Chapter four:
"There we go. All set." Casey dusts off his hands after setting up the other air mattress.
I swear that it's kind of giving me a bit of a flashback to in our world; when me and Leo stayed with Casey who set us up to sleep there. I am glad that they explained things to their April and Casey who helped to ensure we sleep well.
"Thank you for letting us use these while we stay the night." I don't mind sleeping in the living room where the beds have been set up.
"Don't worry about it. It's the least we could do after I accidentally brought you here." Donatello assures us rubbing the back of his head in an 'oops' manner. His facial expression adding to that movement. "But we might be able to get things up and running tomorrow. So if the machine cooperates then we should have you all home sometime tomorrow."
"Lets let them get settled in." Leonardo suggests. "It is getting late so we should all be heading to bed."
"Yeah. I should get going back home." Casey nods before giving us a smile. "Nice to meet you guys." He heads off as we all give him a goodbye.
Leonardo makes sure the others of his group head to bed, Splinter already in his room, as he makes sure of Donatello especially. He also turns off the lights for us to help us sleep better.
Soon enough we have the living room all to ourselves.
I bring Leo to the one with plenty of room to escape if needed. I want him to feel okay and I think that knowing that there's tons of ways to escape will help.
Mikey and Donnie don't seem to mind taking the other bed.
Donnie does seem a little distracted with something.
"Is everything okay?" I inquire causing him to look to me.
"I was talking with their Donnie at the junkyard. And he asked how He died... I kind of just came up with a story on the spot." He tells us the response that he had come up with. "None of you have told them anything about the passing have you?"
We all shake our heads which does seem to help calm him down.
"Okay. I think we should be good. I'm sorry to have brought up such a thing." Donnie shifts clearly worried he's made all our moods worse.
"It's okay. It's good that we stay on the same page about this." I point out stepping up as leader while Leo slightly glances away. "Perhaps we should just not tell them the truth. They could end up reacting pretty badly to what we'd done."
"Maybe they'd understand." Mikey points out to which me and Donnie turn to look at him. "I mean with all that's happened it'd be an understandable thing for us to do. We had to do something!"
I feel Leo try to hide a tremble, my arm pressed against his, so I decide that we need to end this conversation. "We won't share anything about it right. We'll leave it at that. They don't need to know all the details. Justified or not." I think the two realize that the reminder of it is affecting Leo so they nod quickly dropping it. I am glad for this turning to shift the blankets to prepare the bed for sleep. "Lets get some rest. Tomorrow we'll be back home and we can continue working on getting better." I make sure a part of me is pressed against Leo, even if it's just our legs, to try to help calm him. Once I have the bed set up then we can cuddle on it.
Leo's had to go through a bit too much today so I'd rather he get to relax before bed.
I finish while Mikey and Donnie figure out their bed. I gently lead Leo to lay down with me before pulling the blanket over us. "It'll be okay." I assure him quietly knowing that the other two aren't paying attention. "I'll stay up with you if you can't sleep. We can always sleep when we get home." I hug him close as he snuggles into my torso.
"Just be here. All this emotional rollercoaster has me really tired. Despite that I'm worried about nightmares..." Leo admits kind of talking into my chest as he stares at it.
"Well if you do have one I'll get woken up by it and help you out. Okay?" I see Leo nod which I'm pleased with. "Go ahead and get some rest love. We won't ever mind if you need us after a nightmare." I decide to stay awake to make sure that Leo gets some rest at least.
Leo does seem to take a few moments, Mikey and Donnie now settled on their bed, before he finally drifts off into sleep.
I can hear his breathing grow quieter. I slightly glance around. Trying to not move too much as I worry about waking Leo up. I guess knowing another Splinter is here, even though he's a good mutant here, has put me more on edge than I thought. I see that the coast is clear and the lair is quiet. I turn my focus to Leo again. "It's going to be all okay. We'll be okay." I promise in whispers before closing my eyes to try to sleep myself. I do find some resistance from my body that wants to protect those I care for. I don't know how long I lay there before falling asleep.
In Splinters room...
Splinter hasn't gone to sleep yet. He sits and closes his eyes taking a breath to meditate a bit. He has a plan for tonight before he heads to bed. He lets himself be transported to the spirit world mentally. His eyes open and he knows it worked. He begins walking heading for the darkest corner knowing it'd be where he'd need to go. He looks around wondering if this is even possible or not.
If not then at least there was an attempt.
That's when he spots an all too familiar figure pacing in this area all alone. He approaches causing this other Splinter to turn to him looking surprised to see him. "May I ask you a question?" He inquires getting a go ahead nod. "Did you ever beat your Leonardo? Perhaps even threatened to kill him? Then tried to kill him and Raphael when it turned out that Raphael knew?"
