A/N No resolution yet, but don't worry. It's coming. Hope you enjoy some of the cheesier aspects of this chapter. I just couldn't help myself.

When Splinter first saw the three turtles standing in the living room, he was a bit perplexed, namely because his sons had left half an hour earlier, at his insistence, to spend the evening with April and Casey. The truth of the situation dawned on him when he saw that these versions of his sons were looking back at him through leather masks, not the colored silk he was accustomed to seeing. For the first time in over a month, the elderly rat felt a well of hope that things just might be looking up for his fragile family as he recognized the alternate versions of his sons that he had seen that night he followed Leonardo on the astral plain. With a much lighter heart, Splinter moved forward to greet the new arrivals.

"Welcome, young ones," he said graciously, stopping a few feet short of the small group. "Though I am surprised by your arrival, I must admit it pleases me greatly to finally have the opportunity to meet you. I do wish it were under better circumstances, however."

As one, the three turtles bowed in respect the elderly ninja. Then the closest one, presumably Raph, for he was wearing a matched set of sais at his belt, stepped forward and asked rather anxiously, "Please, sensei, where is Leo? Is he okay?"

Splinter sighed sadly and said, "My son still breathes, but I fear the question of whether he is 'okay' is one I am not in a position to answer. Though his body is healing, I fear is heart is far from this place."

A second turtle, Mikey at a guess, stepped forward. "Dude, that's why we're here." The response was almost enough to make Splinter smile; this, indeed, was his youngest son's alternate self.

Finally, Donny (for he was only one left who hadn't yet spoken up), said, "Sensei, please, where is Leo. We really, really need to see him." Splinter could plainly see the truth of that statement in these youngsters' face. Although they were doing their best to be polite, their only real thought was to reach their brother's side.

Gesturing toward the door through which he had just come, Splinter said, "Your brother is through there."

Without a second glance at Splinter, the three brothers moved through the doorway into the infirmary. Upon seeing Leo unconscious on the bed, all three turtles found themselves with tears in their eyes; tears, Splinter observed, they made no move to hide. Although the elderly rat knew he should leave the boys to their reunion in privacy, a part of him needed to see how these versions of his sons would behave toward the brother they considered theirs. Overwhelming all else, Splinter noted, was the extremely tender and loving way the three brothers spoke and handled their fallen brother. Each one softly touched Leo in some way, with a hand on either his arm or plastron, and gentle words were passed from each standing brother to the unconscious figure lying on the bed. When Raph laid his head down on Leo's plastron and began to sob, however, Splinter knew it was time to withdraw and leave the little family to its healing; he had seen enough to know that, come what may, these three newcomers were the answer to his prayers for his son's survival.

TMNTTMNT

For Raph, the shock of seeing the individual who, in essence if not reality, was the exact replica of his deceased father was not as severe a shock as one might have thought it would be. In part, Raph knew, was because his concentration was single-mindedly on getting to Leo. A little voice in the back of his mind, that sounded suspiciously like Donny, also suggested that since he and the others had been granted the time to say goodbye to and grieve for their father, there had been some measure of closure following his death, so Raph was able to face this incarnation of his sensei with the same respect one would have for any highly skilled master or teacher, rather than the reverence of a son toward his father. Besides, Splinter was no longer the head of his Raph's family; Leo was.

The shock did come, however, when Raph first saw is brother's still firm in the infirmary bed. Not even the night they had sent Leo back to his original dimension, his life-blood pouring from his wounds, had he looked this lifeless. Splinter now completely forgotten, Raph and his brothers approached the bed. His breath hitching in his throat, Raph reached out and laid a shaky hand on his brother's plastron, as did Donny; Mikey took his brother's lax hand in his own. After taking a moment to just rejoice in the sensation of actually feeling his brother breathe, Raph leaned down by his brother's ear and whispered, "It's okay now, Leo. We're here, and we're gonna take care of ya'."

"Yeah, bro, you just hang in there," Mikey added and he continued to cling to his big brother's hand. "We're here, and we're not leavin' again."

"I promise, big brother," Donny concluded, "we're going to get you back, and then we're never letting you go again. You're stuck with us for good."

