Chapter Text
“I just don’t get why Leo always gets all the fun.”
Elbows on his knees, head hung, Leo shot Raph a glare through the curtain of his hair. Most of it had been torn free from his bun to hang loose, shrouding his expression. Still, his brother had an uncanny ability to sense Leo’s glower, and he shot Leo a smirk in response.
“Killing is an unfortunate necessity,” Tiger Claw—Takeshi—growled from Raph’s side. Both men stood in the center of Leo's trashed living room, over the body of one of the men who had just tried to kill him. There was another in the loft, a fork lodged in his carotid, and the last lay crumpled in the kitchen where Leo had cracked his skull against the granite countertop. The man on his living room floor had been the last to die, his neck snapped between Leo's thighs.
The scene was gruesome. Leo was exhausted. A situation not improved by the way Takeshi glared down at Raph, disgust clear in the wrinkle of his nose. “It is not fun, boy.”
Raph shrugged, as much an attempt to be obnoxious as it was a genuine display of nonchalance. “Eh, agree to disagree.”
Takeshi looked as though he'd been settled at home before getting the call to come over, missing his vest and his signature, taxidermied tiger tail that hung from his belt. Raph, on the other hand, had clearly already been out. Rings glittered on his fingers, practically making the brass knuckles he favored obsolete. Three necklaces, of varying sizes, hung around his neck, highlighting just how many buttons he liked to leave undone on his bright, patterned shirts. He'd probably come straight from his usual bar, Eclipse.
Leo huffed, blowing a particularly annoying strand out of his face, only for it to swing right back. His nose twitched. “I would love for you to take some of it for yourself. Just, whenever you’re ready. Free to a good home.”
With one last burst of static, the TV screen went out, plunging the room into darkness.
Leo sighed, allowing his chin to drop to his chest. The gold-capped toes of Raph’s hideous red boots entered Leo’s line of sight as his brother joined him at the couch, leaning his hip against the armrest. “Watching your space nerd show again? No wonder they got the jump on ya.”
Leo scoffed, finally sitting up only to slump back into the chair, rather than forward. “They didn’t ‘get the jump on me.’ I knew they were there, hence them being dead and me being alive. You have something on your boot.”
Glancing down, Raph scrunched his nose at the blood splattered across the leather. Leo tilted his head back to the ceiling, closing his eyes. He’d already been winding down for bed when the assassins struck, and now, with the adrenaline fading, all he wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. If he could just rest his eyes for a moment–
Leo jolted upright a moment later as his asshole of a younger brother chose to clean his shoe off against Leo's pant leg instead of anything else. He immediately slapped Raph's leg aside, utterly indignant.
“The fuck?!”
“Get your lazy ass up and help us clean, Fearless.”
“Why did I even bother calling you over?” Leo grumbled, ignoring Raph's eye roll. But he still got to his feet with a groan, feeling every blow all over again. He could just sense an incoming shitty comment from Raph—probably asking if his age was catching up to him or something else similarly uncreative—and he warded it off with a preventative jab to Raph's diaphragm.
Poor Takeshi. At 38, he was hardly that much older than them, but Leo couldn't exactly blame him for feeling like their babysitter sometimes.
Getting up close to his would-be assassins again only confirmed his earlier conclusion: he had no idea who these people were. He didn't recognize any of their faces, and they had no identifying crests or symbols to give him even a hint. Neither Raph nor Tiger Claw showed any signs of recognition, either. With a sigh, Leo crouched down and began rummaging through the body's pockets while Raph and Takeshi dragged the other two in a row with their compatriot.
There was a loud thump as Raph released his body's legs, and the look Leo skewered him with was withering. “I do have neighbors, you know.”
“Yeah? What are they going to do, knock on the door to give you a stern talking-to?” Raph laughed, and Leo once again questioned the wisdom of ever inviting his brother over.
“Not all of us have made it our life’s goal to irritate everyone we meet.”
The assassins’ bodies were, predictably, devoid of anything useful. No IDs, no business cards, no helpful note explaining their orders and signed with a name. One of them had a few slightly-squashed Hi-Chew in his pocket; Leo tossed half of them at Raph’s head. The other bodies were similarly barren, one having only a pack of cigarettes that Raph pocketed, the other devoid of any belongings at all.
