[The Turtle and the Boy]
Be sure to read the tags on my Ao3 so you guys know what you’re getting yourselves into.
Didn’t have time to draw anything for this chapter but PLEASE feel free to make your own art and idk tag me in it or something.
Please I’m begging for fanart for this chapter and series in general. On my knees—
Warnings: Honestly not much other than the usual angst but it’s like light angst
And of course, a quick thank you to my awesome beta reader @cimmerian1275 (who helped me out a lot with this chapter! Very talented and please, go give them a follow, love their work, etc.
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Waking up in an unfamiliar room the first time had made Caden feel dizzy and nauseated, the completely new environment throwing him off. Thankfully, he knew where he was this time, how could he not when he barely slept a wink.
Leo’s room.
Leo’s brothers insisted that he try sleeping in ‘his’ room, seeing if any memories would come back to him with the supposed familiarity of the space. But all Caden received was an endless amount of tossing and turning in a bed he’d never used before until now, eyes opening and closing each time he thought he saw something in the corner or heard a new noise.
Leo kept assuring him that it was nothing. That his room was located near one of Donnie’s labs, so he must be hearing the soft shell tinkering away with his machines and projects late into the night like he usually does.
Caden ignored the other turtle in his head for most of the night, barely giving him a glance, let alone any attention. The memory of Leo taking control of his body the other day so easily, was still frightening to think about and wouldn’t leave him alone. He felt a little violated, and powerless in the moment.
Maybe he was being too sensitive about this, but he couldn’t just let it go so easily. Leo had taken control of his body, technically his life, for the split moment it took for him to kick Caden out of control and dodge that rocket to save them both.
Leo could probably sense his conflicted emotions while he thought about this, but chose to not say anything.
It was morning by now, Caden didn’t know the exact time but he could hear in the distance murmuring of people’s voices and footsteps picking up and increasing in activity.
Caden groaned, sitting up and rubbing at his tired eyes, gearing himself up for the day with a deep breath before getting up. He never took a moment to properly look around the room that belonged to Leonardo until now. It’s… mostly plain.
It had the basics you would find in a bedroom. Wardrobe, drawers to store things inside, one was small and resided next to the bed on the left side. No windows were seen, and barely any decoration.
There was a piece of paper however, two actually, that were placed face down on the bedside drawer. Curiosity ate away at Caden, what were those for?
Leaning over and picking them up, he turned over the one in his right hand, blinking in surprise when he saw it was a photo of a small and thin human boy sporting a massive grin. He had short messy black hair, a chipped upper tooth, and was wearing a black shirt with some kind of skull design on it, and a small brown blanket-like cape hanging over his shoulders.
In the photo it seemed like he was being held by one of the brothers, if the green skin of the arms were any indication. Possibly even Leo? But the photo was zoomed in and too cropped to tell for sure.
The child looked to be no older than 8. Maybe around 10?
“That’s Casey.” Leo suddenly piped up. Caden jumped a little at his abrupt voice, it’s the first time since yesterday that he’s spoken to him.
Caden looked up at Leo in the mindscape, tilting his head inquiringly. “He’s a kid that I help look after with my brothers. His mother… was a good friend of ours.” He states in a fond tone, looking rather solemn with his gaze trained on the photo of Casey.
Was…past tense. Meaning she was most likely dead.
“Is…this kid also…?”
“He’s alive. You’ll probably see him around at some point. He…last time I saw him, he was sleeping in his bedroom.”
He watched as Leo sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, minutely shaking his head, refocusing on the present and not on the past. Caden gently placed the photo back down before turning the next one over to have a quick look. To his surprise it was a photo of the brothers with April in the middle, holding a certificate of some kind.
He absentmindedly ran a thumb over the paper, it seemed a lot older and more worn than the one of Casey. April, Leo and his brothers all looked decades younger here, maybe late teens to early adults? He wasn’t too sure, but they were smiling.
Happy and bright eyed, unscarred and youthful. They all looked so carefree and healthy here.
Mikey didn’t have greying hair in this photo and Raph had both eyes visible, Donnie didn’t have a gruesome scar on his face and Leo…
Caden snuck a quick glance at Leo who approached to stand beside him in the mindscape, watching the photo with an unreadable and blank expression.
