505

Bonus Chapter: The Future

        New York, 2034

     I was sitting in the makeshift med bay; I was the makeshift doctor in this hell of a world we managed to survive in. The blue light from the holographic screen reflected on my face as I waited for any new patients to wander in.

     I perked up at the sound of the door sliding open and the pattering of footsteps sprinting into the room. A pair of small arms wrapped around me and I glanced down to see the young boy that had entered and trapped me in a hug with his tiny arms.

     "Hey, Junior," I smiled at him. It was Casey, Cassandra's son. "Is your mom here with you?" I ruffled his hair and he pouted up at me.

     "Uncle Donnie brought me!" he told me as his grin grew once more. Oh, how I envied his child-like joy. He reminded me of Mikey when we were all younger.

     "Is Uncle Donnie going to join us?" I asked a little louder, more toward the turtle than the young boy at my side. I saw the tall turtle step further into the room, the holographic visor flickering off as he looked up at me.

     "Scared to come to a check-up on your own?" I smirked at the soft-shelled turtle who only rolled his eyes in response. "How's the automail holding up?" I nodded to the mechanical arm we worked together to program.

     "It's holding up," the fingers flexed and wiggled to show he wasn't lying. "Functioning as it was intended to. It's Genius Built Apparel, of course, it's working properly," still smug, as always. I was glad some things never changed.

     "Have a seat," I offered Donnie the seat across from me, and he already knew how it worked. He hooked the wires up to his automail while I pulled Casey Jr. up onto my lap. The boy watched curiously as code ran across the holographic screen and my eyes traced over it.

     No system errors, and no broken lines in the code. No glitching or short-circuiting from the tech itself. Everything looked good. My eyes looked passed the screen to the proud mutant on the other side.

     "I see you're being more careful since your last visit," I commented and his expression quickly faded. "It's almost like you were scared of being scolded again. Is that why you brought company?" it was my turn to wear that smug grin.

     "Scoff. I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he let out a scoff and rolled his eyes at me.

     "Don't grow up to be clumsy like Uncle Donnie, Junior," I told the boy who was sitting in my lap and he grinned up at me.

     "I won't! I'm gonna grow up big and strong like Uncle Leo!" he cheered out proudly. Raph would have loved this kid, he really would've. He died when Casey was young, maybe four or five; he was nine now.

     "I'm sure you will," I tried my best to keep my grin from faltering as my memories with Raph spewed into my brain. I tried to push them away, but not into the back of my mind where all forgotten memories eventually wound up.

     Donnie seemed to pick up the change in my demeanor and began to unhook the automail from the computer. "Let's go find Uncle Leo," Donnie said and the little boy hopped out of my lap.

     "Okay! Bye-Bye, Dr. Y/n!" Casey zoomed out the door and Donnie let a soft smile cross his face as he stood from his chair.

     "You okay?" the soft-shelled turtle asked softly and I met eyes with him. Always caring when it was just the two of us.

     "I'll be fine, you dork," I smiled and stood up. He had grown quite a bit since we were younger. I stood on my toes and the mutant leaned down as I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, be safe."