Raphael clutched Leo's hand as they reappeared on the dark but well-kept rooftop of Hamato Engineering. He moved them immediately out of the windy cold and into the stairwell before he pushed Leo's shell against the wall and pressed himself against Leo's body. He gripped the edges of Leo's shell and pressed his face into Leo's neck.
Leo wrapped his arms around Raph's shell quickly in return. "Raph?" Leo asked, nudging Raph's face with his own to encourage him to lift his face.
But Raph shook his head and stubbornly nuzzled his face deeper into Leo's neck. "I have to share you in a few minutes," he finally whispered, breathing in Leo's scent. He pressed more of his weight against Leo's body and felt Leo's arms tighten around his shell.
"I didn't know how I was ever going to get home," Leo said, thinking about the conversation he'd had earlier that night with the other Donnie about starting from scratch on a new machine.
"I'll always find you," Raph whispered back.
"Yes," Leo said, nodding. He began kissing the side of Raphael's face until Raph finally lifted his head and began to return the affection. Leo smiled into the kiss and ran a hand down the side of the emerald face. "I missed your face."
Raph scoffed. "Apparently you've been lookin at my face for the past two months."
"No," Leo said, frowning. "That wasn't you. If anything, looking at him made me miss you even more."
Raph sighed as he pressed his hands to the wall on either side of Leo's body and reluctantly pushed himself away from Leo. "Everyone is waiting," he said, as he reached down and took one of Leo's hands. They moved to head down the stairs when Leo wrapped his free hand around Raph's neck and pulled him back into a hug.
"Thank you, Raphael," he murmured.
Raph nodded, swallowing over a lump in his throat as he hugged Leo back before leading Leo down the stairs to their father's apartment where he knew the entire family was camped out waiting. Raph squeezed Leo's hand outside the apartment before he opened the door and shoved Leo in first. He followed him and leaned his shell against the door as he happily watched their family first freeze and then all quickly jump forward to pounce the poor turtle.
Akito and Machi reached him first. Leo had zeroed in on the children as soon as he'd entered the room and his arms were ready for them as they flung themselves at him. He squeezed them both tight as he lifted them both up, one in each arm, as he felt their arms and tails wrap around him in return. He pressed his face into both of their faces.
"Missed you," he whispered to both of them as he felt the rest of the family begin to crowd around them. He locked eyes with Akito and smiled, a silent assurance to his son that he was ok. Akito's eyes were still full of questions but he smiled in return and gave Leo a small nod.
Leo turned to Machi next and smiled at her as well. "Thank you for not growing while I was gone," he said to her and she shook her head and giggled through tears he could see building up in her eyes.
"You found him!" Mikey said, giving Raph a hug with one arm while he rested his other hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo continued to hold both kids, which kept his arms busy, but he leaned into Mikey's hand and smiled at his baby brother. Although he'd admit that after spending the last two months with Mike's younger counterpart, Mikey didn't look so much like a baby anymore.
"We missed you," Donnie said, coming up behind Mikey and scanning Leo over to see if he had any visible injuries. "We need you around here."
Leo made a strange choking noise in his throat and immediately felt Raph's hand grip his free shoulder. "I'm glad, Donnie," he finally said. "Thank you for working so hard to find a way to bring me back. Thank you."
"Do you need any medical attention?" Donnie asked in a lower voice.
Leo shook his head as he turned to his father, who, like the others in the room, had waited for the children and the turtle brothers to have their moment with Leo first.
Master Splinter approached his eldest son and quickly wrapped him in a hug that included the two foxes Leo still held in his arms.
"Welcome home, my son," he said as he released Leo and Leo smiled at his father, grateful that his world still held a Master Splinter.
Leo squeezed his foxes and rubbed his face into their furry faces again before he began to finally move away from the door to receive hugs from the humans that made up the remainder of his family – April, Casey, Miwa, Woody and Sadie. He smiled over at little Shadow who had already dozed off in one of Master's Splinter's armchairs.