Fantastic. A pretty-well-organized assassination attempt on him thwarted, and all Leo had to show for it was a linty piece of candy.
Leo unwrapped one and popped it in his mouth, only to grimace. Umeboshi. Of course. He tossed the last candy to rejoin the others, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement as he managed to send it right into Raph’s shirt. The high-pitched yelp of surprise it prompted, and the following artificially-deep threats against his life, were worth any inevitable retaliation.
The smart lock on his front door trilled, and Raph’s rant instantly cut off, the room falling deadly silent. Leo locked eyes with his brother, and it was clear that Raph hadn’t been expecting anyone else; a quick glance at Takeshi confirmed the same. Like a well-oiled machine, they prepared for an attack—Raph slipped on his brass knuckles, Tiger Claw drew his gun from its holster, and Leo deeply regretted not getting one of his guns from the bedroom when he had a chance. Leo watched, unbreathing, unblinking, as the front door swung open.
Not an enemy.
Leo immediately ducked his head, deferential, as his father walked through the door, flanked on both sides by some of their kyōdai. Raph relaxed, fists falling to his sides as a relieved grin crossed his face, while Leo’s shoulders only tightened further.
Hamato Saki. Head of the Hamato family, a subsidiary of the Yuu-kai. Second in command of the Yuu-kai, just under the kumichō. Both Leo’s blood father and his oath father.
Leo’s eyes followed his father’s path through the room, through the carnage with barely a glance at the other people in the room, dead or alive. For too long, the only sound was the click of his black, patent-leather shoes against the hardwood. Finally, he came to a stop in front of the bodies.
Stiltedly, Leo broke the silence. “Father. I am honored by your presence, but you didn’t need to come.”
“I heard there was an attempt on my son’s life. What kind of father would I be if I did not assess your well-being myself?”
As always, his father's voice gave nothing away. A low, even rumble that had, at one point, been soothing. In all honesty, it still could be—just not right now. No answer was forthcoming, and after a beat Saki continued.
“Did you question any of them? Or did your bloodlust take precedence?” His tone was harsher, chastising, and Leo’s teeth threatened to crack beneath the strength of his jaw.
“They didn’t give me much of a choice,” Leo stiffly countered. “Not that it matters. This was obviously the Oroku.”
“Oh? You know that for a fact, do you? I would have thought that you would have shared your ability to read minds sooner.”
Raph snorted, though the look he shot Leo was sympathetic.
Leo’s vision wavered with the intensity of the surge of anger that roared in his ears, bringing with it a swell of lightheadedness. Outwardly, a slight tightening of his mouth was his only reaction. “Who else would be stupid enough to make an attempt on my life, but skilled enough to make it this far? It's the process of elimination, not supernatural abilities.”
An incongruously elegant hand spun a heavy, jeweled ring around Saki’s finger. “No one is untouchable, Leonardo.”
Perhaps the universe had a sense of humor—it was at that moment that there was a crack, followed by the muffled sound of impact, and time stretched and stuttered into a slideshow of moments.
Saki staggering back, a hand flying to his stomach.
Raph jolting up from his casual lean against the counter, eyes going wide.
Takeshi and Saki's bodyguards drawing their guns, scanning the room for the threat.
The neat bullet hole through the window. They were floor-to-ceiling, overlooking the city, but Leo had never considered them a hazard, given that they were also 40 stories in the air.
The blood soaking through Saki's plum jacket, coating Raph's hands, spoke otherwise.
When Leo broke from his trance, barely a few seconds had passed. Together, he and Raph wordlessly dragged their father behind the counter, shielded from anyone hoping to guarantee the kill. Takeshi was roaring orders, doors swung open and slammed shut, but Leo tuned it all out as he took over Raph's position keeping pressure on the wound.
Saki coughed, then hissed in pain, and Leo gave him a hard look. “Stay still. You don't want to make it worse.”
The blood beneath Leo's palms was hot, but the blood Saki’s fingers left on Leo's wrists was not. “Shen,” Saki managed between gritted teeth, ignoring Leo's frustrated shushing. “Protect… Shen.”
“Tang Shen?” Raph’s brows were drawn high in confusion, but Saki was silent, his body slackening. Leo met Raph's panicky eyes, feeling just as lost. “Why is he talking about Mom?”
