Leo's eyes shot open as a scream pierced the air and he lunged to his feet, pulling out both of his swords and standing over Cora protectively as he scanned the area for threats.
When he didn't see anything, he looked down. Cora had her head in her hands and was shaking uncontrollably.
"Cora, what happened?" He asked.
She didn't move or respond and Leo realized that there was no outside threat. She must have had a nightmare.
He dropped his swords and sat down, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. A sob erupted from her and her breathing went haywire.
"Shh, it's okay. Calm down." He told her softly, patting her back.
Cora wrapped her arms around Leo, hiccuping and sniffling as her tears poured onto his shoulder. They sat there for a long time until Leo decided that she had calmed down enough.
He pulled away and wiped her eyes before pushing the hair out of her face and grabbing her hands softly. Cora stared at him, still shaking, but not as hard as before.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked gently.
Cora shook her head, afraid that if she opened her mouth she would just start crying all over again.
"Okay. That's okay." He assured her.
They sat there for another few minutes, avoiding eye contact until Cora tried to pull away.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, standing up.
Leo grabbed her hand. "Don't be sorry, you did nothing wrong."
She shook her head, "I did. I did everything wrong."
Leo pulled her back down to him. "No, Cora. Don't blame yourself, none of this is your fault."
"I'm not talking about this!"
He looked at her in surprise and Cora looked away, ashamed of her sudden outburst. Then his face softened and he grabbed her hands again gently.
"Then what are you talking about?" He questioned.
Cora looked up at the sky, doing her best not to look at Leo in fear that he would shatter what was left of her soul. Leo reached out and touched her chin, pulling her face toward his.
Their eyes locked and Cora cracked.
"I lied to you." She whispered. "And the others."
"I know." He replied softly.
"My mother wasn't mutated and I wasn't living with her. I was on the run, Leo. I left- I left her behind. They killed her. They killed her because of me." Cora said, her eyes watering.
"Who? Who killed her? Who were you running from?"
"The Garrison drug lords." She whispered.
Leo blinked in surprise. Donnie had been obsessed with these guys back when they all were stuck in the sewers with Splinter.
The Garrison drug lords had been arrested two years ago after an anonymous hacker tipped the FBI off during the time that the Garrison brothers were trying to take over their father's drug operation.
They had been the worst drug dealers in all of Chicago.
Cora tried to pull away again, but Leo stopped her.
"Don't. Don't go, Cora. I'm here for you." Leo assured her, reaching out and wiping the tears off of her face again.
She sniffled. "My mom... she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to but he- he did it."
"Did what?"
"Daniel Garrison is my... he's my father, Leo."
Daniel Garrison was murdered by Xander Garrison before he was arrested. His brother Maxim went missing for a week before he was found dead. Someone had bashed his head with a computer repeatedly when he was laying in bed.
A computer sounded like the kind of thing Cora would have with her.
"Cora... I'm sorry." Leo apologized, pushing her hair behind her ear. "But it's okay now."
She nodded. "I know."
Leo stood up, pulling Cora with him. He led her to the window they came up through and then through the quiet house to the kitchen, where he sat her down at the bar.
She watched Leo silently as he moved around the kitchen, easily finding what he needed with the labels Cora had set up. Eventually, he walked back to her with two cups of tea and then the both of them sat down next to each other on the couch.
"Any preferences?" Leo asked quietly, grabbing the remote.
Cora drank the tea and then leaned her head on his shoulder. "Space Heroes."
Leo smiled happily. "I knew you'd have good taste."
He turned on their favorite show and leaned back, draping his arm over her. And not long after, they had both fallen asleep.
▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️
"Should I consider this adorable or disgusting?"
Leo woke up immediately at the sound of Raph's voice, but Cora remained sound asleep. Red spread across his face like a fire and Raph crossed his arms, a smug smirk taking the place of his frown.
"I took a picture by the way." He stated.
Leo glared. "Lower your voice and give me your t-phone."
"And I should listen to you why?" Raph asked.
