Chapter five:
Raph swings a sai at the mahogany Shadow that tries to go at him. His swing makes it back off a little then lunge at him again. He swings a kick to make it move to the side. He charges towards Leo once the Shadow is moved to the side. He can see that Leo is trying to struggle against the Shadow while it tries to force him to merge with it again into one. He can tell that they're running out of time as the Shadow seems to be winning. He glances slightly around to make sure everyone is making their way towards Leo.
Donnie spins his staff at the pink Shadow keeping it back while trying to move forward quickly. He has to change the directions of the spinning to keep the Shadow at bay as it tries to come at different angles.
Mikey manages to smack the green Shadow on the head with his nunchucks. He uses this chance to run towards Leo.
Splinter has a pretty clear path and is trying his best to get to Leo. He may not be as fit as the turtles however he is doing his best. He throws a knife then a fork he had in his pockets at the mahogany Shadow keeping it away from Raph.
Raph turns to focus on Leo. He opens his arms hugging onto Leo to try to help him stop the Shadow from entering again. "You've got this Leo!" He encourages. "Keep fighting. The others are coming too." He can start to feel Leo tremble in his hold as if it's becoming too much. "Just hold on."
"I don't know if I can." Leo slightly whimpers making the Shadow chuckle whispering to Leo for him to give in.
"I know you can." Raph insists not letting the Shadow shove him away. "You're strong. You've got this." He really hopes that the others get here soon. He's not sure that he will be able to pull Leo back out like this again. He glances as arms join him. He sees Mikey first then turns to Donnie and finally Splinter. He looks to Leo who slightly glances to all of them before meeting his gaze. "We're here for you." He tells Leo gently.
"We love you Leonardo." Splinter adds reaching up to place an assuring fatherly hand on Leo's cheek.
"We won't lose you. We will fight to save you so you can be back with us. No matter what we have to do to get you back with us." Miley adds.
"You're the only Leo in the world." Donnie speaks up as well. "I'd rather hide in the sewers forever if it means having you with us, than being able to be with humans without you."
Raph leans his forehead against Leo's own. He can't move his arms as the others are pinning him to Leo from their own hugs. "You are loved very dearly Leo. Even if sometimes you might forget that. We'll help you through what will come next. You're never alone." He kisses the spot between Leo's eyes softly.
Leo gets a smile on his face before closing his eyes. He almost seems peaceful suddenly. His head dropping down a little making Raph pull his head back to allow it.
"No!" The Shadow gasps and tries to hold onto Leo only to be blown away; Hitting the ground hard on its back.
"Leo?" Raph inquires his heart fluttering in hope.
It takes a moment before Leo lifts his head blinking his eyes at Raph completely back to normal.
Raph gasps with some tears in his eyes. He nuzzles Leo's cheek holding him a bit tighter. "Leo!"
The others let out happy relieved sighs that they got Leo back.
Raph notices the Shadows helping the one that was thrown from Leo up. He shifts to get the others attention and they notice.
They all break away and move ready to defend Leo while glaring at the Shadows that glare back.
"This isn't over." The Shadow that was ejected from Leo growls. "Don't get so high and mighty. Next time, I promise you won't get so lucky."
"Try us." Raph stomps a step forward with narrowed eyes at the Shadows. "You're never tearing this family apart!"
The Shadows look about to fight when the one that had Leo tells them to retreat. They all fly off somewhere disappearing rather quickly.
The others turn to Leo once the Shadows are gone.
"You okay?" Mikey asks leaning close to Leo worriedly.
"Yeah." Leo breathes out. "I think so?" He brings a hand to his chest as if almost not believing that he's really free. "I'm really sorry for the trouble I caused."
"You don't need to apologize. That thing got to you. What matters is that you're back with us as you. You did wonderful my son." Splinter smiles proudly at Leo than at the others. "You all did. I am so proud of you all."
Raph approaches Leo as his main concern is Leo and not praise from Splinter. He stands by the now free turtle who meets his gaze. He slightly stumbles as Mikey nudges him closer. He turns to the others as does Leo at this.
All of them give them encouraging looks and even thumbs up.
Raph smiles and turns back to Leo who is blushing softly. He wraps his arms around Leo's waist pulling him close for a kiss. His eyes fluttering shut.
Leo stands there in shock for a moment before his eyes close and he leans into the kiss. His arms wrapping around Raphs neck.
The others cheer at this making the kiss end faster than the two would like.
Raph chuckles while Leo is blushing a bit from it.
"Let's go home." Splinter suggests and they all mummer in agreement.
They stick close, Raph arm stays around Leo's waist, as they head home.
Leo feels good to have his family so close. He just hopes that he doesn't go about ruining things at some point. Especially now that he is with the one he's been wanting for so long.