The medical personnel were giving the room a wide berth. Understandably—Raph in particular was never great about ‘keeping a low profile.’ Even the most oblivious nurse would recognize him as yakuza, from his threatening aura or his numerous scars. Leo made it a point to be (comparatively) friendly, and he'd managed to stop Raph from being outright hostile, but he could hardly blame the doctors and nurses for keeping their visits to a bare minimum. Not that he was complaining; he much preferred when it was just him and his brother.
Such as now. Raph was glaring down at the unconscious form of their father, arms tightly crossed.
“Well, this blows.”
Leo sighed, pushing his hair back with his fingers. “That's one way to put it, yeah.”
“You gonna do what he said? Go find Mom in New York?” Raph didn't look away from Saki while he spoke, as if disinterested in the answer, but Leo knew better.
Leo turned a heavy, jeweled ring in his palm. The blood on it had long dried, barely visible against its red gem. It was going to take an eternity to clean out every divot.
“Whoever this was, they were bold enough to attack Father and me both. I think it's safe to say Mom is in danger.”
“What am I, chopped liver?” Raph griped.
“More like street food. You aren't exactly difficult to find.”
“I am so unappreciated,” Raph dramatically groaned, shoulders slumping in exaggerated misery, but Leo's amused huff was half-hearted at best. Leo could feel Raph side-eyeing him, and he was more subdued when he continued, “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow evening. Just enough time to get everything together.”
“Never one for wasting time, huh?” Raph sighed, finally fully turning to look at Leo. He was smiling, lips drawn tight. “You better bring me back one of those little statues of the lady with the torch.”
Leo arched a brow. “Buy one for yourself.”
It took Raph a moment, blinking dumbly at the patiently-waiting Leo. Then his eyes lit up, his smile relaxing into something genuine, but no less wide. “No shit?”
Leo gave a blasé shrug. “It'd be stupid to go alone, and there's no one who fights as well with me.”
“You're damn right about that.” Raph shoved Leo with his shoulder, bruisingly excited. “All it took to be able to leave the country was Dad being shot. Who knew?”
Leo huffed a short laugh, but his face went blank a moment later, eyes unfocused as he sunk into his thoughts. “Mi-chan and Dee would both be adults now.”
“Yeah, that is how time seems to work.”
Leo easily ignored the snark, well practiced as he was. “What do you think they'll be like?”
“Weak.”
Raph's answer was immediate, and Leo grimaced in reluctant agreement. “Well, they'll have to toughen up fast. Assuming Father was right.”
“Or we'll just have to drag around their dead weight.”
Leo sighed, pinching his brow to ward off the oncoming headache. “Probably that.”
Leo decided he didn't like flying. The rush of takeoff and landing was fun, true, but it didn't make up for the rest. People everywhere: moving erratically, pressing too close, walking too fast or too slow. In the Haneda airport it wasn't as much of a problem, save the tourists. But once they'd landed in JFK, it was a completely different world.
The first time someone shoulder-checked Raph, Leo was sure his brother was going to have to be restrained. Even let go of his luggage to prepare to grab him. But, luckily, Raph controlled himself. He even kept his pissed-off, “watch it, jackass!” in Japanese, prompting a confused look rather than a fight.
They'd lived in Yokohama their entire lives—the 2nd largest city in Japan, bustling at all hours of the day, only an hour from Tokyo. Still, he was accustomed to wide berths and nervous deference, and Leo realized that, perhaps, they had underestimated the impact their appearances had on their day-to-day experience. Here, where no one saw them and thought yakuza, the respect he expected was nonexistent.
On the subway, Raph smiled at anyone who looked in their direction. Their personal space remained intact for that ride, at least.
The walk from the train to the address they’d been given may have been short, but to Leo it was still too long. He was used to the bustle of big cities—the lights, the masses of people, the constant movement—but not the noise. The exhausts, the yelling, the honking. It had his teeth on edge, and the fourth time a too-close and too-loud horn sent his heart galloping into his throat Leo had to wonder why they hadn’t moved further from the heart of the city.
It was a relief to reach their destination—a brick apartment, discolored with age but otherwise unremarkable. Reddish, rusty-looking fire escapes lined the front of the building, one for each floor. Raph was eyeing the ladder that hung from the bottom section, and Leo immediately put a stop to that.
