Good news, I'm still good at drawing 😩
Thank god,, for without slef indulgent art,,,, w hat am i ?

Also... a mix of hope and angst,,, soo,,,, be ready 4 tht

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Your eyes snap open at the sound of metal crashing and clanking, like a rain of pots and pans.

The gentle hold of Leo held you close as you listened, lifting your head a bit towards the door.

"It's alright Y/n." Leo murmured, his eyes still closed. Your attention stolen from the door to the steadily breathing turtle, almost wondering if you were just hearing things. He take in a deep slow breath. "Donnie's just working." He sighs, settling farther into his pillow as his arm around you rubs soothing circles on your side.

With a newfound apathy, you easily laid back down with Leo. He hummed and nuzzled his head into the slope of your neck as you both settled back into the bed sheets.

That was until another, louder and more troubling crash came that sounded like glass shattering. Your eyes opened suddenly then peer over to Leo who's eyes were now also open as he listened.

The clattering got worse as the sound of something like a body hit the floor.

Leo sat up suddenly, shortly followed by you as you both shared a worried look.

A quiet second passed between you both until the turtle shot out of bed, making a beeline for his katana. You instead ran straight for the door and swung it open, trying to track the sounds back to Donnie's lab. Leo was right behind you as you both rounded the corner out of his room, passing his other katana on the way.

"Donnie?" Leo called out, racing towards the lab through the living room where the entirety of the conspiracy club was, some standing, some sitting; but all stared towards the lab in concern.

As you and Leo pushed inside the lab doors, your eyes tried to adjust to the low lighting within the lab.

"Donnie?!" Leo cried out, rushing farther in.

You blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes adjusted in time to understand what was happening. A few seconds of frantic blinking cleared way into the sight of Leo placing his katana on the messy work bench then placing his hand on Donnie's hunched over back. "What's going on? What happened in here?"

You notice the floor harboured shattered test tubes and beakers littering the floor, painted with unknown chemicals. There was a large hunk of matter, something that looked be like a brain creature, laying solidly still on the floor.

Donnie's face was stone cold as he stared at his desk angrily, rapidly crumbling into a weak, teary acerbity. "I-I'm sorry Leo. I don't know what came over me."

Shortly after, Raph barrelled in on a stream of light from outside the lab, eyes wideand searching. "What's going on in here?!" He hollered, confused as he lessened the gap between him and his brothers. He spares you a curious glance, to which you could only shrug.

"Donnie, you can't scare us like that!" He chastised, stepping over the chemicals towards his brothers. "I thought something awful happened!"

Donnie's body tensed as his head lowered. "I'm sorry Raph." The slight tremor in his voice was enough to shut even the loudmouth up. "I really am."

You carefully approached the turtles, stepping over the slightly bubbling chemicals and glass beakers.

Leo, concerned as always, reached his hand out to which you readily accepted, careful not to fall as you made your way over with his steady hand.

He gently supports you, giving your hand a squeeze once you successfully jumped over the rest. You give him a timid smile before turning to Donnie.

"Donnie." You voice sounds a little too loud as it cuts through the still air. "Do you need any help?"

The air was careful as he mulled this question over. Finally, he laughed humourlessly, keeping his eyes down on the table. "That'd be helpful, welcomed even." He slowly lifts his head, running his arm across his face with a sniffle as he stares straight ahead. "But... I uh... I have a certain skill set no one else has."

He cleared his throat as best as he could as he pressed more weight down onto his palms. "I'm the only one who can bring Mikey back." His voice was strained and cut out to nothing but a ghostly breath choking through.

"Don..." Raph placed his hand on Donatello's shell, only for him to flinch away from the touch.

The gears turned in your head. He was right in a sense, any of you would be utterly useless in finding a solution if you struggle to understand the biotechnology that caused the problem in the first place.

Your eyes flick to the lab door that was still ajar. A lightbulb seemed to light up in your head as your feet fled out on small hops. Leo watched you leave, but didn't say anything, instead returning to his brother. "Donnie, I'm sure we could do something, mix chemicals or clean your tools or something."

Leo's voice faded as you stepped out of the lab, closing the door behind you.

"What's going on in there?" Shane questions, bewildered from his perch on the couches arm rest with David's head resting in his lap.

You made a beeline towards the couch. "Donnie just needs some help."

All five of the men's eyes watched you as you stepped up in front of Roy who's eyes went wide at the full intensity of your determined stare. "Do you think you'd be willing to assist him?" You asked, gently but hopeful.

