Chapter two:
Splinter glances around though he knows where all his remaining sons are.
Donnie is trying to distract himself by throwing himself into his lab work. He is trying to isolate himself from everyone and has fallen into depression.
Raph is sitting on the floor by the Tv though he has it off as he stares at nothing. He has gotten a bit lost in space recently, though he does check on his family every few hours or so. He seems to want to keep reminding himself that the others are at least still here.
Mikey is not far from Raph this time, as he usually stays close to one of the other two. He has his sketchbook out where he stares at his drawing of Leo. He has been a bit clingy to his remaining brothers however it does make him easy to find.
Casey is staying with April for a while, and they both are withdrawn over losing Leo. They've come by less and less clearly just as deeply affected.
They've all been dealing with the grief of losing Leo pretty hard.
Splinter just wishes that he knew what to do in order to help his sons. He was never good with helping others with grief. He sighs softly hanging his head. He was never supposed to live to lose one of his sons. He hates that he knows that Leo's gone and isn't coming back. He wishes he could have done something to stop it. He isn't sure when this pain will go away for any off them. He'll just keep doing his best for his remaining family. As that's really all that he can do. He takes a breath approaching Mikey first. He glances to the drawing only to wince as he remembers how Leo used to be. "Leo may be gone but he'll always be with us in our hearts."
Mikeys hands ball up into fists as tears appear in his eyes. "I don't want him to just be in our hearts! I want him here! With us!" He shouts at Splinter before getting up and dashing off into the lab sobbing.
Splinter closes his eyes sighing as that went horribly. He opens his eyes glancing to Raph who seems pretty out of it right now. He suddenly isn't so sure he should approach. He really isn't sure that he can help him. He might just cause more distress like he did with Mikey. He wants to help don't get him wrong. He just feels doubt within himself. He is the father so he's supposed to know what to do. However he just finds himself doubting any skills he may have. He feels lost on how to help his family and how to help himself. He also can't help wondering if things would be healing by now if Leo was still here.
Only two months have passed and it feels like nothing has changed for the better.
Elsewhere...
Leo wakes up again still finding himself in this place. He's been in and out of consciousness for... Well Leo isn't really sure how long honestly. He slightly turns to see the purple banded turtle wringing a cloth. "W-W-Where am I-I?" He barely manages to finally croak out causing the turtle to turn to him. His eyes managing to meet with the others own.
"You're in the lair, our lair, in the med bay to be specific." The turtle approaches Leo to stand by his bed. "I opened a portal and we found you. Getting you out of there while leaving that thing there. We brought you here and worked on healing you." He explains to Leo. "I'm Donatello. You're a Leonardo right?"
Leo softly nods his head to confirm that it is his name.
"Thought so based on your bandana and your picture you held in your hand." Donatello picks up something from a nearby table. He shows it to Leo revealing it to be the picture of Leo's family that's framed now. "Is it okay if we called you Leon? So things don't get confusing with our Leo?"
Leon nods softly before his eyes trace over each of his family members in the photo. He wishes he was with them though he might be able to get back once he heals. He'll find a way no matter what it takes.
Donatello places the picture down by where Leon can see it. "Lets check your range of motions. I did the best I could and you had quite a lot of damage done. You'll probably have to relearn to walk and all that." He mentions a little worried. "But I think you should recover. I'm just not sure how relearning to walk will go. Let's try something simple like moving your arm." He quickly changes the subject to focus Leon's healing. "Don't push yourself too hard. It's okay if you can't do much."
Leon tries to raise his right arm managing to get it off the bed. He feels like his body is heavy. He trembles as he tries to hold it up bringing it up higher. He finally lets it drop down to the bed unable to hold it up any longer.
"Not bad. A good first try." Donatello tells him only for Leon to try his other arm. "Remember to not push yourself too hard." He gives a soft reminder clearly worried about how Leon is doing.
"I-I can do it." Leon insists trying to keep his arm up off the bed for longer. He feels like it's about to fall when his eyes land on the framed picture. He reaches to it shakily picking it up. He lets his arm fall onto his torso luckily at an angle he can look at the photo.
Donatello checks Leon's shell to make sure that he didn't hurt himself. "I patched up your shell as best as I could. It won't be perfect and it won't heal fully. But it'll heal at least the best that it can."
"That's okay." Leon assures him glancing up from the photo of his family. "Thank you for helping me."
"Don't worry about it. No way were we going to just leave you there to die." Donatello assured him with a smile. "I have a wheelchair you can use once you're able to sit up enough." He informs the other. "Let's give you a little longer to heal and get your strength back. We'll do upper body movements first. Then once that's done we can try getting your legs working again."