The other Splinter smirks a little at this. "Yeah." His answer makes Splinter feel rage boil over within himself. "Surely you did too when you were alive? It's fucking deserved." He doesn't get to say another word more as Splinter slams the heaviest punch he can into his cheek. He tumbles to the ground before looking up in surprise at Splinter.
Splinter glares down at the other Splinter with rage and hatred. "You're wrong!" He growls quickly moving to pin the other Splinter down. "He didn't deserve it! None of them do and they never will!" He slams another punch to the other Splinters face. "You don't deserve the name Splinter, Sensei or even Master! You put disgrace to our name!" He snarls moving slightly to slam his knee into the other Splinters stomach. "You're a fucking disgrace! They should never have been put through any of that! You're nothing but filth! Lower than the dirt we walk upon!" He is so filled with rage though he knows he must control himself. He can take it out to a point since this Splinter deserves it. He will give him a taste of his own medicine.
Though this Splinter is already dead and banished to a lonely dark corner in the afterlife. Never to be praised for what he did in life, never to be mourned by those who knew him. Left to rot alone and reflect on the crimes he committed.
"This is where you belong." Splinter spits out still glaring at the other Splinter who glares back at him.
"Oh that's where you're wrong. It's not me who deserves to be here." The other Splinter snorts. "I did what was necessary."
"None of that was necessary!" Splinter growls a little at this. "Abuse is never necessary! It should never be an option!"
"You keep them in line. But you can be creative about it. Keep the leader in check and the others will follow. Besides it's not my fault that he kept being a screw up." The other Splinter shrugs clearly not caring about how wrong what he did is. "Try and deny it but it was very necessary. They pushed me to that length."
"Your excuses won't work on me." Splinter snorts getting up. "There are better ways at keeping them from going too out of control. And even then you're not meant to try to control every aspect of their lives! They're supposed to make mistakes and learn without being afraid of making those mistakes! Your Leo wasn't a screw up! None of them are! You're just wanting a reason to have done what you did. None of those actions were necessary. Those actions were never needed in the first place!"
"He learns to be much better the way I taught him. I know what's best for all of them. For him. I bet he's gone downhill in his abilities without me there to teach him to be better." The other Splinter goes on though Splinter doesn't acknowledge his words anymore.
Splinter turns to leave feeling like he's talking to a brick wall which he expected. He didn't come here to try to turn the other around since he knew it's impossible. He came because the other had a lecture from him coming... A more violent lecture... He just won't push it too far. Just as he began walking away the other Splinter speaks. So he pauses for a moment.
"Do you even know how I died!?" The other Splinter demands almost sounding as if he can win Splinter over.
Splinter hates the traces of confident smugness in the other Splinters voice.
"No? I didn't expect them to admit it." The other Splinter chuckles. "They killed me. They're not as innocent as you may think."
Splinter had honestly had a thought before about those turtles having done so. He just never brought it up since he knew it didn't matter. He turns to the other Splinter showing no sympathy to him and keeping his hatred. "Even if I did believe the words of someone like you I would never side with you."
"Then why don't you ask them how I died!?" The other Splinter still seems rather confident in that he is going to win Splinter over.
Splinter is so irked by this so he swings his cane knocking it into the other Splinter; who's just in reach. "You can try to convince yourself but things don't work the way you want them to. We are not the same." He continues on his way knowing he needs to leave before his anger spikes. He can hear the other Splinter laugh.
"You'll come around! Just give it enough time! You'll see! I was in the right!"
Splinter ignores him as he exits out of the spirit world. He arrives back into the waking world. He lets out a breath before getting up to his feet. He heads out of his room peeking into the living room to check on the boys, despite it being rather late now. He sees that they've all managed to fall asleep on the temporary beds. He doesn't see any of them having a nightmare or anything. He sighs in relief under his breath and turns away to leave them alone. He glances back at hearing a slight whimper. He peeks in again only to see Leo's form shift which causes Raph to stir.
Raph slightly shifts his head up seemingly more awake once he hears Leo whimper. He slightly tightens his hug around Leo whispering a few things.
Splinter doesn't pay attention to what Raph is saying since it doesn't matter. He knows the other is doing what he can to help and that's all he needs to know. He also sees one of Raphs hands move to gently rub Leo's shell.
Raphs actions seem to work as Leo starts to settle down after a few moments. He keeps going until the other has fully settled. He seems glad that the nightmare is over now.
Splinter quietly leaves before he'll be spotted. Worried about scaring Raph, who would probably wake Leo or the others, and cause them to have no more sleep. He enters his room as quietly as he can. He lays down on his bed and closes his eyes. As he tries to get some sleep himself. He does soon find himself drifting off.