“No.”
Raph glared, but followed him through the front door regardless. “She’s probably not even home, and then what? We don’t have a key.”
“I doubt the window is any more likely to be unlocked.” Leo gave him a flat look before hiking up his luggage and starting up the stairs. “It is, however, more likely to get the cops called on us. If she’s not here, we’ll just wait.”
Which was, admittedly, not a fantastic option, either. Two grown men lurking outside a woman’s apartment for hours was still pretty suspicious. This would’ve been much easier if Shen had provided any other form of contact to their father—like, say, a phone—but when were they ever so lucky?
Four flights of stairs later, heart in his throat, Leo knocked at their mother’s door.
He gave it a few minutes before knocking again, to no avail, and refused to acknowledge his relief. “It’s late. They can’t be out for that much longer.”
“Unless they’re out of town. Or dead.” Raph elbowed Leo aside. “Maybe I can break–”
The handle turned with no resistance, and Raph blinked as the door swung open.
“Or they didn’t lock the door, I guess.”
There were no signs of struggle. No blood. No indication of a recent, thorough cleaning. “I guess so,” Leo hesitantly agreed, a crease in his brow as he followed his brother into the apartment. Raph carelessly tossed his bag aside, head on a swivel as he took in their mother’s home. The entrance led straight to the living room, just beyond which was the kitchen. The smell of chicken curry lingered in the air, and Leo's throat tightened in response.
Raph kicked off his shoes, nose wrinkled and his brows drawn. “Why’s it so small?”
There was a clunk as Leo locked the door behind him. “I'm sure Mom just wanted to keep a low profile.”
“I mean, sure, but there's three of them. There's gotta be somethin’ low-profile but still a step up from here.”
The couch creaked beneath Leo's weight as he threw himself onto it, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You should tell her that. I think she'll really appreciate the input.”
Raph snorted. “Fuck no. I remember her well enough to know that will get me killed.”
Leo's mouth twitched up into a small smile, but otherwise he was content to just wait. It had been a lot of travel—did Shen have to move to the furthest state she could?
Raph shrugged off his coat, tossing it onto the couch beside Leo. “Well, I'm going to take a piss.”
“Have fun.”
Leo let his eyes slide shut, listening to Raph’s retreating footsteps. God, he could use a nap. The sooner Shen got home, the sooner they could explain everything and Leo could go to sleep. Though he had to admit that Raph had been right—the apartment was small, and definitely didn’t seem to have any guest bedrooms… Whatever. They’d figure something out.
Infinitesimally, the air shifted.
Someone is here.
Leo threw himself to the side just as a knife plunged into the couch cushion his neck had just been resting on.
Using his momentum, Leo rolled out of the way of the next attack before getting to his feet, scanning his surroundings for a good weapon as his opponent advanced.
And what an opponent he was. He looked even taller than Father's impressive six-one, and easily twice as broad as Leo. A bright white oni mask covered his entire face, and he spun the knife in his fingers, bits of couch fiber still stuck in the serration.
He was waiting for us.
For a moment, they just stared, each waiting for the other to move first.
Leo vaulted the kitchen table to reach the knife block, pulling the biggest one just in time to catch the giant’s blade. He was, unsurprisingly, strong, and Leo barely managed to redirect the weapon before his arms buckled.
Throwing himself under the giant’s outstretched arm, Leo kicked the back of his knee, sending him stumbling but not falling. A swing of his own knife was easily knocked aside. The giant was stronger, but Leo was faster; he mostly managed to keep out of range, but any injuries he inflicted were superficial.
One misstep and he was thrown into a display shelf near the entryway, sending his head spinning. His hair snagged as he tried to duck out of the way—oh, he would never live that down if someone had seen—and the second it took to rip his hair tie out stole any advantage he had. Though he evaded the giant’s next blow, he wasn’t so lucky with the kick that followed.
Leo’s back hit the kitchen table. He was just able to bring his knife up to block the giant’s, but his arms were shaking from the effort of holding the giant off—not even stopping him, just slowing the descent of the blade towards his throat. Maybe he could kick the man off, or twist himself free, but could he afford to divert any of his strength away from keeping his neck in one piece?
A socked foot smashed into the giant’s face. The overwhelming resistance was gone in an instant, and Leo’s knife almost went right into his savior’s leg before it was twisted from his grip.