Leon nods to this idea and the two turn as others enter the med bay.
The others who are easy to tell who is who by their bandanas come on over.
"You're looking so much better every time you wake up!" Michelangelo mentions eyes shining happily at seeing Leon doing better.
"I wasn't worried. I knew you'd pull through." Raphael shrugs as if none of this bothered him.
Leonardo nods to Leon in greeting. "You're doing really well."
Leon is glad for their support. "I'll be even better when I can move out of this bed." He tells them as they listen to his voice. "Shell tired of being lazy all the time that's for sure."
"I understand but we gotta be careful." Donatello reminds Leon. "You don't want to reopen some of those wounds you got." He looks relieved when Leon nods to this in understanding.
"Do you mind us asking what happened?" Leonardo inquires as all eyes are on Leon. "We just found you seemingly floating in space with whatever that thing was. How'd you get there? Are there others there? We can go rescue them if there are."
Leon takes a breath before explaining everything that had happened in his world. He explains how he had ended up in that void with Krang, who decided to take everything out on him not caring if he killed the turtle. He finishes his story and the room is silent. He slightly glances to the four turtles as they all take a few moments to digest the story.
Raphael is stiff like a statue in shock about the story told. His eyes swimming with various emotions as he goes through the story again in his head. He mostly seems shocked and a bit worried.
Donatello seems to be going through each part of the story carefully. He is shocked as well and seems to want to make sure he knows every detail that was given.
Michelangelo is shaking a little and his eyes are wide. He shifts his feet a little clearly worried about what if a situation like that happens in their world.
Leonardo seems to be calm though his eyes betray his shock and worry. He slightly glances to the others just after they slightly glance to him before turning away.
No one seems to want to bring up if Leonardo would ever do such a thing... If any of them would sacrifice themselves the way that Leon had done.
Raphael is the first to speak forcing his shoulders to relax. "Holy shit dude. You just went and threw your life away to stop a world ending invasion!?"
"I had to." Leon tells him. "He would have killed everyone and destroyed the world. I couldn't let that happen. It was the only way to stop it before it would be too late. I was the only one close enough to do anything about it. I wasn't going to let that thing win."
"It is drastic measures though I can see your point." Leonardo admits slightly glancing away only by his eyes shifting. "A true last resort. We'll do our best to help you get home once you get better. I'm sure your family will be so happy to see you again."
"It'll be nice to go back home." Leon agrees hoping that it'll be soon. He steels himself deciding that it'll be soon. He has to get back home. He shifts his upper body trying to get himself to sit up at least a little.
"Be careful. You should rest now." Donatello tells him with his arms out ready to help if needed.
"I can do this!" Leon insists harshly then his glare softens as he realizes how harsh that was. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be like that. I don't know what came over me."
"It's okay." Donatello assures Leon using one hand to help support the others progress in sitting up so far. "You're dealing with a lot right now. You're still healing both
physically and mentally from everything that happened. And honestly I've had worse said to me in harsh tones." He assures Leon and helps the other sit up... Mostly... He adjusts the bed with Leonardo's help so Leon can stay sitting up.
Leon lays back against the propped up bed glad to at least be in a sitting position. "Thanks." He mentions to Donatello who nods in assurance. He notices Michelangelo has moved closer to him and he can see the worry in his eyes. He supposes his story could have spooked the other. He smiles softly to the other who smiles back relaxing a little. He can't help wondering if the others are also spooked right now from that story.
"You follow what Donnie here says." Raphael insists before turning. "You don't really need all of us crowding around you. So I'm gonna go and do something else." He shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe a game or something." He heads off out of the med bay as he others watch him go.
They all caught on that Raphael is just worried about if something like that happens here; if he would lose any of his brothers to the same fate.
Leonardo turns to follow after Raphael. "I'll talk to him." He promises before leaving.
"Can I stay here for right now?" Michelangelo requests to which Leon nods his head. He leans his arms against the bed. "Thank you. You know you were really brave giving up your life like that. For your family. We know. We know that you did it because you couldn't stand the thought of your family possibly being killed. Especially after what had happened."
"We may not always get along and sure I mess up big time but we all still care." Leon says a little quietly only to feel Michelangelo place a hand on his free hand.
"Even if you're not our Leo you're still a version of him. That makes you family to us okay?" Michelangelo smiles clearly starting to feel better now.
Leon can't help a smile at that. "Heh. All this sweetness is gonna give me a cavity." He jokes causing Michelangelo to chuckle while Donatello shakes his head.
