Leo's eyes blinked a few times down at his tablet and his head jerked back up as he realized he was dozing off on the couch. He blearily looked up at the clock, wondering how much longer Raphael was going to be, as he was reluctant to actually climb into bed without him.

Shortly after their dinner, Raph had only said that he had an errand to run before kissing Leo into the couch cushions, tossing Leo his tablet, and disappearing out the door. He hadn't given Leo a chance to ask about the errand, nor had he mentioned how long he was going to be.

Leo set his tablet down and stood to stretch. He walked over to the side by side doors that led to their children's bedrooms. Machi was next door tonight for a sleepover with Shadow and he bypassed her door in order to lean against the door frame of Akito's room.

The bed was neatly made. The books were lined up in order of size on his bookshelf. There was still a Captain America poster up on his wall. But the room felt a little cold. And Leo frowned when he saw that dust was settling on Akito's furniture, an unwelcome interloper.

When Raphael finally arrived home, he found Leo in Akito's room. Dusting. Picking each and every book up to wipe them down with a cloth. He crossed the room silently and kissed Leo's temple.

"Come on," he murmured.

Leo set the cloth down on the shelf, leaving it where he could find it tomorrow to finish. For now, he looped his arm around Raph's shell, grateful his favorite turtle was home so he could finally go to bed.

But as Raph pulled him out to the main room, he realized that Raph wasn't leading them towards their bedroom, but towards the exit.

"Where are we going?" Leo asked through a yawn.

"Out," Raph said. He let go of Leo in order to grab Leo's jacket off the hook by the door. He held it up expectantly as Leo's sleepy face stared back in confusion.

Raph held in a smirk.

Leo could see clear amusement in Raph's wide-awake green eyes, and decided not to ask questions. Instead, he slipped his arms into his jacket, earning him a real smile from Raphael before Raph finally leaned in to kiss him. Leo's fingers pressed into the softness of the front of Raph's leather jacket and he forgot about how tired he was or how much he missed their son as he simply stood and kissed Raphael in return. Then Raph pushed him out the door and into the elevator.

Once in the parking lot, Raph handed Leo his spare motorcycle helmet before he straddled his bike and waited for Leo to climb on behind him.

"No goin to sleep back there," Raph said, finally letting his smirk show. "Ya have to hold on."

Leo yawned again at the mention of sleep but dutifully wrapped his arms around Raph.

With a grin, Raph sped off down the tunnel. He hit a button that allowed them to rise to street level and was soon racing through the nighttime New York City streets. Leo watched the lights and people pass by in a blur, secure enough in Raph's reflexes to get them through the streets at this ridiculous speed without worrying about it. The coolness of the nighttime air, which worked pretty damn quickly to wake him up, also had him wrapping himself tighter around Raphael.

They flew over the Varrazano Narrows Bridge and then down the Staten Island expressway before Raph finally pulled off on an exit. A moment later they were pulling into an empty parking lot where Raph parked in a dark corner before cutting the engine and pulling off his helmet.

"Raph?"

Raph slid off the bike and held out his hand expectantly until Leo finally pulled off his own helmet and handed it to him.

"Is this place -,"

"Closed? Yeah. Now get off the bike."

Leo slowly got off the shellcycle while orienting himself with the neighborhood. They were on a side street and there weren't any building relatively close to this one. Raph packed away the helmets and then stood still for another few seconds, as long as his patience would allow, and allowed Leo the chance to look around for danger. Then he grabbed Leo's hand and began to pull him towards a side entrance.

"Ya know, Smith is a pretty chatty guy," Raph said, referencing one of their elite Hamato ninjas. The guy had nearly talked Raph's invisible ears off during training the other day. But, during that discussion, Raph had learned a few fun facts. "Didja know that Smith's brother owns a go-kart and batting cages center?"

Leo felt a grin growing on his face and he silently shook his head in Raph's direction.

"Well he does," Raph said with a return grin. "And Smith was more than happy to give me a spare key, and some instructions on how some of the machinery works, which is where I went after dinner." The fact that they'd had to wait till the middle of the night to head out here after the place had closed was just a bonus for night owl Raphael.

Raph pulled the key from his belt and unlocked the side door. He held the door open for Leo and then locked it again behind them. Leo waited for the doors to be secure before he pulled Raphael into him in the darkened area and kissed him hard. Raphael met the kiss eagerly, at least until he remembered why he'd brought Leo there in the first place.

"What do ya wanna do first?" Raph murmured. "Go-karts or batting cages?"

Leo grinned. "Let's race."

Raphael let himself linger there for another moment as he watched a familiar but recently missing spark light up in Leo's blue eyes. He knew Leo missed Akito, and he did as well, but tonight he wanted Leo out of his head, and out of their apartment, to do something fun. He leaned in and let his lips move slowly over Leonardo's once more before pulling Leo along behind him as he searched out the go karts.

Their eyes widened once they found the large indoor track, and the two of them sprinted towards the front two go-karts like little kids on Christmas morning.

Raph ran his hand over the machine, although he said, "They probably don't go as fast as Donnie's go karts."

