A Turtle's Heart

Stressful Discussion

"April, what can we do! They can't hide down here forever! How bad can their aunt really be?!" Leo shrugged, leaning on the chair he was sat backwards on.

"I don't know! They were too upset to talk about, but it is bad enough that Raph refuses to leave their side and insists they cannot go!" April retorted, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and April had been discussing what to do for the last hour while Raph comforted Y/N in his room. Raph hadn't left their side the entire time. It may not have seemed like much but Raph being there the whole time through Y/N's panic attack really calmed them down and made them feel a lot better.

"Well, maybe we can make a clone of Y/N and send it to live with her so no one gets suspicious!" Mikey butted in.

"Mikey cloning is dangerous and extremely difficult. We don't have the stuff to make a clone, and clones still feel things so it would just be unethical because we'd just be sending someone else to endure the abuse," Donnie stated matter a factly.

"Wait how do you know so much about clones Donnie?" Leo looked at his twin, puzzled.

"I may have tried to clone you to make a better version," Donnie mumbled, looking away from his brother.

"WHAT!" Leo shouted.

"It didn't work! And also clones tend to be unreasonably violent so it doesn't matter anyways we aren't cloning Y/N!" Donnie deadpanned. His brothers and sister face palmed.

"Okay, well what can we do?! Tell the cops 'hey! Y/N is perfectly safe living in the sewers with a bunch of turtle men because their aunt is abusive so they will be staying here thanks'? Huh?" April groaned, waving her hands around.

"That's it! We just have to tell them she is abusive!" Leo jumped out of his seat.

"How are we going to do that?! And what will happen afterwards?! Y/N will probably be sent away to live with other family or put in an orphanage or something!" Mikey cried.

"Couldn't you let them stay with you or something, April?" Donnie asked.

"That's not how it works Don, Mikey is right they'd probably be sent to other family or an orphanage," April responded.

The group went quiet for a moment, worried for their friend.

"Guys, we have to do something, we can't just let Y/N get taken away," Leo stated quietly, his joking tone gone, replaced with one of seriousness.

Just then Raph entered the room, Y/N at his side.

"Hey Y/N, are you ready to talk?" Mikey asked delicately, smiling and trying not to be too loud.

Y/N nodded and followed Raph into the room. Y/N hopped up onto the table and sat down and Raph stood next to them, ready to comfort them if it becomes to overwhelming again.

"Okay. First off. The reason I don't want to go live with my aunt is because she abused me as a kid, verbally and physically. Really bad. Remember when I said I hade been hurt worse than this? My aunt." Y/N began explaining. They had to pause for a moment to take a shaking breath, tears threatening to spill if they said another word unprepared. Raph noticed this and took their hand, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of their hand. Y/N smiled and looked back at the others to continue.

"And I know they'd send me to live with her because she is the only other family I have,"

Y/N looked down at their knees, gripping one tightly with their free hand and holding Raphael's hand tightly to fight back the tears.

The group was stunned. It really was that bad.

"Y/N, I promise, we will not let them take you back," April stated, a hint of anger in her sympathetic tone.

Everyone agreed and Y/N smiled. They had never really had so many people care so deeply about them.

"Thank you guys, all of you," Y/N's voice was high and wobbly as they held back tears. This time they weren't tears of past trauma. These ones were pure joy. Joy that people cared about them, that they had people who wanted the best for them. Even if only one of those people were human.

Y/N pulled Raph into a hug and motioned the others forward. Mikey was the first one to join, he jumped out of his seat and into the hug. Leo then joined in too. April chuckled and grabbed Donnie, pulling him into the hug as well. The six enjoyed the moment as Y/N let the tears stream down their cheeks.

20 minutes later the group was still trying to figure out what to do.

"The teacher is going to get suspicious and probably gonna ask me questions since I've been bringing you your work and turning it in," April noted.

"Oh yeah, you should probably tell him you couldn't find me this weekend or something," Y/N stated. April agreed.

"Well, we can come up with more of a plan later, it's getting kind of late," Donnie said. He was right, it was getting pretty late.

"Yeah, start with fresh minds tomorrow," Y/N added.

"Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow," April smiled and waved at her friend. They waved back and April left, climbing the ladder out of the sewer.

"You'd better get some rest," Raph looked at Y/N. Y/N fiddled with their fingers for a moment before mumbling something no one could really hear.

"Could you repeat that?" Raph asked, stepping closer to their side.

"Can.. can I sleep with you again? Like before?" Y/N murmured almost inaudibly. Raph heard them though and smiled, blush creeping onto his face. Mikey and Donnie didn't seem to hear it but Leo did. Leo chuckled and stood up.

"We'd all better get some sleep huh, come on boys, let's head to bed," he grinned, winking at his older brother. Raph caught his wink and glared at him, his face now being more flustered than before. Y/N was looking down at their knees and didn't see the facial exchange between the two.

Mikey and Donnie got up and left but Leo hung back for a moment.

Leon smiled innocently at his brother and friend,

"Good night you two," Leo had a smug grin as he flipped his bandana over his shoulder and waltzed out of the room like he was on a catwalk. Y/N laughed at this and hopped off the table.

"Come on Raph, we should get some sleep," Y/N patted the large terrapin's arm before walking towards the door. Raph smiled and followed them to his room.

That night, Y/N had a particularly difficult time getting to sleep. They tossed and turned beside Raph, evidently keeping him up too. But they didn't know that. Raph pretended to be asleep so Y/N wouldn't feel bad for keeping him up.

However as time dragged on his worry grew for his restless friend.

"Y/N are you alright?" Raph whispered, opening his eyes and looking to his left. Y/N jumped at his sudden words having been unaware he was awake.

"I'm sorry have I kept you up? I'll try not to move around too much anymore," Y/N responded, avoiding the original question.

"No need to be sorry, but you didn't answer the question," Raph clarified. Y/N sighed and turned to face the turtle.

"I'm sorry, I have just been so worried, what if they find me and send me to live with her?" Y/N avoided eye contact with the gentle giant in front of them.

"That won't happen, I won't let it. I promise, I'll keep you safe," Raph spoke softly, gently lifting Y/N's face so they were looking at his. Y/N blushed at the simple gesture and smiled, their heart skipped a beat as Raph smiled back.

"Thank you Raph," Y/N scooted closer, hugging him tightly. Raph blushed and hugged Y/N back, pulling them close to his plastron. As he did so, Raph felt Y/N's entire body relax and when he looked down, the exhausted teen had passed out in his arms. Raph smiled and pulled the blanket over their shoulder and closed his eyes, now able to sleep himself as Y/N had finally settled down.