The Aftermath

a/n: I recently watched the episode of turtles where Khan and Cyber Shredder infect them with a computer virus that supresses their memories to make them think that they are foot soldiers. So I decided to write this one shot in honour of that episode. It's basically Samantha and Leonardo's thoughts and feelings in the aftermath of what happened and their concerns for their kids as they come to terms with what happened.

Chapter 1

When Samantha's memories came flooding back to her she made a bee line for the truck since she realised that her kids had to have been in there. Sure enough they were in there as well. Behind her she was aware of Leonardo as he climbed in as well to check on them, as she unclipped the four car seats.
"Babies, Mommy is so sorry she left you. I'm never leaving you guys again." She said picking up baby Isaac and giving him a huge hug, before moving him to her hip to do the same with baby Isabel. Leo rubbed a hand on her shell.
"We're so sorry we left you behind." He said picking up Ivy and Iris. He gave them a big kiss.
"Nothing should have been able to make us leave them." Sam said to Leo. Leo looked at her sadly, of course she was right but with his arms filled with his children he couldn't give her the affection that she was currently needing.
"I know. I'll be right back. Go make sure the engine's running." He said buckling the girls into their car seats and kissing Sam on the forehead before leaving the van.

Sam could only watch as they helped Raph and Leo set the bomb before everyone climbed in. April was driving as the turtles needed some time to get over what had happened to them that day. Sam and Leo never left their kids sides as they headed back toward the lair. Donnie seemed to notice this as he tried to get an idea of what was going on inside of their heads.
"Are you two alright?" Donnie asked his sister.
"I guess we're just trying to come to terms with the fact that Khan and cyber Shredder made us abandon our children."
"It isn't your fault. We had our memories suppressed. Who knew that we would be good at being Foot Soldiers."
"To be fair none of our missions failed because we weren't around to stop them." Sam commented. Leo looked as though that very statement confused him.
"Are you trying to suggest that we're the reason for the foot's constant failure?" He asked.
"Yeah pretty much." Sam told him.

When they arrived home, Sam and Leo wanted to put the kids to bed. They thanked April, Casey and Serling profusely for keeping an eye on the kids while they were indisposed. April reassured them that it wasn't a problem and the kids were little angels as they always were. The parents put the kids down in their cribs for the night and decided to stay with them.
"It still doesn't sit right with me." Sam said watching her children sleep from the rocking chair.
"I'm just glad that April and Serling had the sense to stay with them when Casey was looking for us." Leo said. "I don't want to leave them again."
"I know, Khan crossed the line by making us forget about our kids." Samie said. "Do you want to sleep in here tonight with me?" She asked him.
"Yeah. I'll be back in a minute."

Sam and Leo sat on the floor of the nursery with no light other than the glow in the dark stars they had put on the walls for the kids and the pooh bear night light at the opposite side of the room that gave off a soft glow. Save for the softly playing chimes of the music coming from the small player on top of the dresser there was no sound as they kept close to each other and their children.
"Cyber Shredder had no right to make us forget about our children." Leo said, in a whispered tone. He had processed what had happened internally and was angry about the days events.
"Leo, does what we do make us bad parents? I mean even before I got pregnant we got stuck in this world of constantly having to defend ourselves from attack and even put our own lives at risk over and over again." Sam explained.
"What do you mean?" He asked, hoping for a bit more detail from her.
"Is it worth us putting our lives at risk being vigilantes up holding that warrior status when we have to worry about what's right for them as well?" She asked gesturing toward the nearest crib.
"I don't know. We've been caught up in this before they were born. And for the time being, we have to consider that the Cyber Shredder is looking for a way out of Cyber Space as well as the fact that Master Splinter is also stuck in Cyber Space and needs us to help him get home."
"What happened today is a huge wake up call. I know that there are a lot of things going on at the moment and that can't be helped. But I feel as though I can't put my life at risk every single night."
"I get that, but what exactly are you thinking about doing. We can't stop patrolling."
"But I can, just the nightly patrols for now. While the babies are still so young. I can still help out with missions and come along if I'm needed on patrol or in Cyber Space." Sam told him. "I know that you can't just stop because you need to lead the others. But it's just too much of a risk what if one of us is hurt or worse when on a patrol?"
"I get where your coming from. We can speak to the others in the morning and come up with something that will work for everyone. Don't forget that your our medic and we need you out there too. Even just on nightly patrols."