Raph grinned, hauling Leo upright by his lapels. The pilfered silverware spun between his fingers. “Thanks for the knife. Fuck, he's big, huh?”
As one, they moved, lunging towards the giant. The mask had been knocked from his head, exposing his face, but it didn’t matter. Leo had never seen this man in his life. Unsurprisingly; the fact he was 7 feet tall alone would’ve been enough to recognize him if he had.
“Everyone’s big to you,” Leo growled, ducking under a thrown fist. “You couldn’t have hurried that up at all?”
Raph took the opportunity to stab their opponent’s unprotected underarm, his eyes wide and innocent. “You want me to not wash my hands? That’s disgusting.”
The giant howled, ripping away from Raph and taking the blade with him. A strong kick to the handle from Leo drove it further between his ribs. Finally, Raph rammed into his side and the giant went down with a thud. A muffled banging on the floor from the apartment below came immediately after. Oops.
Their opponent had dropped his own blade as he fell, and Leo snatched it from the floor. Without a moment of hesitation, he impaled the giant’s hand, pinning him to the floor. Foot trapping the other hand, he stared dispassionately down at the man. “Who are you?”
The fury in his eyes was searing, but his mouth remained shut. Even as Leo leaned closer, taking ahold of the knife lodged in his side and beginning to twist it.
“Why are you here? What family are you with?”
In response, the giant spat in Leo’s face.
Lips thinned into nothing, Leo wiped his sleeve across his face. His tone was mild. “Raph?”
Raph grinned, cracking his knuckles. “You don’t gotta tell me twice.”
Leo slipped away to find a face towel, the sound of fists following at his heels. He took his time—looked through the cabinets a bit, rinsed some blood from his sleeve, tied his hair back up into a neat ponytail. When he re-entered the living room, Raph looked up from where he was sitting on the giant’s chest with slumped shoulders. A bloody hand swept Raph’s hair from his face, bafflement in the crease of his brow.
“I think this is a lost cause, aniki,” Raph offered, sounding out-of-breath.
Leo scrubbed a hand across his face. “Go ahead.”
There was the distinct crack of vertebrae separating, followed by a familiar groan of annoyance. “Ugh, my rings are going to take forever to clean.”
“That is entirely your fault for not taking them off.”
Raph scoffed. “All my weapons are still packed. Shoulda taken them out as soon as we got here, I guess.”
“I didn’t exactly expect to have that little down time. We’re off to a great start.”
“At least it won’t be boring!”
“Oh, whatever would we do if it was boring.” Leo's tone dripped with sarcasm, but Raph only nodded in vehement agreement.
Leo dropped back onto the couch, throwing his leg up to rest an ankle on his thigh as he let his eyes unfocus. The room fade away. At some point, Raph declared, mostly to himself, that he was hungry, and wandered away into the kitchen. He was halfway through the bowl of curry he'd found in the fridge when keys clattered in the lock.
Shen paused, then carefully shut the door behind her. When Leo managed to drag his gaze to her, her eyes were just as sharp as he remembered, taking in him, the dead giant, Raph in the kitchen.
“Yo.” Raph jerked his chin up in her direction, mouth half-full of rice.
Shen's brow twitched. Her movements were carefully calculated to look casual as she set her tote bag on the ground, using the movement to disguise the way she shifted the keys in her hand so that the pepper spray was at the ready. A good act that would've fooled most people. Which they were not. “Hello. And to what do I owe the pleasure?”
The realization that she didn't recognize them shot through Leo's chest, sharp and hot. A quick glance confirmed the same of Raph, a grin with too many teeth flashing across his face. Hand over his heart, Raph rearranged his expression into an exaggerated frown.
“You don't recognize us? Yikes, Mom.”
Shen blinked. This time, when she looked over them both, Leo saw the exact moment that she connected the children they'd been to the men in front of her. The tension fled from her shoulders, and the ember in Leo's chest dulled. The sharp edges smoothed over.
At least there was something left for her to connect.
She absently dropped her keys into a bowl beside the entrance, her attention on them. A little stiffly, Leo got to his feet, watching as she crossed the room. Shen stopped just in front of him, eyes roaming his face.
He still had to look up at her. The familiarity of it was comforting.
