All was quiet. No alarms went off this night, no mad scramble to the door to stop the latest villain that was running amok. Each room held a sleeping individual as they all got something that didn't seem to happen a lot for them. A good night's sleep.
All slept peacefully as the night wore on, with soft snores, loud ones coming from Raph's room, and cuddling. The older turtles held their wives close to them, Ari held her teddy bear. All slept soundly but one.
In the bedroom of the eldest turtle in this family, one wasn't sleeping as peaceful as it seemed. And it wasn't the one you would expect to be tossing and turning. Normally it would be Vicky mumbling and twitching in her sleep as Leo held her close. Something she had always done, but not as much now. She really didn't have a reason for those often restless nights anymore. Over the years Leo had patiently worked with her, been by her side as every single demon that had haunted her had been put to rest in one way or another. After knowing her for twenty one years, she was finally able to get the sleep she deserved.
Leo himself wasn't so lucky tonight.
He found himself in a black void. Large, empty and a sense of dread faintly coming at him. that's all there was. Dread. Nothing else was to be seen, heard or felt. Just that looming emptiness that seemed to push against him the longer he floated there. Dread. Doom. Despair. Slowly the feeling grew until it started to overwhelm him. Destruction. Death.
Leo tried to fight back against the feeling, tried to wake from this emptiness that wasn't as empty as it seemed. Something was there and it grew closer. He frantically searched for a way out of this pit but nothing was to be found to help him. He was held there as it drew ever closer. Annihilation. Obliteration. It was coming and all would be laid waste before it.
His body was tossing in his sleep hard enough to wake his sleeping wife, but he felt nothing as the presence grew. It suffocated him, crushed him. Agony. Pain. Evil.
Visions now flashed in front of him. Cities in ruin, countless lives lost. Fires raging, tides churning, the earth shaking and winds howling. Every image he saw was one of horror and destruction.
He comes. Prepare yourself.
Those quiet whispered words snapped him awake and he shot up into a sitting position. He was sweating and his hands were trembling as he brought one up to rub his tired eyes. It was a dream...just a dream...wasn't it?
"Leo?" Vicky's hand placed itself gently on his arm. And from the tone she had already tried to get his attention a few times. "You ok?"
He brought his hand back down and stared at that still trembling appendage a long moment. "I'm fine." Came the quiet reply. "Just...a bad dream is all..."
She looked at him concerned. "That much I could gather." She looked a bit guilty then. "I tried to go in and wake you up like you've done for me before...but I couldn't get in." She shook her head in confusion. "It was almost like something was keeping me out."
"I'm sure it was just me dear one." He wrapped his arm around her. "You know I don't want you getting hurt. Not even from what you may find in my head."
"I suppose it could have been you." She didn't sound very convinced. She did let it drop though as she brought her hand up to his cheek to turn his face towards hers. "Are you sure you're ok? I've never seen you upset over a dream."
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. That simple act already calming him as he let the love he felt for her drown the unwanted feelings out. "I'm fine." He told her again as he laid down with her and held her close. "It was just a dream."
But then...if he was so sure it was one, why couldn't he settle back down to sleep?
.
.
"Isn't it about time for them to move out?" Raph grumbled a few days after Leo's restless night as he crossed his arms. His glare was fixed on the wild bunch of young adults, and Mikey, who had turned the simple act of cleaning the lair into some kind of contest.
Not quite sure what the result was supposed to be as I watched bemused from the lab door. Ty and Lavi were smacking garbage across the floor with brooms at each other before deflecting it into a large pile in the middle of the room. Ari was leaping up in fancy spins and twirls as she dusted the ledges. Thane and Mikey were having a damn mop fight. Dante was too busy trying to not get hit with anything as he carefully made his way through the commotion with a can of Pledge to tackle the coffee table and entertainment center. Overall it was like a damn circus. It didn't help that Amy had come in earlier and cranked up the music. Rock music was blaring as they cleaned up the mess they made in the first place.
I just gave it all a tolerant smile as I looked up at the grumbling tower of a turtle. "The quiet would be weird if they did. We are so used to the rukus now."
Raph just grunted at me in reply to that.
"What's wrong with you? You're more grumpy than normal."
"Didn't sleep good last night."
"Oh... Look on the bright side...at least they are cleaning instead of making a mess this time."
The look he gave me could have melted rocks.
I just gave him an impish grin in return.
"Hey! Can someone get Leo?" Donnie asked from where he was sitting behind us, as usual working on his computer.
"Why? What's up?" I asked as Raph and I moved closer.
"Nothing really. Just that they released information about a decent meteor shower happening tonight. I know some of you like that kind of stuff, me included, and was wondering if maybe we could skip our patrol tonight and use the time to watch it."
"Sounds like fun." I smiled.
"Sounds boring." Raph corrected me.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Only because there aren't any thugs to beat up in a meteor shower." I mumbled as I walked to the portal. His reply was lost as I stepped through. Then I reached out to find my blue banded turtle and, unsurprisingly, found him outside.