After breakfast the next morning everyone sat around the table. Mikey, Donnie and Raph had stolen the kids from them and decided to be good Uncles for the day and play with their nieces and nephew.
"Guys, we need to talk." Leo said. This was seemingly out of the blue so the others looked up at him. For a breif second the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Isaacs spoon hitting the table and delighted screams from him as he enjoyed the sound. Leo chuckled a little at his son's antics.
"Is everything okay?" Donnie asked.
"Yeah." Samie told him. "We were up late last night talking and we've decided that maybe both of us going off on patrol every night is too much of a risk, but before we take any action we want to make sure that you three are okay with it and come up with a sort of schedule that makes sense for everyone."
"But I enjoy watching the babies when you are out. It reminds me so much of when Master Cody was a small child." Serling said.
"Maybe once or twice a week we can both leave to give you some time with them Serling. But I think what Khan did made us see that our priorities have changed a lot since they were born." Leo told them. Raph who had been holding Isaac the entire time looked at the child in his arms.
"So what you two take turns on patrols so that one of you can stay with them? Or are we not doing the patrol thing any more?"
"Between Khan and the purple dragons, just stopping patrols might be a bit hasty. We still need to protect the city." Leo responded.
"We were thinking about making a schedule that works for everyone but essentially making sure that at least one of us are on patrol every night. Donnie I'm going to give you more first aid sessions. When I'm not there I will need you to take over as medic."
"Okay, I can do that." Donnie agreed.
"And Raph when I'm not there I need you to lead the others. It won't be easy but I have the feeling you are up for the challenge." Leo told his younger brother.
"Leo I'm no where near as good at leading the team as you are. But I guess I can give it chance."
"I can help you train later but right now we need to work on that schedule."
"Here's the calendar Master Leo."
"Thanks Serling. Okay so today is Wednesday. I think tonight both of us can leave, if your up to it Sam, that way we can ease into patrol easier."
"Okay that makes sense. I can do it tonight. Serling are you okay to watch them again tonight? Or do you want one of us to stay here?" Sam said, directing the last parts toward the robot.
"I would gladly watch them tonight for you. Everything will be under control here." Serling told them.

During the day both Sam and Leo stayed close to the children. The second both of them had came out of their memory shock, they felt as though they had abandonded the children. Raph and Mikey came over to them.
"Hey guys we were thinking." Raph started.
"What's up boys?" Leo said as he gave Iris a block to play with, which immediately went toward her mouth.
"Maybe tonight isn't a good idea for a patrol after what happened last night." Mikey said. "It's kinda obvious that you just want to spend time with the kids. Donnie has already went into cyber space so he's gonna be gone until later, but when he get's back we're gonna order a pizza and get out of your hair to give some time with the babies."
"Thanks guys. I don't think my head would have been in a patrol tonight." Sam told them.
"We get it, your parents now, your priorities have changed." Raph said.
"Yeah, there's no point in patrolling if your heads aren't in it that's how someone gets hurt and these little guys need you." Mikey said.
"Well we appreciate the night off either way." Leo agreed. "You're right it wouldn't have been safe if we were too busy worrying about the kids to focus on what we're doing."

That night Samie and Leo took their time putting the kids down. For the first time in ages they were able to give them a bath with toys and stuff in it. They were soaked through by the time the bath was finished. After bath time they read a story to them. It was the tortoise and the hare, a firm favourite in their home. After that they put the kids to bed and sang them to sleep. The babies were asleep within minutes.
"You know we got this." Leo told her. "We're not bad at this parenting thing."
"But either way Cyber Shredder was still able to infect our minds with malware and nearly took us away from them."
"Sam we will Shredder and make the world a safer place for our children." Leo told her. He looked into his sons crib and gently stroked his cheek. "They're just far too precious for this pointless war to go into their childhood, I don't want them to have to hide for their entire lives as well."
"We'll make sure that they don't." Sam said to him. "We should let them sleep."

The parents left the room silently and shut the door behind them, baby monitor in hand. This is when they shared a reassuring hug. It was the kind of hug that they both needed to help them get over what could have happened if April, Casey and Serling hadn't saved them. They went into their own bedroom mindful of their brothers downstairs having a quiet night in downstairs. They spoke about everything and anything until both of them fell asleep to the gentle music coming through the baby monitor.

a/n: I know it isn't very long. Seemed a lot longer when I was writing it. But this is more or less how I think they would have handled that situation.