Slowly, carefully, she reached out, tucking a strand of hair he'd missed behind his ear. Leo held himself so still that he was barely breathing—her fingers were cool, but they left a warmth wherever they brushed his skin. Shen's lips curved into a slight smile. 「 I think your hair is just as long as mine, now. 」
Leo felt as though his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth as he warred with himself on what to say. All he managed was a soft, 「 I think so. 」
From the kitchen, Raph groaned dramatically, shattering the stillness. 「 It takes him so long to take care of. Every time it's a whole event. 」
Shen scoffed, pulling away, and Leo had to fight not to trail after her like a dog begging for scraps. 「 At least he takes care of it. It looks like yours hasn't seen a barber in years. 」
Raph only shrugged. It was probably true—whenever it passed some arbitrary threshold known only to him, he’d chop it off himself. Usually he could be convinced to let Leo even it out, at least, but neither of them were particularly good at it.
Finally, she acknowledged the giant in the room, looking down at him with her lip curled. She gave no hints of recognition, and though she could be misleading them, Leo saw no reason to believe she was.
「 You couldn't have cleaned up before I got home? I'm not your maid. 」 Self-assured as the spectre of his memories, she strode into the kitchen and pulled the bowl from Raph's hand, setting it aside. His protest was cut short by her glare. 「 I was saving that for later. Did no one teach you any manners while I was gone? 」
Raph huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes. 「 Dad always has people come in and deal with it. 」
Shen's mouth tightened, and Leo couldn't help but feel that she put the food back in the fridge a little aggressively. “Not here.”
Her eyes landed on what had once been a small clay sculpture of some sort. Leo vaguely recalled being thrown against the table it must have been sitting on. Shen sighed and crouched beside it, picking up a few of the larger pieces with a mournful look. “Mikey is going to be upset about that.”
Over her head, Leo and Raph locked eyes. Raph raised his brows, a clear “I told you so,” and Leo grimaced in begrudged concession.
The younger two were definitely soft.
Ignorant to the silent conversation happening above her head, Shen got up to throw the larger pieces away in the kitchen. She grabbed a broom from the closet, but, rather than returning to the pile of shattered remains, she thrust the broom against Raph’s chest with a smile. Wide-eyed, he took it, probably on instinct. He blinked a few times, glancing between her retreating back and the broom, before it clicked.
「 What? But I didn't even do it! 」 he whined. He looked at the broom as if it was about to bite him, and Leo huffed a laugh.
「 Maybe if you’d come to help sooner, it wouldn’t have broken, 」 Leo teased.
Raph flipped him off, but, despite his continued sulking, he began sweeping up the mess. Leo felt a pang of guilt looking at the remaining shards, and he wondered what it had been. It was colorful, whatever it was. When was the last time Leo had touched clay? Twenty years?
His musing was interrupted by a bucket and sponge appearing in his line of sight. Shen raised her brows expectantly. “It will go faster with two, don't you think?”
Leo took the bucket and watched as she returned to the kitchen. While she looked through the fridge, Leo wrung out the sponge and began scrubbing.
“I’ll make an omelet,” she murmured, almost to herself.
She was pouring the whisked eggs into the heated pan when Leo, eyes locked onto the sponge in his hand, abruptly spoke.
“They shot Dad.”
Shen paused. When Leo looked up, her expression was unreadable; as was her tone when she asked, “Is he okay?”
“He’s alive. In a coma.” Leo sat back on his heels, watching as she resumed cooking as though she’d never stopped. “They don’t know if he’ll wake up yet.”
“Who was it?”
“The Oroku family.” Leo’s answer was immediate, despite the doubtful look Raph sent his way. “They tried to kill me, and had a sniper ready for when he arrived.”
Shen accepted Leo’s answer without argument, nodding absently. Done sweeping, Raph wandered into the kitchen. He peered around Shen’s shoulder to watch her work, only to be shooed right back out. Bucket set aside, Leo watched as Raph meandered.
He stopped in front of a shelf, eyes roaming over the picture frames before he picked one up with a derisive snort. He turned it around for Leo to see what appeared to be a graduation photo: a tall boy in the center, dressed in graduation robes, with Shen at one side and a shorter boy latched onto the other. Shen glanced back at them, looking for a moment like she was going to speak, but she didn’t.
