Leo drags himself into his room and sits on his bed. The past few days have been beyond hectic. Doing patrols, strategizing, planning construction for the new underground system. He desperately needs to catch up on some sleep.
“Sensei? You’re still up? It’s like 2 in the morning.” Casey invites himself inside and sits next to Leo.
“Yeah, well, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Leo’s hand lazily grips his robotic arm, searching for the right buttons. Once found, he pushes them simultaneously and pulls the hunk of metal off of his shoulder.
Leo’s lack of an arm caught Casey’s eye. He really wanted to know what happened to it. Leo had always kept quiet about it, further adding to the mystery. He always felt too uncomfortable to ask, but something about tonight was making Casey a bit more bold.
“Uhh, Sensei?”
“Hm?”
“You really don’t have to answer, but I’ve been meaning to ask,” Casey plays with his hair, feeling awkward. “What happened to your arm?”
Leo repositions himself. “Well,” he pauses, trying to find the right words. “It was just a scouting mission. All we had to do was map entry and exit points so we could use them for future missions. Y’know, just simple stuff.”
Casey nods intently, letting Leo know that he is listening.
“We were almost finished when we were spotted by the Kraang. Our positioning wasn’t the best, we were completely caught off guard and in an area with hardly any cover. All we could do was hope we could fight them off long enough for us to escape and regroup,”
He fidgets with his cape. “But during the fight, my arm got infected. It was spreading quickly and Mikey was on the other side with Don. The only option was to chop it off.” He shutters, as if replaying it back in his mind. “I just wish I had done it quicker”
“What do you mean by quicker? You made it out, didn’t you?” Casey peered up at him.
“Sure, but we could have used an extra hand. It was a shame that it caused such a cutting blow to our Resistance. I really should have gone out on a limb to prevent that whole fiasco from ever happening.”
“Those were terrible, Sensei! Seriously, cutting blow? I didn’t think your puns could get worse.”
“Yeah, yeah, Mr. I-couldn’t-make-a-good-joke-to-save-my-life. Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Casey gets up with a sigh and walks toward the doorway. “Goodnight, Sensei.”
“Night.” Leo watches as the kid leaves.
Once Casey is out of sight, he takes off his mask, socks, and cape and chucks them onto the floor, not caring to put them where they belong. He had only one thing on his mind: sleep.
He lays down and rolls onto his side. Normally, his mind wanders for hours and tonight is no exception. He tosses and turns, trying his best to get a good night’s sleep. Still, the discussion tonight left him more rattled than he thought. His mind wouldn’t stop replaying what happened, reminding him of everything he could have done differently.
. . .
“Leo! Your arm!”
I looked down and noticed a horrifyingly familiar pink creeping up my arm. I tried to tear it off, but it kept advancing, getting stronger as it grew. I could feel the tendrils sliding underneath my skin, latching onto the muscle tissue and causing strong spasms to ricochet up my arm. The pain was unlike anything I had felt as the tendrils tore into my nerves, fire crawled up my knotting veins as my bones started to thicken. I whirled around, desperately searching for a solution, an end to the pain. My eyes landed on Raph fighting the Krang, further adding to my fear. I had to help, but it hurt too much to even move.
Raph!
I tried to yell, but the words got caught in my throat.
“Hang on!”
He looked at me, panicked. Paying less attention to the monster he was facing.
Don’t worry about me, just focus! I’ll think of something!
Still, nothing came out.
Raph paused, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape as he looked up at the krang, then down to the ground. There was red, red, red on the ground, and as my eyes trailed up, I could feel my insides drop when they landed on the mangled stump where Raph’s hand once was. There was a muffled thump to my left, but all I could see was the torn flesh and bone where my brother's hand used to be. I felt as if I was floating as all I could do was watch my big brother attempt to continue a fight he had already lost. I just stared as he toppled to the floor, dizzy at the sight of blood. My hands shook as I willed myself to snap out of it.
Raph!
He couldn’t hear me.
I clumsily got up, preparing to do what I should have been strong enough to do earlier. I tightened my grip on the sweat-soaked handle of my sword, bracing myself, I swung it, letting my arm fall to the ground. Immediately, a new agony tore through me, but I paid it no mind as I rushed to my brother's side.
“Raph! I’m right here.”
As I neared where he was laying, I froze.
His eyes were glazed over, staring at nothing.
He was slightly elevated, held up by the large tentacle impaling his chest, shredding the place where his heart would be.
. . .
He closes his eyes, but the image of Raph is seared into his eyelids. Leo never went a day without thinking about that night. How could he? The nagging pain in his shoulder haunts him every waking moment, reminding him of his shortcomings. However, his arm wasn’t the only thing that he lost that night. Just picturing it is enough to make him nauseous.
He turns onto his side and curls up underneath the blankets, holding back his tears. There were so many things that he could’ve done to prevent it. Instead, he made it all about himself like he always does. Never thinking about the consequences his actions have on his family. On his brother.
Leo buries his face into his pillow, sniffling. He just stood there, staring. It couldn’t have been real, right? Leo was supposed to die first. He was Raph’s dumb dumb brother. He lived on impulse. Raph was supposed to be smarter, stronger, more resilient. He always pulled through for his brothers.
Yet, Leo was the one who left him behind.
But what could he have done? Resistance members were fleeing the scene, urging him to retreat. He had to leave.
He feels tears start to fall. He didn’t even bring Raph home for a proper burial, he just left him with it. It’s a humiliating thought that he wasn’t brave enough to even try. He should’ve shown that Kraang a piece of his mind. Shown him the consequences of messing with his big brother. Instead, he just ran away. If the roles were reversed, he knew Raph would fight for him no matter the circumstance. In fact, he did fight for him, until the end.
Leo reaches under his pillow and pulls out one of the last photos of his family. The silly little paper became his only source of solace since Donnie passed.
He looks at Raph, remembering how happy he was to see April start college. He would give much more than an arm for a second chance. A chance to be together again.
Leo clutches the picture tightly to his chest, holding onto those happy memories, to hope.
YOU ARE READING
R E B O O T: Second Chance
FanfictionLeo, ridden with guilt, had to take Raph's place as the leader of the Resistance after he passed. In an effort to live up to that title and protect his family, things go horribly wrong as he finds himself in a younger body, back to the week when eve...