"I think you mean Donnie's patrol buggy," Leo said with a laugh. "And maybe these'll be faster since they're not weighed down with any weapons."

Raphael laughed again as he got both electric machines turned on and then watched Leo hop into one of the karts. "So, Fearless," he said as he sat in his own kart, "care to make a wager?"

"You sure you want to do that?" Leo asked, returning Raph's cocky grin with one of his own. He watched Raphael nod. "First one around the track three times?" Raph grinned and nodded again. Leo's eyes narrowed. "And what do you want if you win? What could you possibly want from me that I don't already do with you?"

"Or what you don't already do to me?" Raph asked with goofy, wagging eyebrows.

Leo's mouth set in a straight line as he stared back at the teasing turtle.

"I'm sure I can think of somethin," Raph said around his chuckles.

"Okay," Leo said, wrapping his fingers around the steering wheel and scooting his shell further back in the seat to sit up straighter.

"One more thing, Fearless," Raph said with a smirk. "This is a wooden track, so yer gonna have to go easy on the turns."

Leo's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Go!" Raph yelled, slamming his foot on the gas.

His sudden start didn't startle Leo, however, and he watched as Leo's kart kept up with him on the first straightaway. But his smirk stayed as they hit the first turn. Leo was a lot of impressive things, logical being one of them, but Raph knew the logical side of Leo's brain was about to ignore Raph's warning and bite him in the ass. Raph hit the brakes before he reached the turn and watched as Leo pulled ahead of him. These karts did move slower than Donnie's patrol buggy, and Raph knew Leo was thinking he could control the kart on the turns at that higher speed the way he controlled the buggy through the New York City streets. Raph kept his feet off the pedals as he turned the wheel for the curve and watched as Leo spun out when he tried to take the turn too quickly. He left Leo behind on the curve and hit the gas to speed away on the next straightaway.

"Yer really cute when yer poutin."

"I am not pouting."

Raph grinned as he made sure the go karts were turned off and back in their original positions while Leo stood off to the side being less than helpful. He turned his cocky grin in Leo's direction and let his eyes roam over the pouting turtle.

"Ya actually went much faster than I was expectin," Raph teased. "I mean, I only beat ya by one entire lap."

Leo crossed his arms as Raph moved in closer to him and bit the inside of his bottom lip to keep his mouth shut. But he did let Raph pull him, and his crossed arms, into him. And his head tilted automatically as Raph's mouth went for his neck.

"How does it feel to be kissed by a winner, Fearless?" Raph asked. He chuckled as Leo huffed out a frustrated sigh. "Let's go find those batting cages. Maybe ya can redeem yerself over there." He wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders and they followed the signs to the batting cages.

"Like double or nothing?" Leo asked, suddenly interested.

"No way, ya jerk," Raph said. "I'm not givin up my win that easily."

Leo shook his head and smiled, fully realizing that he was going to be hearing about Raph's win for quite some time. Like the next fifty or so family dinners. Christmases. Thanksgiv-

"But I'll give you a chance to have a win tonight if ya want," Raph said with a wink as they walked into the batting cages. He left Leo to the bats while he walked over to the pitching machine.

"So you're giving me a chance at a win?" Leo asked as he lifted one bat and balanced it between his two hands.

Raph turned and eyed his innocent-looking mate, immediately suspicious. Although, he'd never seen Leo anywhere near a baseball bat before, and judging how he was holding one now, he probably didn't have much to worry about.

"Sure, Fearless," he responded. "Whatever keeps ya from poutin the rest of the night. I have plans for you later."

"Later than this?"

Raph's only response was to turn and send Leo a heated look that made Leo's insides twist and warm. He turned away from Raphael to fight off the flush he could feel coming. His honor was at stake and now was not the time to let Raph distract him.

"Ya know, this machine has a lob pitch setting," Raph called out. "Think maybe ya should start with an underhanded pitch?"

"Whatever you think is best, Raphie," Leo said sweetly as he continued to pick up a few different bats to test their weight.

"Nah, we'll go fast pitch," Raph said with an evil grin as he geared up the machine and then headed back towards the other end where Leo was still examining the bats. Thanks to Casey, who typically always had a bat on him, Raphael did have some batting experience and he quickly pulled a bat from the collection and gave it a quick test swing.

"Best out of ten?" Leo asked, swinging the bat he'd finally chosen.

Raphael nodded before jogging over to the shelves where the baseball helmets were stored. He grabbed two and returned to Leo's side, tossing a blue one to the other turtle.

"You want to go first?"

"Sure," Raph said. He positioned himself in front of the machine and nodded to Leo to hit the start button. The sound of the first ball being launched out of the machine was soon followed by a loud smack as Raph's bat connected easily with the ball and quickly sent it in the other direction.

Leo watched Raph's form closely as another ball was launched towards his mate. It was proving to be a less than helpful exercise as he was easily distracted by the way Raph's biceps bunched up as he swung the bat. And by the way Raph's tail wagged after each successful hit.

Leonardo swallowed hard and tried to ignore the twitch he could feel in his lower plastron. His strong Raphael was clearly very good at this as well. Obviously, it was time to employ some classic distraction techniques.

