Donnie couldn't deny, he was looking forward to seeing Casey Junior again. Of all his family, the softshell had taken the longest to warm up to their newest member. Donnie had never been the friendliest turtle, as his dear twin was so fond of reminding him, but the fact that Casey was the one to close the portal to the prison dimension with Leo in it did nothing to improve Donnie's willingness to bond. He could admit now that he might have been a little unreasonable, and had even swallowed his pride enough to apologize.

Since then, Donnie had come to really enjoy the company of this alternate timeline student of Leo's. Though his annoying brother's influence was obvious, Donnie was pleased to find that Casey's surprisingly substantial education was mainly due to his own future self. He might not even have to go to high school, which was just as well as far as Donnie was concerned… even for a kid who survived the apocalypse, the modern school system would be a nightmare.

"Dee! They're here!"

Donnie looked up as his youngest brother hurried in, a huge smile on his face that made one tug at his own face. The softshell closed his laptop and stood, following behind as his brother all but bounced out of the room. They met Leo and Raph in the entry hall, both clearly just as excited, and all four headed out into the courtyard where Splinter, Himari, and Usagi were greeting the Joneses.

"It is wonderful to meet you both," Himari was saying with a warm smile. "Leonardo and his brothers have spoken highly of you."

Leo wheeled forward a little ahead of the others, grinning with obvious excitement.

"Case!"

The younger Casey all but lit up when he saw the slider, and he immediately hurried to meet him.

"Leo!" His smile grew even wider. "Your PT must be going great; you look a lot better!"

Leo grinned in return.

"Face man, remember? Lookin' good's part of the job."

Donnie couldn't help but give an irritated huff; he didn't notice that Leo had avoided accepting real credit for the physical therapy he'd been doing, well deserved as it was. But now wasn't the time to call him out on it. Instead, he directed his attention to Casey.

"Good to see you both back," he said with a smile.

"Thanks, Donnie." Casey returned his smile. "I gotta say, it was great seeing the city. And Cassa- uh, Mom, really helped me with figuring things out. Not sure I'd manage alone."

"Nonsense!" Cassandra strode over and clapped a hand on Casey's shoulder, swelled with pride in a way only a mom could be. "You adapted your skills with remarkable ease! Any Jones knows how to handle themselves!"

Leo smirked, raising a brow.

"How d' you know he didn't get that from his dad?"

Donnie saw Raph and Mikey both cringe.

"Leo…" Mikey said nervously.

Cassandra's face darkened as she glared at the slider.

"Do you think that?" she demanded.

Leo raised his hands in mock surrender.

"No way, his rad skills are all you!" He gave her a teasing grin. "The pleasantness must be what he got from his dad."

To no one's surprise, Cassandra just smiled again and reached over to ruffle Casey's hair.

"Of course! I would never choose a disagreeable man to father my offspring. He clearly has the best of both."

The younger Casey gave a sheepish chuckle, and Donnie couldn't help but smile. However unconventional their relationship was, the younger Jones was the picture of a teen both embarrassed and pleased by his mother's praise.

"Well, then," Splinter said, stepping forward with a smile. "I'm sure Future Boy would love to hear the details of Blue's progress, if Himari doesn't mind."

"Of course," the elderly rabbit replied, then ushered everyone toward the house. "We can forgo the afternoon session for today."

As the group headed inside, Mikey's eager chatter about the past days punctuated with occasional laughter by the others, Usagi moved to walk beside Leo, giving his shoulder a playful nudge.

"And I'll be sure to give my own informed opinion."

Leo shot the rabbit one of his winning smiles.

"I have no idea what you mean, good sir."

Donnie fell in on Leo's other side.

"He means he'll give an unbiased version if you either exaggerate or downplay your achievement."

He didn't hide the added emphasis on 'downplay', making it clear which of the two he expected more. Leo gave a huff of laughter.

"Thanks for the explanation, Dee."

The softshell couldn't resist a smile of his own but kept his next words quiet enough that only Leo and Usagi would hear.

"It's well known you've developed an unpleasant habit of giving yourself too little credit, Nardo. We're all on to you, and don't think we won't step up for you."

"You don't have to…" Leo started, but Donnie cut him off.

"No, we don't. But we will."

He was careful to temper the sharpness in his voice but kept the edge to it. Gentle speech was always a plus, but Donnie knew from experience that his twin was thickheaded enough to need some tough love talk sometimes. Knowing Leo, the slider would thank him for it eventually. He might be reluctant to toot his own horn these days, but stars knew he still had his pride. Sure enough, Donnie could see the emotion in his twin's eyes as he looked up at him.

"Dee… I don't…"

Donnie smirked.

"Don't know what to say? You could say something like, 'Thank you for once again showing that you have so much more sense than me, my wise brother. I'll let you talk me up while I won't do it myself.'"

Leo huffed, clearly taking Donnie's hint that he'd reached his emotional quota for the day.

"And you think I had ego problems."

Donnie shot his brother a sardonic smile.

"Unfortunately, Nardo, you still do."

He was pleasantly surprised when Usagi finished the thought.

"Just in a different way."

Leo looked surprised as well, and not a little suspicious.

"You guys been talkin' about me?"

Once again, Usagi was the one who answered.

"You're not always as hard to read as you think, Leo." He gave the slider a warm smile. "At least not for the ones who care about you."

Donnie still couldn't help but smile himself, thinking he couldn't have said it better. And if he sensed a strange frisson between his brother and their new friend… well, that was something to puzzle over on his own time.

AN: New chapter before the end of 2024! May you ring in the New Year in high spirits and good health!