Roy's head turned to either side of him, only to see everyone's eyes on him as well. He looked back to you. "A-Are you serious?"

Your stare faltered as your voice slowly got smaller. "Uh, yeah, I-I am. You're the only one who really understands the goo in a way that might be able to help."

Roy suddenly stands up. "Yeah! Of course I'll help!" He places a hand on his lower face as to cover his smile. "This is an amazing opportunity! This is more than I could've asked for." He mutters to himself, elated.

You manage a small smile and place a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Roy." With that you began to usher the man away from the others. "Just, please keep in mind that this is a delicate situation. They're trying to bring back their brother, so getting that purple stuff out of his system means everything to them."

The excitement written across his face stopped mid sentence, until it melted into a mortified expression. "Oh! R-Right! I'm sorry I didn't mean to—!"

You hushed him by squeezing his shoulder. "It's fine, Roy. If you can help them, that would be all they could ask for." You soothed, bumping into him warmly.

He nodded with a calmer, unsure smile.

As your hand pressed to the door, you looked to Roy again. "Are you ready?"

A nervous smile quivered across his face. "Yeah, I am."

You returned his smile. "Thank you, Roy." And with that breath gone, you pushed the door open again, peeking in to see how everything was before letting Roy in.

The turtles peeked over to you, Donnie wiping his eye with the back of his wrist, collecting himself.

"Hey, I have someone here that can help." You said into the dank lab.

The turtles eyed each other, until Donnie huffed, his nose crinkling as he shut his eyes. "Okay Y/n... Who do you have?" He asked, slowly lifting his head up towards you again.

You pushed the door open further, stepping to the side for Roy to fall into their view. "Uh! Hello..!" Roy stammered, his body stiffening as if turning into concrete.

Leo's head perked. "Oh, uh... hi Roy."

The turtles all seemed to understand what you meant in bringing him to the lab, a small bubble of hope lifting the heavy atmosphere that was just moments before crushing them.

"You're the one who was studying the bio weapon, right?" Donnie asks quickly, wiping his face clear of anything that might be running.

It took a second for Roy to process the words, so you nudged him slightly, snapping him back. "Uh yeah! The goo! Yes, I have been s-studying— ahem — uh yeah, I have."

The way Roy fumbled over himself went easily ignored. "Well, we'll need all the help we can get." Donnie stated, not letting his hopes up too high as he waved the man over to his worktable.

Roy spared you a swift glance, and without any reinforcement from you stepped forward shyly with his understated intelligence clawing desperately to prove itself to Donnie.

As he fell in line next to Donnie, he spoke with an encouraging voice. "So, what do we have so far?"

As Donnie caught Roy up on what he's been doing and working with, Leo starts to clean up the mess on the floor. You take a step forward in means to help, but Raph turns to you and blocks your path, hopping over the unclean floor. "So what're we gonna do with the rest of your friends?" He asked, now standing right before you. Leo's glare radiated like solar flares onto his brothers back.

You blinked a few times, registering his sudden question as you hummed in thought. "I uh... I'm not sure...  is it safe for them to go home?" You asked as you lifted your eyes to meet his, curious.

Raph eyed you carefully before looking passed you to the others in the living area. "I mean... I don't know..." He said with a shrug. "Maybe we should scope the places out together beforehand."

Suddenly, a looming presence took away the light streaming in from the other room. You turned just to meet Splinter standing in the doorway. The rats sharp glare landed squarely on the turtle in front of you. "Raphael. That is an extraordinarily stupid idea." He scolds, whacking his son on the head with his cane. "Y/n will not be going back up there until it is certain she will be safe."

Raph grumbled, rubbing the top of his head. "Okay, fine, we won't go." He folded with a grumpy expression.

Splinter shook his head. "No Raphael, you will be going with me. We still need to know if it's safe for Y/n and her friends." He said pointedly.

Raphael's eyes became wide. "W-What? What about Leo?! He's the leader he should be doing this stuff too!" Raph growled as he flung his arm back towards his brother, who was sluggishly picking up pieces of broken glass while watching the scene unfold.

Splinter shook his head. "No, he is needed here." His eyes lifted to his youngest son who laid unresponsive on an inclined table. "We don't know what kind of sickness has been put into Michelangelo, but if it's traceable and the foot finds us here, Leonardo must be here to protect this family."

The somber finality in his words extinguished Raphael's anger. Splinter's eyes held a pain within them you were sure you would never understand unless you had a child of your own. "Donatello," the second youngest turned his head to his father for the first time in this entire dialogue. "We will be gone for a while. Phone Raphael if anything changes."