Once home Mikey chirps a little. "Let's build a comfy spot in the living room and watch a movie!" He hurries away before anyone can respond. He is quickly bringing armfuls of pillows and blankets, whatever he can find that's not on a bed, into the living room.
Donnie decides to help and goes to his knees rearranging the comfy things. He is making a large nest with them.
Mikey crouches to help after he is unable to find any other stuff to add.
Splinter settles into his chair with a small sigh as if glad to be back. He watches from there as the nest for the turtles to lay in is built just to his right.
Raph turns to Leo whose eyes flicker to look back at him. He gives his boyfriend a smile who smiles softly back. "You wanna talk?" He whispers to give Leo an option to keep it private. "You can tell us anything. We want to be able to help you. However if you just want to talk to me then that's okay." He goes quiet to let Leo think for a moment about it.
"What if I just ruin this? I don't want to lose you guys after I got you back. I'm just kind of scared I'll make you guys want to distance yourselves again." Leo's voice is rather quiet however Raph heard him.
Raph holds him close kissing Leo's head. "Oh don't worry about that." He hushes his love gently. "Yes we all make mistakes that may make others upset. However we will never let you go again. Not after we almost lost you for good."
Leo lets out a breath giving a nod afterwards. He nuzzles against Raphs neck causing the other to give a soothing rumble. He relaxes feeling much better and surrounded by love.
"It's done!" Attention is brought to Donnie and Mikey as Mikey calls out.
The nest looks very comfy like a neatly made pile of pillows and blankets. It also is big enough for all of them to be able to fit at the same time.
"You do the honors." Raph nudges Leo towards the nest.
Leo hesitates a moment before he heads towards the nest. He climbs on settling down in the middle with a happy sigh.
"Is it comfy?" Raph knows it's not needed to be asked, however he wants Leo to know that they want his input.
"Very." Leo clicks invitingly for them to join him.
Mikey almost dives into the nest snuggling into it by Leo's right side. His action gets a slight giggle from Leo as if he finds it amusing.
This giggle lifts the feeling in the air into an even more happier one.
Raph gets in cuddling his body against his love's left side. He shares a loving nuzzle with Leo.
Donnie comes in a little cautiously before going by Mikey to be close to his family.
Mikey and Donnie churr at each other as they lay together.
Leo has fully relaxed as though he doesn't have any worries now.
Raph loves seeing it in his boyfriend. He doesn't even realize that his tail is wagging happily.
Splinter smiles at the cuddle pile happening to his right. He turns away turning on the TV getting a movie turned on for them all to watch.
The four watch the move lying together in the nest. During which they do shift around a little here and there. They end up with Donnie laying slightly on Mikey's shell with a pillow for his head, Leo laying his head on Raphs arm laying on the part of it that is on the bed, Raph has his head down right in front of himself to keep it kind of close to Leo's with his legs slightly tangled with Leo's, Mikey has a blanket instead of a pillow pulled up scrunched up in his arms where he lays his head tilted in Leo's direction.
Splinter is feeling pretty tired by the movies end as if it helped truly get them to relax. His emotional moments worrying that he would lose one of his sons having taken a lot from him. He turns to check on his sons smiling a little at seeing that they have all fallen asleep at some point. "Goodnight my sons. Sleep well." He leans back in his chair allowing himself to fall asleep as he doesn't want to leave them just yet.
The next morning...
Raph is awoken by some shifting. He isn't sure what exactly woke him up right away. He quickly turns more awake as soon as Leo lets out a whimper.
Leo is shifting showing signs of a nightmare. "I'm sorry. Don't go." He mumbles.
Raph hates that his boyfriend is having a bad dream. He supposes that they should have expected that it would happen.
It is right after they got Leo back. So he's bound to have a little trouble at first. He went through quite the ordeal.
Raph gets himself to focus and he nuzzles Leo's head. "We wouldn't be us without you." He soothes hoping that Leo can hear him. He glances at Donnie and Mikey as Mikey churrs soothingly then Donnie follows. He doesn't think that they're actually awake however they managed to sense that comfort was needed. He stays close to Leo. "We need you more than you'll ever know." He really hopes that Leo can hear him in his sleep.
Leo settles down with his boyfriend watching for any signs of anymore nightmare. He blinks awake just before shifting his head to look to Raph. He still looks like he's still slightly waking up.
"You okay?" Raph inquires waiting patiently as Leo's mind wakes up a little more.
"It felt so real. That Shadows words echoed in my head. Turning it into all of you." Leo lets out a breath as if he can still see it in his mind. "All about how you'd all be better off without me. Without me getting you in trouble so much."