Raph hit his fourth baseball in a row with a wide grin and shifted his feet slightly to prepare for the next. There was a loud noise behind him and he turned to find that Leo had dropped his baseball helmet on the concrete and was now bending to pick it up. As in bending over with his ass in the air and his tail pointed in Raphael's direction. Raph's mouth dropped open at the sight. He watched as Leo remained in the same provocative position while he picked the helmet up off the ground and brushed it off for a few moments.

The sound of a baseball hitting the chain link fence behind him disrupted his thoughts and he whipped back around and glared down at the baseball he'd missed.

"Was that one too fast for you, Raphie?"

Raphael growled but refused to turn his glare towards the turtle behind him, despite the tone of voice that immediately told him Leo's previous position had been intentional. He swung hard at the next ball. And missed.

"Ouch," Leo said from behind him, although his tone of voice was missing the typical empathy that might go with such a statement. "Maybe you shouldn't swing so hard if you're going to miss. Looks like you could really pull something."

"Leo," Raph growled.

Another ball was launched out and Raph once again swung hard. And missed.

"Don't hurt your wrists, please," Leo called out. "I may have plans for them later."

"Hey, ya haven't won jack shit, yet, Fear-," Raph cut himself off as he made the mistake of turning to look at Leo again.

Fuckin hell.

He had a sudden flashback of teenaged Leo driving Donnie's patrol buggy. Donnie made them all wear various helmets before they went out in that thing and teenaged Leo had been given a baseball helmet. Raphael had been attracted to Leo back then as it was. And that was before Leo had put a goddamn baseball helmet on his head. He'd had to force himself to stare directly at Leo's hands and listen closely for orders just to avoid looking directly at him in the helmet while they were on patrol back then.

And now here was adult Leonardo wearing a baseball helmet. Adult Leonardo who he was still very attracted to, who he was lucky to call his mate, and who still looked incredibly sexy in a baseball helmet. Why had he tossed Leo the blue one? The blue one that was identical to the one Leo'd had as a teen. The blue one that made Leo's blue eyes glow.

Fuckin hell.

A slow grin spread across Leo's face as he recognized Raphael's expression. He hadn't had any further distraction plans other than wagging his tail in Raph's face and a little smack talk. And that had at least earned him three misses from Raph. But now he appeared to be distracting his favorite turtle without even trying.

Another ball flew past Raph and hit the chain link fence behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts of pinning Leo to the ground right there in the batting cage.

"You only have two shots left," Leo said with a smug smile.

"Bottom of my priority list right now," Raph gruffed as he turned to face the pitching machine again.

"We'll discuss bottoms later."

"Leo," Raph growled out as he narrowed his eyes and watched as the next ball was pitched towards him. He swung again and thankfully connected with the ball. The loud cracking noise, however, had Leo stepping forward to peer over Raph's shoulder.

"Whoa," Leo said in a low voice in Raph's ear as he stared down at Raph's splintered bat. "Guess you're not going to make that last hit, huh?"

Raphael growled and tossed the broken bat back into the fence as the final ball was pitched towards them.

"So that was five out of ten, right?" Leo asked.

Raphael refused to look at Leo now as he moved out of his way in order to lean against the box where the bats were kept. "Have you ever hit a baseball?"

"Nope," Leo said, planting himself in front of the machine, and doing his best to copy Raph's previous stance. His eyes focused as the first ball was pitched towards him and he swung and easily knocked it back towards the machine.

Raphael frowned. "Never?"

"Well, now I have," Leo said with a quick grin in Raph's direction before he refocused and hit the next one.

"So what have you hit?" Raph asked with a resigned sigh after Leo hit his fourth consecutive pitch.

"Food."

Raphael frowned. "From when we were kids?"

"Yes," Leo said, hitting ball number five.

"When sensei would toss fruit at you for sword target practice?"

"Yes," Leo said, grinning to himself as he swung and hit the winning sixth pitch. "My aim improved and our food was sliced into small enough pieces that Mikey quit choking."

Raph hummed in response and watched as Leo swung again and hit the next ball as well.

"Ya done?"

"Why?" Leo asked. "You finally tired?" He stepped back with a grin as Raph walked back to the pitching machine to shut it down.

"Whoa, Fearless," Raph said, as he watched Leo pull the baseball helmet off his head and head back towards the shelves where Raph had previously retrieved them. "We're bringin that helmet home."

"We're not stealing this helmet," Leo said, shaking his head as he placed the helmet back on the shelves.

"Hey," Raph growled with narrowed eyes and a finger pointing in Leo's direction, "how often do I wear those goggles for ya?"

Leo's mouth snapped shut before he gingerly picked the helmet back up and hugged it into his plastron.

Raph's face morphed into a wide grin. "I'll leave em some money for it on the counter."

A/N: This may have begun as Raph's revenge in regards to Leo waking him early. And I may have been feeling all kinds of nostalgic while writing this, which resulted in pulling in pieces from quite a few Promise series chapters. That wasn't intentional, but once I started, it couldn't be helped.