At last the reality of the situation hit Raph. He really was here, seeing him with his own eyes, listening to the sound of his breathing; it wasn't a dream. As those truths sunk in, Raph laid his head on his brother's plastron and gave in to tears of relief. He knew they still had a hard rode ahead of them to bring Leo back, but their family was together once more; there wasn't anything they couldn't do. Finally forcing himself to regain control, Raph stood up and wiped his eyes. Turning to Donny he asked, "Is he well enough to be moved. I mean, are his wounds healed enough?"

"They should be," Donny replied. "But where are you planning on taking him?"

"Look around the room, bro," Raph said softly. "This room is not conducive to healing; not a soul wound like Leo is suffering from. He needs someplace warm, where the four of us can be together, and he can hear our voices and feel the touch of our hands. We just don't have the room here to do what we need to do."

Looking around the small infirmary, Donny agreed. "You're right. Not only is the room too small, there are too many dark associations with this room. Shell, I wouldn't want to come back here either if I were Leo."

"So what do you need me to do," Mikey asked, eager to be doing something now that they were reunited with Leo.

"Go ask Master Splinter where we can set up a bed for Leo big enough for all four of us," Raph told him. "Until we get Leo back on his feet, we're going to have one continuous bunking party, because right now, more than anything, Leo needs the feel of us around him."

"I'm on it," Mikey said, and headed out the door. It took a few minutes, but he finally found Master Splinter staring strangely at a blank wall at the rear of the Lair. "Excuse me sensei," he said, interrupting the rat's musings. "We're moving Leo out of the infirmary, and Raph says we need a bed big enough for all four of us."

Splinter gave the young turtle, who looked so amazingly like his own Michelangelo, a sad smile. "I fear we do not have such a bed. In fact, other than the living room, I'm not sure we have a room large enough to house all of you at once."

Mikey frowned. "I don't think Raph would particularly like to set up in the living room, but I guess we'll have to make do with what we can get. It's just gonna be important for us to stay real close to Leo until he gets better."

"Perhaps I might offer an alternative," Splinter told him. "You see, I had a very strange dream last night. A female, at least I believe she was female, though all I could make out was a glowing figure, led me to this wall. She drew this symbol," Splinter took a piece of chalk and inscribed an unusual sign of what looked to Mikey like squiggly lines and diagonal lines on the wall, "and the next thing I knew, the wall withdrew to reveal yet another chamber in our home." No soon had the words left Splinter's mouth, than the wall began to slide back, much like the automated doors at the grocery store, revealing another set of chambers beyond. There, sitting in the middle of the large central room was pile of cushions and pillows, perfect for the brothers' needs. Mikey couldn't help a crow of delight.

"You've been 'Bridged,' sensei," he exclaimed as he all but skipped into the room to check it out.

"Excuse me," Splinter said, not sure whether he should be offended or not. "I've been what?"

"Bridged," Mikey said as he excitedly explored the new room. "That glowy octopus lady was the Bridger. She's the one who sent Leo to our dimension in the first place, and she also made it so we could come here." Finding his new surrounding to be more than adequate, Mikey could help chortling to himself, "Dude, you'd think this was cartoon or something the way that worked out. I mean, come on. What are the chances of this room even being here?"

For once, Splinter couldn't help but agree with the younger turtle.

TMNTTMNT

Fifteen minutes later, the three newcomers were getting settled in their new living space. Leo was had been moved out of the infirmary, was comfortably ensconced on the comfortable pillowy bed in the central chamber. Situated around said chamber were four smaller rooms, each one the perfect size for a new bedroom. Each of the brothers had chosen one for his personal use, though by unstated, but mutual, agreement, the largest was left empty for Leo's use, once he woke up.

Donny couldn't help but stare at the unexpected suite with something between discomfort and awe.

"If we hadn't just traveled through who know how many dimension ourselves, I'd say this was impossible," he told his brothers after they had finished unpacking and were settling in around Leo. "Judging by the differences in the stones of these room, and those that make up the Lair, I's we were in a completely different location, which suggests that the Bridger somehow, some way, transported an entire location here for our use, if I've interpreted Master Splinter's dream correctly."

"I don't care how it happened," Raph asserted. "I'm just glad we've got the perfect place to bring Leo back to. Speaking of which, let's get started; we've got a lot of work to do."