What happened to them?
Caden took a moment to scan over the photo, his eyes settling upon someone unfamiliar. A large yokai-looking rat whose fur was turning grey, wearing a brown kimono. Who was this?
“That’s my dad.” Leo informs, as though he read his thoughts. Maybe he actually can, or perhaps Caden was just really easy to read with the way his brow had furrowed in confusion.
“That’s your dad? He’s a rat?” Caden inquired, even more confused and very curious as to how that was even possible.
“It’s a long story, but yep, I’m even biologically related to him.”
“What’s his name?”
“He went by many. Hamato Yoshi was the name he had as a human. Lou Jitsu when he was a movie star. And Splinter, when he became a rat dad.” Leo replies fondly, his smile seemed strained but soft as he started recalling bits and pieces of his childhood.
Caden winced a little when a flash of a foreign memory suddenly popped up in his mind. It was quick and a little blurry, but he saw a glimpse from Leo’s perspective of when Leo and Raph were only children, making what appeared to be home made lemonade. Their father was just visible in his peripheral vision, holding a cup and wearing sunglasses, Raph was stomping in a wooden barrel and Leo standing behind the lemonade stand, holding two hands up with peace signs.
He held back a coo at how adorable tiny Raph looked back then.
The memory faded out and was swapped for another one.
One of Leo and Splinter, fighting together in what appeared to be in an arena of sorts, wearing strange matching flashy costumes and tag-teaming a giant tentacled monster that must’ve been their opponent.
With a pained hiss from the quick and dizzying scene changes, Caden stepped back from the control podium, gripping at his head within the mindscape from the unexpected side effects.
Leo was quick to step up, placing his hand over the podium to stop Caden’s body from collapsing without a pilot.
Leo was in control, holding Caden up right as he took a moment to gaze around the familiar room that was his. Leo spared a moment to look down at the family photo before putting it down and walking away, reaching out to the cloak that was once his that Caden had left at the end of the bed, and draping it over himself.
He grinned at the familiar sensation of the blue fabric weighing over his shoulders, for a moment he could pretend that he was back in his own body.
That was until he realised the tugging at his pants was Caden trying to catch his attention in the mindscape, “I’m fine now… let me back in.” He starts, still with a fistful of Leo’s pants in his hands and a stubborn expression on his face.
Leo didn’t reply, hesitating as he thought about it. “Just…hang on for a moment.” He says, gently pushing Caden off his pants as he returns his attention to the real world.
He walks to the door, opening it and peeking his head outside into the corridor, looking right and left. He didn’t see anyone walking around right at that moment, so he quickly stepped out, pulling the hood of the cloak over his head as he strides along.
It wouldn’t hurt to check over a couple things really quickly, right? He’s been away for a while now; he had to make sure the base was up to date and operational. “Leo. Give me back my body.” Caden hissed, standing behind the older red eared slider who just murmured back.
“In a second.”
Leo made his way to the end of the corridor, stiffening for a moment when he saw a couple of yokai and humans walking in his direction. He didn’t want to draw any attention to himself, but he didn’t really have anywhere to hide.
He tilted his head down so the shadows of the hood could hide his face more effectively, and trained his eyes on the floor, waiting for the group to pass him. They didn’t bat an eye his way, making him sigh in relief and continue on his merry way. He knew Raph or Donnie probably wouldn’t like the idea of Caden roaming the base without their supervision, but call Leo paranoid, he had to make sure everything was still in good hands while he was stuck in this situation, that everyone still had at least some semblance of safety.
He turned another corner heading towards the cafeteria, but he didn’t get far when his feet suddenly halted on the spot. He blinked, stupefied, and tried to move. Looking down again, nothing was in his way or blocking his legs and feet, so why…?
“Give me back control.” Caden growled, he continued squishing himself underneath Leo’s arms, hands reaching out and touching the control panel as well.
Caden was controlling the lower half of his body, while Leo had the upper half.
“Are you insane? Let go.” Leo orders, trying to push him back and away with one arm, but Caden was stubborn, gripping on even tighter and refusing to let go.
“No. You let go, body snatcher.” Caden sassed, trying to also push him away with a leg since his hands were occupied. The two gave each other identical stubborn glares, Leo growled as Caden tried to make his body walk away from the cafeteria, but Leo was making it difficult and kept straining the upper half forward to carry them onward.