"Well it was just a dream." Raph kisses the edges of Leo's mouth. "We need you to be complete. And don't you worry. We're going to be working on being better at showing that to you. You'll never ever doubt that we care. Never again." He promises before stealing a quick kiss.
"I know you all care." Leo gives Raphs jaw an affectionate head bump. "I just still feel like I'll be the one to make you all dislike me."
"The only way that would happen is if you did something actually unforgivable which won't happen. You'd never do something that we would never forgive. You don't have that sort of evil in you at all." Raph tells him getting a soft nod from Leo. "Do you really believe me? You can tell me. I won't be upset if you don't."
"I do." Leo tells his boyfriend which makes him happy that he has a boyfriend. "It just might take me a little time to get used to hearing good things again. The Shadows knew what it was doing for sure."
"Well if you ever see that damn thing again I'll hunt it down personally so it doesn't hurt you." Raph promises kissing Leo's forehead. He feels Leo relax more against him. "You doing better now?" He just wants to make sure. He doesn't want to drop the conversation if Leo still needs comfort.
Leo takes a moment to make sure he's saying the truth, before finally giving a nod to say that he is okay now.
"That's good." Raph kisses his boyfriend's forehead. He is very relieved that he helped crush the current doubts the other had. He knows that Leo will doubt himself for a while though for now it is resolved. He hopes that he'll be able to chase away all of the Shadows damage soon. He wants to give Leo full peace of mind, and confidence in himself, as soon as possible. "We're here for you. Always and forever my love."
"I know you are." Leo lets out a breath indicating that it still is very nice for him to be reminded.
Raph grabs his phone checking the time. "Well it is about time for us to be up anyways." He stretches his arms forward before shifting up after Leo does the same. "How about we get started on breakfast?"
"Sounds good." Leo is a little surprised when Raph leans forward sealing their lips in a kiss. He kisses back and the two lose track of time until Mikey makes a sound; Mikey speaking makes them separate from the kiss.
"Get a room!" Mikey teases to which Raph slightly leaps on him getting a cry of playful distress from the youngest.
Donnie jumps awake due to this. He settles from his shock as his mind wakes up enough to see Mikey and Raph play wrestling a little.
Leo meets with Donnies gaze and the two chuckle softly even as Raph pins Mikey.
Raph is sitting next to Mikey using his arms to pin him. He feels encouraged by Leo's chuckle of the brotherly playing with their youngest sibling. He turns to Leo with bright eyes wanting praise for winning from the other.
"Good job." Leo pats Raphs shoulder to which the other moves off of Mikey. He is swiftly wrapped up in an embrace.
"We should probably eat something." Donnie slightly mumbles out as a suggestion more than a demand.
"Sounds good to me." Ralph agrees only for Leo's stomach to growl as if on cue.
Leo slightly glances down in embarrassment only to look up feeling better when the others chuckle.
"Race you there!" Mikey dashes off into the kitchen leaving the others chasing after him. "I win!" He declares even though he has already started finding a good breakfast for them all.
They end up having Eggo waffles all made in their favorite way.
Leo likes just butter and syrup on it. He has it spread so almost every hole of the waffle has butter. Then he has syrup poured on top.
Raph has some strawberry jam instead of butter liking the extra flavor; Syrup poured on top. He also likes how the chunks of strawberries mix with the syrup in flavor.
Donnie just pours syrup on top liking it pretty plain.
Mikey on the other hand adds some cinnamon and sugar mixing it together. He puts about half the syrup amount the others use over top. He likes to get that cinnamon sugar flavor with some bites more focused on the syrup flavor.
After breakfast the four go to their bedroom for a few moments. They are mainly wanting to ensure that their phones get plugged in. They don't want to have to deal with a dead phone after all. They haven't charged them since the night before Leo was possessed by the Shadow.
"Want to share my bed tonight?" Raph offers to Leo causing the other to blink at him.
"Is there enough space?" Leo inches closer to Raph who puts an arm around him.
"There's always space for you in my bed." Raph confirms getting a slight giggle from Leo.
"Okay lovebirds." Mikey jokes at them getting a slight glare from Raph. "What are we doing today? Other than watching you two being all lovey-dovey?"
"I'm sorry you are watching it." Leo glances away blushing in embarrassment.
"He doesn't mean it meanly." Raph bumps his head against Leo's cheek affectionately.
"Yeah! It's fine!" Mikey chirps assuringly getting Leo to glance to him. "We're happy that you two are happy together! Just expect some teasing about showing affection. We are your family after all. It's like our privilege to tease you two."
Leo smiles looking better about the whole showing affection publicly.
"So. What are we doing?" Donnie clears his throat and all eyes turn towards Leo. "Do you want to decide what we do today?" He offers out loud the words they are all silently asking.
Leo glances to all of their gazes before glancing down a little in thought.