Casey about something they could do making her wonder what it was. Leo noticed her as Mikey left his side to sit with his sister to talk about her hair and how she was doing right now making him smile at how they spoke together in such a calming way until he saw something, something on her left arm, it was faint but he could see another color then just the white of the bandages she kept on her arms as she refused to show any of them what it was as there three friends left to get taken care of their things as he took a further look at it while making sure that she didn't notice him looking just yet as he realized what it was that she had on her arm.
It was blood, something she was hiding under those bandages was bleeding making him need to know more about this from her but when Don tried to see she reacted in a bad way making him need to tell his brothers and sensei for now as it was the only thing he could do for now as they then needed to wait for her to show them what was under the bandages. But she unwrapped them right then and there while telling them all the full story about her Leatherhead making Raph hit the table while Don went to his lab to pull out his homemade scar cream to help her lose them little by little making her thank him before eating together.