Raph turned to Usagi, who had also stood back to let the rest of the group greet Leo first. He thrust his hand towards the rabbit to give the inter-dimensional transporter back to him.
"Give it Donatello," Usagi said. "I requested an extra for your family to keep. Who knows what other trouble Leonardo will get himself into in the future."
Raph watched as Usagi's eyes followed Leo as he moved around the room. "Yer in love with him," Raph said in a low voice.
Usagi refused to meet Raph's eyes. "It does not matter."
"It matters to me," he growled.
"It does not matter to him. So it does not matter," Usagi replied calmly.
Raph glared lightly at the rabbit but stopped when Leo reappeared next to him, his arms still full of their red foxes.
"Usagi, thank you," Leo said.
"Welcome home, Leonardo," Usagi said, as he still refused to meet Raph's gaze. "You were dearly missed by your students."
"I look forward to seeing them," Leo said. He was about to question Raph's glare when Mikey reappeared next to him and clamped his hand back on Leo's shoulder.
"Where have you been, bro?" Mikey asked.
"You're sure you're not hurt? You're not hiding any injuries?" Donnie asked.
"That's enough for tonight," Raphael said, sensing a sudden overwhelming discomfort coming from Leo. Raph had planned to let Leo sit and be seen and comforted by the entire family, but he was going to follow his instincts and get Leo and their little foxes out of there. The rest of the family could spend time with him later.
There were a few complaints but Master Splinter nodded his approval to Raphael as Raph looped an arm around Leo and pulled him back out in the quiet hallway. Akito edged down to the ground and grabbed hold of one of Leo's hands while Machi decided she preferred to be carried as they made their way downstairs.
They stepped through their own apartment entrance and Raphael watched Leo breathe a sigh of relief and knew he'd made the right choice in getting Leo out of the crowd.
"I'll be back," Leo said, carrying Machi off to her room. Although she could drive him crazy with the stunts she came up with to delay bedtime, he'd really missed putting his daughter to bed every night. He tucked Machi under her blanket and then sat next to her on the bed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Raph and Akito positioned in the living room in spots that kept him in their vision.
"You just got home," Machi said, through a yawn. "I don't want to go to bed yet."
"You're sleepy," Leo said, smiling down at her. "And I'll be here in the morning when you wake up." He pulled his T-phone off his belt and opened it. "I want you to look at this, though," he said, pulling up his photo album. He swiped to one of his favorite photos of her. She'd been swinging on the porch swing at the farmhouse this past summer and he'd snapped it when he caught her giggling. Mikey and Miwa weren't visible in the photo, but he remembered that she'd been laughing at a spar between the two in the front yard.
Machi peered at the screen and smiled when she saw the picture. She had laughed until her stomach hurt that day watching the silly antics of her Uncle Mikey against the serious moves of her Aunt Miwa.
"I missed you every single day," Leo said quietly. "And I pulled this photo up every single day and it made me feel like I wasn't so far away from home."
"Really?" Machi whispered, fighting her tired eyes to stay awake. It was getting harder to do as she listened to her father's comforting voice.
"Yes. It was a pretty big job but you pulled it off every day," he said, smiling down at her sleepy face. "I owe you big time."
Machi smiled back at him and allowed her eyes to close. He sat there and waited until he knew she was in a deep sleep before rising and leaving her room.
His eyes flashed to Raphael who sat with his arms sprawled across the back of the couch. He gave Leo a quick nod as Leo reached his hand out and pulled Akito off the couch to lead him into his room as well.
He stood waiting until Akito was under his blanket before crossing his arms and scowling at his son. "I hear you jumped a portal and made a visit to Dimension X."
Akito's eyes widened as he stared up at his father. "He already told you?"
Leo glared at him.
Akito bit his inner lip and glanced down at his lap. He fiddled his fingers together and kept his eyes down as the words began to tumble out of his mouth. "I couldn't stay back and do nothing while you were missing and I made sure I had one of those breathing tubes that Uncle Donnie made and I even brought some extra crystals home-," his words were cut off as Leo lunged forward and wrapped him in a tight hug.