Donnie nodded once. "Right, okay... I-I will."

Splinter smiled softly, then turned back, slipping out of the lab's doorway. "Come, Raphael."

The second eldest sighed and followed his father without a word, weaving around you.

Unfortunately, an uncomfortable thought poured into your head.

Henry has nowhere to go.

You mentally cringed, just the thought of coming face to face with him wasn't something you were looking forward to. However, it wasn't hard to imagine he held the same sentiment towards you.

Leo's eyes slid to you as your mind raced. You locked eyes with him like a dear in headlights. "Uh, I'll be back in a bit."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he only nodded instead. You didn't really wait around for an answer anyway though as you sped into the living area where the guys were hanging out, Casey and April had made an appearance too and started to set up some kind of game for everyone on the old tv.

As you approached you received momentary glances from the other humans. "Hey, uh, have you guys seen Henry anywhere?" You counted the guys around as a tension pinched your brow together. "And Floyd for that matter."

April stood up from the old game console as she unknowingly mirrored your expression. "Oh well, last I saw Floyd is when we took him to Raphael's room. He looked exhausted." She smooshed her fingers to her lips in thought. "As for Henry... Uhh..." She removed her hands from her face. "I haven't seen him, sorry."

Dejected, but also somewhat relieved, you sighed. "Okay, thanks."

Jamie suddenly spoke up. "Actually, Y/n, I think I saw him maybe an hour ago in the kitchen, but he left when I walked in. H might be back now though." The albino recalled, leaning forward on the couch to get a better look at you.

"Ah, okay, thanks Jamie." You said, not fully meaning it as you crept away. The closer you got to the kitchen, the stronger this feeling of dread fell over you.

There was no way this would end well, but you couldn't let it hang as it did. Henry was still your friend... right?

You pushed the kitchen door open only to be met with a pitch black darkness. Your eyes strained to scan the room as your right hand fumbled for some kind of light switch.

Finally, your got the switch and turned it on, casting a dim, flickering light through the kitchen. There at the far seat, was Henry, his head resting on the kitchen table miserably.

He wasn't crying now, but it was clear he had been. He wore a blank expression as his eyes stared across the room with his cheek pressed against the wooden surface.

The freezing in place wasn't something you expected from your body upon the sight of him.

Tiberius was a bad man who did truly heinous things, it's only right that he got what he did. But why do you feel like you made the worst decision possible when you look at Henry. Like you'd take it all back, not for the old monster, but for his son.

What was he thinking?

His brown eyes slowly slide towards you accompanied by a slow blink. The stare held something you couldn't quite distinguish, causing a subtle sweatiness to bubble into your palms.

"Henry... I..." Your voice caught in your throat. There wasn't much you could realistically say to comfort him and truly mean. Plus, you couldn't even gauge if he wanted comfort from you, one of the people who could've saved his father, and actively chose not to. "I'm sorry that you're in this situation, I really am. Just... tell me what I can do for you."

Definitely not the worst thing you could've said, but that didn't comfort your nerves in the slightest.

His bloodshot eyes turned relaxed. They were blank and stoic as he took in a deep breath, keeping a stern stare on you. Despite the words and emotion flurrying within his eyes, he said nothing.

The stale air hung still, wrapping its arms around you, touching your body and soul uncomfortably.

A thick swallow cleared your closing throat while you struggled under the invasive glare.

You stepped to the table, resting your finger tips on it's surface. "Henry..."

"What can you do?" He demanded shortly, not moving an inch as his eyes deepened.

It was near insurmountable to not flinch away from him, and the small contact you had on the table twitched away.

This did nothing to deter his slowly surfacing anger. "Can you rebuild my home?" His head lifted slowly, displaying the twisted expression of rage and pain. "Can you make me feel better?"

You watched his curling hands warily before meeting his eyes again. "No, I-I—"

He stood from his seat suddenly, causing it to scape back while his breath was noticeably unsteady. "How about my family?!" He rounded the table towards you like a wolf to a subordinate. "Can you bring them back too?!"

You jumped back as a cold shot of fear doused your body in skin prickling adrenaline. Keeping your eyes on him as you backed away.

"There is nothing you can do!" He growled, stopping three feet in front of you, just out of arms reach. "To merely suggest otherwise hurts!" Hot tears roll down his cheeks in familiar tracks as his hands grip onto the soiled dress shirt covering his chest. "Do you know how damaging it is seeing your father get brutally murdered by someone you trusted, all the while your closest friend stands by doing nothing!?" He'd reached a screaming volume as his hands fling out.