He was over by the goats, looking out over the pasture as they grazed and romped around. He felt me coming and turned as I drew closer to him. "Out enjoying the quiet?" I asked as I stopped next to him.
"Trying to." Was his answer as his gaze wandered off in the distance again. "Was a bit too noisy in the lair for my taste."
"Well...you did tell them to clean their mess. You never specified it had to be done quietly."
He allowed himself a small smile at that. I gave him a slightly worried look. The last few days he had been unusually quiet and I really wasn't sure why. Sure I knew he had that weird dream, but I didn't think that was the only thing bothering him. Honestly, the dream itself really didn't even cross his mind much anymore. Not that I knew what it was about. I still couldn't see it and he wouldn't talk about it. Something else was pushing itself in the forefront slowly though, and that I could feel. "Still thinking about Ty?"
The only answer I got was a very quiet sigh as he kept his gaze out over the fields. "What did you need dear one?" As usual, he avoided his discomfort by ignoring it as he looked back at me.
"Donnie wanted to know if we could skip patrolling tonight to watch a meteor shower. Thought it would be a welcome change from the mundane myself actually."
"That would be nice." He agreed. "Go let him know it has my approval and to scout out a safe spot."
"Why don't you come in and tell him yourself?"
"I'm...not ready to come in yet." Was the answer I got.
I left my quiet husband to stare at the goats some more as I turned to go back to the lair, biting my bottom lip as I was lost in my own thoughts. I looked back at him before I stepped back into the house. Now he was looking up at the puffy clouds and the first hints of doubt began to flutter across the bond. I just wasn't altogether sure what it was he was doubting, because I wasn't even sure he knew.
.
.
"Who brought the marshmallows?" Ari asked as Raph got the small fire going. "And graham crackers? I got the chocolate!"
Ty grinned at her and tossed her a big bag. Mikey came up with the crackers. With a delighted squeal the blonde turtle got up and started searching for the right stick to get started on her s'more feeding frenzy.
Dante, Dennis and Donnie were nearby setting up a telescope in the spot Donnie had picked for tonight's lightshow. We were in that same small park Leo took me to on our first Valentine's Day together. It really hasn't changed much since then and the view was still just as beautiful.
There was no one here but us tonight. We even invited April and Casey along and they were enjoying the warm late spring night with us as we sat on logs pulled up by the campfire.
"How long until this shit starts?" Raph asked, swatting at bugs that were attracted to the light.
"Anytime now." Donnie told him.
I took that as my cue to go get the blanket I brought with me and spread it out on the grass before I settled down on it, folding my hands behind my head. Wasn't quite as much of a nerd as Donnie about stuff like this, but I did enjoy them.
"Oh! There's one!" Ari almost dropped her marshmallow in the fire in her childish excitement. "And another!"
Leo came over and sat next to me, his arms wrapped lazily around his knee as his eyes were also lost in the lights flashing above us.
"Everybody make a wish!" Ari exclaimed as she spotted another one.
The others gave her amused chuckles, except Leo who was looking up. 'I wish for something to let me be able to keep protecting my family... Something to help me keep the promise I made them all so long ago.'
I don't think I was supposed to hear that, but he was so preoccupied he didn't notice his thought had slipped out. But I did hear it. When I sat up and reached out to touch his arm, I was shocked to see tears in his eyes when he turned to face me. 'Leo...'
'I can't keep up with them, him, anymore Vicky. I'm slowing down...' He blinked his tears away before someone else would see them and turned his head away. 'I'm getting old... How can I keep that promise if they don't even need me anymore?'
'You can protect them still in other ways.'
'It's not the same...'
I didn't know what to tell him, I really didn't. I just sat there, floundering to put the words together until something else caught my attention.
"Um...Dad?" Dante said as he pulled his head back from the telescope. "Are they supposed to do that?"
"Do what?" Donnie went to go look just as they rest of us pulled our eyes skyward.
Even I could tell that they really weren't supposed to get that big. I'm not saying that occasionally a small space rocks doesn't make it through, but like fifty of them? At one time? And about half heading straight for us?
"Scatter!" Leo shouted even as Donnie let out a warning cry.
You had turtle family members running every which way as those things hit. I didn't even have time to see how big they actually were as I found myself dodging flying debris thrown everywhere. Rock after rock slammed into the ground as the assault continued. I couldn't see past all the dust and was even choking on it by the time everything grew still again. I was on the ground on my hands and knees, coughing and choking. Trying to clear the dust from my lungs.
"Is everyone alright?" I heard Ty call from one end of the once serene park.
"Headcount!" Leo snapped even as he found me and helped me to my feet.
One by one the family members sounded off, and they all did much to our relief. Nobody got banged up too bad. Before we could regroup through, we found out that the night's weirdness clearly wasn't done with us.
"Guys!" Thane called out in the dust shrouded darkness. "There is something moving around in those craters!"
Leo and I got proof of that a moment later as purple lights rose up out of the pit in front of us. Two of them, close together, like eyes... Soon the form of a body could be made out in the swirling dirt cloud as it moved closer, and the weapon that was being raised to fire at us. This couldn't be good...