"You helped save me again, buddy," Leo whispered.
Akito breathed a small sigh of relief as he rested his head on his dad's shoulder and gave him a big hug in return. "We really missed you," he said.
Leo stood up and gave Akito a playful nudge so he fell back against his pillow. "No more missing me," he said. "I'll see you in the morning." He got a nod from Akito before he pulled the bedroom door shut and then turned to face Raphael.
His eyes trailed over Raphael again and he walked slowly over to him before pulling Raph up and leading him to their bedroom. The door made a funny popping sound when it was opened and Leo was hit with a dusty smell as they entered. He smirked over at Raph as he shut the door behind them.
"If you haven't opened that door in two months, where have you been sleeping?" He asked as he turned Raph around and pushed him down to sit on the edge of their bed.
"Couch," Raph said as he let Leo lift each of his arms to pull off his elbow pads.
Leo crouched in front of him next and removed both of Raph's knee pads, keeping his eyes on Raph's eyes as he worked. Next he moved over to his bedside table and lit some incense to cover the dusty smell in the room as he pushed his own gear off.
He walked back over to Raphael and climbed over his legs to straddle his lap. His hands slid from Raph's elbows up to his shoulders where he began a gentle massage. He watched as Raph's face settled into a small smile as he rubbed his hands up Leo's legs. Leo moved his massaging fingers to the back of Raph's neck and smiled as Raph's eyes slid shut and he groaned lightly. He untied Raph's bandana and pulled it away with one hand and then tilted his head to examine Raph's face.
"You haven't been sleeping," Leo murmured, running his thumbs lightly over the dark circles under Raph's eyes.
"No," Raph said, knowing there was no point in trying to deny it.
Leo leaned forward to kiss him and sighed into Raph's mouth as he felt Raph's arms wrap around him. He pushed his tongue past Raph's lips and was quickly welcomed in Raph's mouth. He groaned into Raph's mouth at the sheer familiarity of it as his body warmed from the heat radiating off of his favorite turtle.
He pulled his face away, eager to look into the face of his very own Raphael and was surprised to see Raph duck his eyes and lower his face. "Raphie?"
But Raphael didn't answer him as his fingers tightened around Leo. He'd been terrified of what had happened to Leo when he disappeared. He'd been unable to sleep thinking about what could be happening to Leo every minute that he couldn't get to him. He'd had no idea what he was going to find when he entered that other dimension.
"Ya gotta stop leavin me, Leo," Raph finally said, lifting his worried face after a few silent moments.
Leo pursed his lips and frowned as he rested his forehead against Raph's forehead. "I'm sorry, Raphael," he whispered in return.
Raph shook his head. "This wasn't yer fault. I know that."
"But I have been a target more often than not. And you're left to suffer and I'm sorry for that. It's not fair to you."
Raph pulled his face back so he could meet Leo's eyes as he tried and failed to smile. "The price I pay for loving leader turtle."
Leo stared hard at him. "This was harder on you this time, though, Raph."
Raph started to shake his head, "No, Leo, you were still the one taken from our home-,"
Leo pressed his mouth to Raph's again and pulled on his lower lip. "Just stop," he said before kissing the side of Raph's face and rolling his lower plastron forward so it rubbed against Raphael in just the right spot. "I'm going to rock you to sleep," he whispered as a churr rose from his throat and practically swallowed the last of his words.
He watched as a sincere smile finally reached Raphael's face.
A/N: Something really cool happened and I wanted to share it with you guys. Wolfsonic602 wanted to draw Machi and after asking a few questions about what she may or may not wear (just fur), what her weapon is (not official but I'm leaning towards the sais for the little vixen) and what color eyes she has (I gave free reign on that one), this happened: art/Machi-554489440 (This link may just give you links to choose from - "Machi by Wolfsonic602 on DeviantArt" is the 2nd choice in my browser - for some reason this wont let me share the direct link with you.)
Thank you Wolfsonic602 for loving Machi enough to give us a visual! She has a kind of mischievous look to her which I think suits her perfectly.