"Because I'm the leader and if you don't do as I say, I'll make your life a living hell."
Raph raised an eyebrow. "I like this spunky attitude, but Leo, how are you going to stop me from sending this picture to Mikey?"
He pulled out the phone and started clicking things. Leo turned to Cora and tapped her gently. She opened her eyes and sat up.
"I have to take care of something." He told her before suddenly launching off the couch and tackling Raph.
"I already did it!" Raph shouted, laughing as they both rolled across the floor.
"Raph, I'm going to kill you!" Leo yelled.
Mikey came running down the stairs and his eyes landed on Cora, who wasn't sure whether to be confused or amused.
"Cora, help Leo!" Mikey said, tossing her a nunchuck.
She flinched, but caught it and stood up. Raph had pinned Leo down and was laughing at him, so Cora walked up behind him and smacked him upside the head with them.
And the nunchucks weren't your typical kids weapon, so rest be assured, that hurt. While Raph was dazed, Leo took his opportunity and flipped them over, sitting on Raph's shell in triumph.
"Maybe your weapon should be nunchucks." Leo smirked.
Cora swung it in a circle. "I guess I am-" She was cut off as the nunchuck smacked her in the face.
Leo and Mikey erupted into laughter and she joined them after a moment of rubbing her jaw.
"What did I miss?" Raph demanded, his face still pressed against the floor.
"Nothing, Raph." Leo assured him, standing up.
Cora tossed Mikey his nunchucks as the others walked in.
"Uh, I don't know what happened in here, but Cora, would you help April and I with an experiment after breakfast?" Donnie asked.
Cora shrugged, "Sure."
"Speaking of breakfast-"
"Leo volunteered to make it." Mikey said.
"I did?"
"Yes. And I'm helping him." Mikey declared, grabbing Leo's arm and pulling him into the kitchen.
"Well, in that case, let's do it now." Donnie decided.
Cora and April followed him out to barn, where he showed them two metal devices.
"What are those?" April asked.
"Well, this one is a neurotransmitter to test your physic powers and the other is a monitor so I can compare what's going on in April's head to a normal girl, Cora." Donnie explained.
"Gee, thanks." Cora said sarcastically.
April laughed and sat down. Both of the girls put on their helmets and Donnie started messing around.
"Do you feel anything, April?" He asked.
"Uh, nope."
"What about now?"
"Nope."
"And now?"
"Zilch. Oh wait, that tingles."
Donnie huffed and grabbed three cards. "Okay, close your eyes and tell me what you see on the card."
April shut her eyes and focused. "I see... a bird."
"Uh..." Donnie frowned and put the card to the side. It had been an airplane.
He picked up a card with a monkey on it. "What about this card?"
"Is it... a fish?"
"Not exactly." He switched cards to one with himself on it. "Okay, how about this one. This one is easy."
April frowned before sitting up. "I got it! It's a worm!"
Donnie deflated entirely and Cora chuckled.
"Not exactly." Donnie sighed.
"Really? But these images in my head... they feel so right!" April exclaimed.
"Well, we are surrounded by a forest. Maybe your head just isn't looking at the right thing." Cora suggested.
April huffed. "I don't think it's working."
"I'll see if I can make some adjustments." Donnie told her, turning the dial.
April suddenly yelped and tossed everyone backward. Cora gasped and yanked the metal device off of her own head.
"What the- Wow, April, you are telekinetically levitating the cards!" Donnie exclaimed.
Cora frowned, wondering why the heck Donnie was looking at her instead of April.
"April?" Donnie questioned, waving his hand in front of her face.
"I'm not April." Cora told him, frowning.
He looked away from April over to Cora. "Oh, I know."
All of the cards suddenly dropped and April stood up.
"What happened to the barn?" April asked, moving her hands around and grabbing Donnie's face. "Where are we?"
"Uh, still in the barn?" Donnie told her.
There was a small thump as Cora ran into a wall. "What the heck?"
April turned around and walked off, running into a different wall. "What is this? Is it invisible?"
"Uh oh." Donnie muttered.