“Donnie’s the dork in the hat, right?”
Leo's sharp, admonishing look went ignored. Luckily, Shen didn't seem to mind the insult, only smiling softly. Proudly. “That's at Donnie's graduation ceremony for his master’s. He is working on his doctorate right now. And Mikey is the one with the big smile.”
Raph squinted, scrutinizing the photo further. It was several seconds before he shared his assessment. “They look weak.”
This time, Leo actually managed to whack him in the stomach. Though, he was inclined to agree with Raph's assessment—Donnie’s shoulders had a rounded, perpetually-at-a-desk quality, and Mikey's soft face held a childlike essence even though he was likely 16 or 17.
Shen only shrugged. “They had other priorities. Donnie is very smart; he graduated high school when he was 16, and got his master's degree at 21. Mikey is more… artsy. He's taking a gap year.” She said “gap year” in an indulgent sort of tone, like she was humoring a child’s imaginary friend. “Right now he takes a few classes at the art gallery.”
Leo frowned. “Do they know about us? About our dad, and their dad?”
She was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “No, absolutely not. Donnie… he's figured out the rest of the family is a bit shady, but none of the details. And Mikey believes you are both studying gorillas in the Amazon.”
Leo blinked, Raph guffawing at his side. “That's… interesting,” Leo diplomatically replied.
“Is he stupid?” Raph much-less-diplomatically chimed in, ignoring Leo's warning glare.
“He is sweet. He sees the best in people, whether they deserve it or not.” Shen raised an eyebrow, raking a disparaging eye over the two of them.
“So, yes,” Raph translated, a grin sliced across his face.
With a roll of her eyes, Shen turned back to the stove. “Well, I was hardly going to tell him the truth, you know. Not until he is older, at least. For now, can you just pretend?”
Leo responded a beat too late. “Of course,” he promised, his own voice muffled by the pulse in his ears.
Raph laughed again, the photo frame clacking heavily against the shelf as he set it back down. “God, you baby them. But yeah, whatever, I can play pretend with the children.”
“Assuming they're not dead,” Leo flatly pointed out. To Shen, he continued, “Clearly, they know where you live. He was already in the apartment when we arrived, waiting. For you or for us, it doesn't really matter. If they can do that, they can find the boys.”
Leo saw the understanding dawn in her eyes. Robotically, she slid the finished omelet onto a plate, forgotten. “You need to get them. Bring them home.”
This day was never going to end, was it? Leo completely agreed, of course, but that didn't mean he was pleased about it. Regardless, Leo nodded. “Where are they?”
“Donnie is working on a project at the university, and Mikey should be hanging out at Jason's house. His best friend,” she clarified in response to Leo's furrowed brow.
“And where is that?”
Shen took out her phone, swiftly pulling up an app. “Here he is on the–” She cut herself off with a frown. “He's not at Jason's.”
That's not good. Leo came around to her side to look at the screen with her. Some sort of phone-tracking app was pulled up, a map of the city with two markers. Donnie had apparently been “At School” for six hours, while Mikey–
“Why is he at Slipstream?” Shen sputtered. “He is not even old enough to get through the door!”
“Well, now I'm interested.” Raph was leaning over to look, now, too, and Leo didn't trust the intrigued glint in his eye.
Resigned, Leo sighed. “I'll get Michelangelo.”
“God, you're such a buzzkill today,” Raph complained.
“That's the idea,” Leo deadpanned.
Raph stuck his tongue out and made a rude gesture with his hand, but Leo knew better than to think he was actually that annoyed. “Whatever, I'll get the nerd then. Later, loser.” With a lazy, two-fingered salute, Raph spun on his heel and sauntered out. Shen watched him go, indignation and bewilderment warring on her face, and Leo couldn't help but pity her. Raph was… a lot to handle. At 11, he’d merely been annoying, rather than his current insufferable, and Leo had watched it happen real-time. Shen had been thrown into the deep end.
Leo bowed his head, as if he could make up for his brother's impertinence “I will be back as soon as I'm able.”
Shen nodded, looking back down at her phone. “Keep them safe. They are… everything to me. After all I've done to keep them from this life, I can't let it hurt them now.”
“I will,” Leo promised, his voice impassive despite the twisting of his stomach. He didn't bother waiting for her to look up before striding from the room.