The flames pouring from his mouth burned every inch of your body as you flinched away from his hands, lifting your arms slightly as you cower back, but your eyes never leave him once. "Don't!"

A less intense frown flicks to his face as he study's you. A long second of silence envelops you both as a horrified and betrayed expression paints him boldly. "You..." He stepped back, air sucked from his lungs in a dizzying realization. "...Do you think I'm going to hurt you?..." His voice cracked and his head spun. A sick tone in his skin began to show as his eyes were lost in his mind. "Oh god..." he muttered to himself as he placed a hand to his stomach.

Just then Leo speeds into the room, his eyes were dark as they instantaneously locked onto Henry cornering you. Without warning he grabbed the back of Henry's collar and threw him away from you, causing the man to slide across the table and fall to the ground on the other side.

Leo stood between you and him, his sword pointed sharply at the breaking man who laid still on the floor.

It took a long minute for the man to gain the strength to get off the floor. His legs shook as he struggled to his feet with the help of a nearby cupboard, all the while Leo kept his sword squarely aimed at him. You stared up at the turtle. The relief you felt was like a big, warm sunbeam, but there was the same bitter, mind consuming guilt that persisted as you stared at Henry once again.

He looked betrayed as his eyes flicked about, trying to process everything flowing through him. Finally he looked at you. "Is that what you see in me right now? Him?" His voice was a quiet, faltered note staining the icy stillness.

The words float about the room, marinating in his mind a moment longer before he shook his head lightly and stood fully. "Y/n, what he did was the lowest of the low. I'll never be like him, and I can tell you with confidence that I hate him for it." The already cracking brave expression across his face splintered further as he straightened his spine. "But he was my father, Y/n... My only family for years." A thin stream of tears slipped from his eyes once again. "I know this was the option you took and I'm sure I'll come to respect it in the future." His hand curled again while the other placed itself to his sweating forehead, his breath hitching through his words shallowly as he wrestled his welling emotions. "But you have no idea the amount of torment I'm being put through right now." He spouted breathlessly as the tears began to pour fast and messily down his sunken cheeks. His hands quickly jabbed into his chest. "I have the right to be angry. To be angry at Polly, at him—!" He gestured to Leo flippantly before landing his eyes back on yours. "—and at you!"

How odd... a deep feeling within your stomach churned uncomfortably. The intense, unfiltered pain bore down into you. You opened your mouth to speak with no words actually intending to fall out, so instead you opted for a simple nod.

He glared weakly at you until his sniffling took over and looked away, wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve. He suddenly took towards the door of the kitchen, pushing it open firmly. Leo's sword didn't drop for a second as it tracked Henry out of the room.

You glanced at Leo who turned back to you with his sword at his side. Unfortunately, you couldn't have a tender moment right now. You raced after Henry frantically, waving for Leo to follow.

It was like the icy air followed him into the rest of lair like a plague as the others who were in the middle of a racing video game all stopped to watch what was unfolding before their very eyes. Henry had already sped to the entrance of the Lair, about to hop the inactive train pay stations as you called out, racing towards him. "Wait!" You glanced at the curious, wide eyed onlookers and internally cringed, but you couldn't lose him, let alone let him wander New York after what had just taken place. "Where are you going?!" You asked, desperation soaking every word.

He spun towards you with a strong stare that rooted your feet in place, winding you as you became nothing but a frozen figure.

"Somewhere far away from here." He replied coolly, his jaw set as he stared you down.

Your body melted slightly. "How far?"

"Far." He grunted curtly, then turned to the pay machines. "Delete my number."

This finality of his tone shifted the earth beneath you feet. He was done with you, truly and unabashedly done.

And before you knew it, your friend stepped out of your life.

Leo stared at the space where Henry had disappeared around the corner, then glancing back to you who was just standing there like a lost puppy. He purses his lips and walked up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder.

The paper thin barrier holding you all together started to tear right down the middle. You rolled back into Leo's strong embrace that accepted your shrivelled, weepy form lovingly.

He rested his head on top of yours before signalling the others to go back to their business with a sharp tilt of his chin.

The water within seeped through the paper barriers easily while you desperately tried to hold the dissolving pieces together. But they broke and molded between your fraught fingers.

Leo, as quickly he could, led you back towards his room. A protective arm engulfing your shoulders as you both went, leaving the gaggle of humans to exchange worried glances amongst each other and the entrance of the lair.

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Lmao, happy new year??