That night...
Leon finds himself deep within another nightmare. He is face to face with Krang in the void.
This time Krang has gotten ahold of Leon's brothers who look to be unconscious... Possibly even dead. He laughs as Leon stares with wide eyes at what he is seeing. "You're too late! You let me win! It's all your fault!" He stomps towards Leon who finds himself frozen in place. "And you're next." He tosses Leon's brothers away as if they're nothing more than trash. He leaps at Leon with an enraged howl before everything goes black.
Leon jolts awake with a cry only to feel someone's arms around him.
"Leon!" A worried voice causes Leon to quickly turn in that direction. Michelangelo is looking at him in the dim glow of the med bay, lit by a nightlight just in case help was needed during the night. "It's just a dream. It's okay. It can't hurt you."
Leon glances around reminding himself where he is. He realizes he's breathing heavily and takes a few moments to calm himself down. "W-What time is it?" His shaky voice inquires once he's gotten his breathing under control.
"Not sure. I woke up as you were crying out in your sleep." Michelangelo admits to which Leon apologizes for waking him. "It's okay. I'm glad you did so I could be here for you when you woke up." He assures him offering a smile to Leon. "I'm here for you. Do you want to talk about your nightmare? It can help."
Leon shivers as his dream pops back into mind. "I guess it was a worse outcome than what had happened. He killed them all." He tells Michelangelo not looking at him.
"It was just a dream though." Michelangelo points out reminding Leon with it. "It's not what happened. They're still out there waiting for you to come back."
"They don't even know I'm coming back. As far as they know I'm gone forever." Leon points out and clenches the sheets of the bed he's on. He wishes he hadn't put his family in that situation. He hates the thought of it and can't imagine the pain the others feel. He just had to save them... Though now he's questioning at what cost to their mental health.
"Then it'll be a nice surprise when you get back." Michelangelo tries to encourage Leon to try to help him get back in better spirits. "They'll just be happy that you're back. That's what matters. That you'll all be together again."
Leon supposes that Michelangelo is right about that. He just hopes that he can fix things. "I'm going to get better." He tells the other who smiles more. He will find a way and make it up to all of them somehow.
"There you go! I believe in you. And I know the others do too. Even if they don't say it." Michelangelo encourages and Leo tries to sit up. "Wait. We should wait until tomorrow. Donnie will come and we can do it."
"As nice as you all are the fact is the longer I'm here the longer they have to deal without me. Thinking I'm never coming back."
Michelangelo blinks before giving in. "I guess somethings don't change no matter what world you come from." He sees Leon glance to him pausing. "My Leo here would definitely do the same in your position. One time he got kidnapped by the Footclan and vowed that he'd get back no matter what. And what do you know he made it back. We came to rescue him only for him to come out, before we could even enter the building, and come home with us. The Footclan seriously regretted taking him that day." He chuckles a little at the memory before moving to help Leon. "We can do a little bit. Then you should rest a little more. Okay?"
Leon nods to this. "Deal." He does his best to sit up more as Mikey is there ready to help. He manages to get a little further up than before though not by much.
"You're doing so good." Michelangelo praises making Leon smile a little.
"Eggxactly what I was going for." Leon jokes to which the two share a chuckle.
"You're fun." Michelangelo admits with a happy look.
"Why thank you. At least my talents are being appreciated." Leon responds earning another smaller chuckle. He gets up a little more before having to stop feeling it start to become a bit much.
Michelangelo puts a hand on his back to help support him. "I think we should stop for now. You got pretty far. Which is really good. Lets get some rest and do more tomorrow."
"Okay." Leon is at least glad for the progress before letting Michelangelo help him to lay back down. He isn't sure he wants to sleep to confront the nightmares again. He just doubts that the other will let him get away with staying up all night. As soon as he's laying back down he finds that his body demands more rest.
"You go to sleep. I'm not going to sleep until I'm sure you do. Had Donnie wait until I was asleep to sneak off to work too many times. Learned my lesson on that." Michelangelo mentions glancing away after the first two sentences with a slightly pouting face.
"Heh. Donnies don't seem to change." Leon chuckles to which Michelangelo turns to him with a soft smile. "Guess every worlds version can show even small similar things."
"Seems so. Now get some rest. You need it." Michelangelo insists to which Leon gives in.
Leon closes his eyes and lets sleep take him away. He just hopes that he won't be thrown into another nightmare. He finds that this time his body just lets him sleep without any dreams. He'll take this over a nightmare any day.