It was as though they were playing tug of war with the body. Battling over who was going to be in control and get the final say.
“Kid, you’re becoming a real pain in my neck.”
“I’m not the one causing it, gramps. It’s the old age catching up with you.”
“I’m only 30!”
Caden scoffs, narrowing his eyes as he forces his legs to turn and walk, with Leo trying to pull themselves to head the other way. “I have…to…check!” Leo grunts out, his voice straining with the inexperienced vocal cords of Caden.
Eventually the two both had to give up when neither made any progress, both mutually deciding on taking a break as they slid down the wall and sat on the ground, sweating out of exertion. Leo grumbled under his breath while Caden kept a cautious eye on the slider. “What are you even trying to do?” Caden inquired, raising a non-existent brow at Leo who rolls his eyes.
“I was just…making sure that everything was still operational. I’ve been gone for some time; the Resistance can only hold out for so long without me around 24/7.”
Caden sighs, shaking his head. “I’m sure if something was seriously wrong, your brothers would come and tell us. They think I’m you, so, they’d probably assume that if something was really not right, they’d encourage me to get my ‘memories’ to come back and fix the mess.” He bitterly spoke, playing with the ends of the cloak in his fingers.
Leo didn’t respond right away. Pulling himself away from the podium to give Caden full control. “…sorry.” He awkwardly apologises, walking away with his shell back to Caden, who tilts his head at him.
Weird.
With a dismissive shake of his head, he quietly looks around the hallway he was sitting in. He can hear the noises of speaking and the sounds of footsteps coming from inside the cafeteria just to his left. He could easily walk in, sit down and just observe everyone. He doesn’t have any other plans.
He pulls himself up, inching his way close to the doors. He’s never been inside a room where it was full of strangers, would they notice him? Would they talk to him, or leave him alone? What would he see beyond these doors?
“Leo!”
Caden yelps in fright at the sudden voice that came from behind him, jumping and whirling around to see Donnie eyeing him down suspiciously. “What are you doing?” The soft-shell interrogated, raising his brow as Caden nervously began to sweat, he took in a deep breath to calm down.
“Nothing…” He assured, but he could tell Donnie didn’t believe him judging by his incredulous expression.
“Right…well, now that I found you, I’m supposed to relay a message from Raph to you.”
“Um…okay?”
Donnie clears his throat, pulling up a holographic screen from his tech gauntlet, Caden stares in awe as he reaches his finger out to poke at the screen, his finger meeting no resistance and going right though.
“He says—stop poking the screen, Leo—“ Donnie scolds, lightly pushing Caden’s hand away as the young mutant gives a little annoyed huff. “Raph says, and I quote. Leo is not to wander off without telling one of us where he is going. For his safety as no one in the Resistance, excluding Draxum and April, knows about your unique circumstances right now.” Donnie ends the note there, the purple screen vanishing away as Caden widened his eyes.
“First off, I’m not Leo. And secondly, what do you mean I have to tell one of you where I’m going? I’m not a child.”
“Technically your body is that of a child. You’re only 17. You are physically still a child until you hit 18.”
Caden twitched his eye at Donnie’s comment, crossing his arms over his plastron. “I don’t need a babysitter.” He hisses, rolling his eyes. He already had Leo with him 24/7, he didn’t need more people to watch him.
“I don’t make the rules.” Donnie says, pausing for a moment and smirking, “Actually I kind of do. And I’m in agreement with Raph. Trust me, it’s best to keep you on the down low.” He playfully teased, pulling the hood down further over Caden’s face as the young slider slaps Donnie’s hand away from him.
“So unfair.”
“Yes, yes. Now come along, we can’t have you being seen by more people. They’ll get curious. There’s already a rumour spreading around about you.” Donnie groans out, tugging on Caden’s cape to pull him along.
“Rumour?” He muttered, repeating the word.
“Something along the lines of, Master Leonardo has a secret love child.” Donnie laughs, making both Leo and Caden grimace in sync as they follow behind the soft-shell.
“Where are we going now? If I can’t wander off and all.”
“Training.”
Caden blinks, biting his lip in both nerves and puzzlement. Training? What training does he need?
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