Where We Collided || ROTTMNT ||

No Longer Alone

Splinter waited for his sons to return from their search. They came back empty-handed, and even though Splinter wanted to be surprised, he wasn't. April quickly greeted them and hugged Donatello, who in turn hugged her back. Leonardo instantly walked over to his father and greeted him with a grim look.

"I assume you didn't find anything?" the rat asked his turtle son.

Leonardo nodded his head and Splinter placed his paw on his shoulder. His son looked quite defeated, in spirit, that is. Splinter didn't mind, he knew they had most likely searched the whole city.

"We did find weird traces of mutagen, but Donnie could barely identify them," Leonardo stated with a grim look still firm on his face.

"Then take a break, first," Splinter said. "And meet our guest. He awoke a few minutes before you arrived."

Leonardo looked surprised at the news and made to go into the Dojo, but Splinter halted him with a firm grip on his shoulder. Leonardo looked at him with a conflicted gaze, questions in his eyes.

"He has introduced himself as Blue," Splinter told his son. "Be mindful, Leonardo, he is not at ease here. His brothers are important to him and he is worried. I suggest you speak of something light."

Leonardo nodded at the rat and Splinter let him go to welcome his other sons. Raphael looked pissed off but greeted his Sensei with a curt nod and a small smile. Mikey was sticking close to his big brother, a pout on his face. He hugged his father before disappearing off to the kitchen to make sure ice-cream kitty was okay. Donatello had disappeared in his lab with April, and Splinter wanted to see him, but he was going to let his son think for now. He knew the young turtle was busy with all sorts of things in his head, trying to figure out where their alternate selves were.

Splinter hoped they would soon be found because Blue did not look confident on his own.

OOO

Leonardo made his way into the Dojo to see Casey handing a cup of hot tea to a turtle sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. He looked worn out and the bruises on his body had taken to coloring a bit more. His eyes were barely open and his cheeks were flushed. A blanket pooled over his arms and around his back, covering half his shell. Leo carefully approached them and made sure the others could see him.

"Hi," he said quietly, keeping his voice light.

"Hey," the other turtle tiredly replied, a small smile on his face.

Leo turned to Casey, and the human went without a word, smiling at the other turtle before disappearing out the Dojo. Leo sat down in front of the other and regarded him for a moment. He looked quite like Leo himself, but his father had said his name was Blue. So he went with that.

"Sensei told me your name was Blue?" Leo asked quietly, looking at Blue with a sharp eye.

The other didn't respond for a moment, and Leo took the time to study the colorful marks on his counterpart. They were lighting up a little, and there was something flickering in and out of focus, but Leo couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly.

"Yes."

It was a simple answer, and Leo nodded. He hadn't quite expected anything else. Blue took a sip of his cup and closed his eyes, humming for a moment.

"Father used to make this for my brother when he got angry. A passive-aggressive message for him to calm down," the younger turtle said, smiling softly.

"Sounds like something my father would do, too," Leo answered with a small smile.

He was a little wary of Blue, but he didn't seem like a threat, and they had taken his weapon when they'd found him. Donnie had treated his injuries and Leo had left him to sleep in his room. They'd been gone almost the whole night, so the other turtle had been sleeping quite long. He still seemed exhausted, however, and Leo wondered if it was due to the fever he was most definitely running.