Stranger in the Mirror

Confession

 New Raph flinched and yanked his hand away from the light bulb. He glowered, grimacing at the insulting object as though it had attacked him purposefully. The light bulb, of course, did not respond; it merely flickered, upset that it wasn't fully screwed into its socket yet.

He sighed and finished screwing the bulb in. This was one of the last tasks he had to complete today: Donatello's room had been pushed back to the last room to be repaired since he spent the least amount of time in it, and the lab had been the first thing to be fixed. But with this final light, the room would be back to normal. Just as it was before they fled the city.

New Raph backed up and looked at his work. It'd been a long week since they'd chased the Kraang out of the city, and their time had mostly been spent repairing the lair and helping the city rebuild as needed.

Since the EPF was aware of their existence now, Leonardo and the Aprils had spent some time meeting with them to discuss terms of their existence. If the mutants stayed quiet and worked with the EPF as requested, their secret would be safe. The Mutanimals established a working relationship with them immediately, while Leonardo gave them a means to contact them if needed. That seemed to satisfy both groups well enough.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew had headed down to the sewers and tried to fix the damage done to the lair. They'd only been gone a couple of months, but if you don't maintain a home in the sewers, things can get dirty fast.

But they'd done it. They'd repaired their counterparts' home.

Or... their home too. New Raph hesitated, pressing his lips together tightly as his thoughts drifted once more to the topic he'd been doing his best to avoid. But try as he might to ignore it, reality always found its way into his head. This universe was their new home now. This was where they would stay for the rest of their lives.

No more mystical Hidden City. No more neon New York City streets. No more Lair... not the one they grew up in, anyway. This lair had to be their home now too.

New Raph clenched his fists. He loved the other turtles. They, their April, their Splinter, and their Casey were amazing and New Raph genuinely considered them family now. But this lair would never be their home. Not really.

"Hey Big Raph?"

New Raph turned to see Michelangelo standing in the doorway, a gentle grin on his face.

"Hm?"

"Karai and Shini just left. Your Casey went with them to check out the new Foot Clan base. She wanted me to let you know where she went, just in case you wanted to know."

"Oh," New Raph paused, "That's good. Did she seem interested?"

Mikey nodded, walking over and hopping up on the side of his Donnie's bed. He sat criss-cross and made himself comfortable.

"Yeah, but she's trying to pretend she's not. I think she kind of wants to join them in remaking the Foot Clan or whatever, but..." he gestured aimlessly. "You know, it's hard for her."

New Raph did know, a little too well he thought. He knew they all needed to settle down and figure out what their future would be like, but to start... that'd be like admitting defeat. New Raph was forcing himself to do exactly that, but he couldn't blame Casey for not wanting to.

Things must be even harder for her considering her situation—she no longer had to choose between returning to her Foot Clan or joining their team. Since this world's Foot was now under Karai's control, she had to be on their side regardless.

New Raph mourned that for her. While he, of course, wanted Casey to be on their side, she was her own person, and she deserved the chance to make that choice for herself. Now they'd never know what she would pick.