"You think that was a bluff?" Leo asks, frowning.
"I don't know... I live pretty close to their territory."
Leo looks at me, hearing the worry in my voice. "Well I'm not gonna let you go back to that apartment alone."
"I'm sure he's bluffing... I mean it's not like they know the building or apartment number." I shake my head, trying to rationalize the odds they ever actually watched me walk into my building.
"I'm not gonna take a chance with your safety, Y/n."
"They threaten people around the block all the time." I shake my head.
"Not people who they know I know."
"True, but... it's not like I have some other place to go."
"Well if you can't go home and you can't stay anywhere else..." he starts, looking over my face as he thinks, "then, if it's okay with you... you can stay with us."
"Wait, really?"
"We've got a couple extra rooms. I'll have to ask my dad but I'm sure he'll understand."
"Seriously, you don't have to go through the trouble–"
"I'm not gonna let them hurt you, Y/n." He asserts, looking me in the eyes. And it could just be the circumstances, but I feel my heartbeat picking up again.
After a moment, I can't help smiling appreciatively. "Thanks, Leo."
• • •
Murakami sent us home with a bag full of pizza gyozas after we helped him close up and get to safety. We stopped by my place so I could pack a couple bags. Leo said we would go back soon to check out how things were.
And when he said he lived in the sewers, he wasn't kidding. Because this was definitely sewer. Although he promised me I'd be comfortable in whatever huge space they must've carved out of these tunnels. As if I'd let myself be picky enough to complain.
I stop Leo at the entrance of his home before we can walk in. "Are you sure you're okay with doing this?"
"Of course I am."
"'Cause I know you guys keep this place secret, and I really don't wanna be a bother..."
"You won't. My brothers like you."
"We've barely met." I can't help smiling a little, certain he's lying to make me feel better.
"And yet they still like you." He counters with a grin.
"That doesn't mean they want me in their home–"
"Y/n." His hand squeezes my shoulder as he steps closer and looks me in the eyes. "Stop worrying. I know my family, and we're gonna help you. Just trust me."
I close my mouth and nod. Leo gives me a calming smile, so I return it. He leads me through the end of the tunnel, coming out between some turnstiles and a huge open space where all his brothers are watching TV on a couch. Like, a huge couch that wraps all the way around a lower sitting area with an antenna TV in the middle.
This entire place is already two times bigger than my apartment space.
"Hey, guys..." Leo says, looking around the room as he walks me in.
"Hey, Romeo. How'd the date go?" The red one says without looking away from a magazine.
"Raph." Leo scowls and nudges the back of his shell with his foot. Raph turns to see me with him, only to turn back around and flip another page. "Bringing her home on the first date, huh? Moving a little fast don't ya think?"
My eyebrows must raise sky high at that comment, immediately reminded of his strong personality from the first time we met. Leo groans and already gives up on trying to contain his brother.
Mikey's the one who gasps when he looks away from the TV and sees me. "Y/n is here! What up, dawg?!"
"Hi again, Y/n. We weren't expecting you." Donnie smiles up at me but I don't miss the look he gives Leo, too. "Ignore Raph here. He has no filter."
"Yeah," Mikey says. "Southern hospitality isn't really Raphie's thing."
Raph looks at him. "What part of New York is southern?"
"The part where we live under it... Duh."
"You're right. This was a bad idea. They'll drive you crazy let's go." Leo starts pulling me back but I laugh and stop him.
"Wait! It's okay."
Donnie looks up at him. "Bringing her down here after your date? Of course it was a bad idea, you know we can't help ourselves. Mikey and Raph are immature and I finally get to do the hassling."
"That's not what I was– I told you to stop calling it a date!" Leo scrambles, getting flustered. And as much as the teasing extended to me and some awkward unmentioned things, I couldn't help my urge to laugh, too. He sighs in frustration and starts over. "Look, The Purple Dragons might be targeting Y/n, and she needs a place to stay for a bit."
"Wait, what?" Donnie completely turns his body to us, serious now. "How did that even happen?"
"They showed up at Murakami's again and they know she lives in their territory."
"And I'm guessing they didn't appreciate getting their tails kicked in a second time." Raph finishes.
"They didn't take it very well, no."
Raph finally sets his pages down to turn to the two us. "Okay, but... Splinter?"
"I still have to talk to him..."
"Talk to who about what?"
All five of us turn to see the sudden voice that comes from across the room. My eyes widen when I see a tall, giant rat walk into the room on two legs and nearly freeze. I barley move as I tap Leo's arm behind me and frantically whisper. "Leo, Leo...! You see the rat too right?"
He looks from the eldest son to me, looking pretty intense for a rat. "Leonardo, who is this?"
"S-Sensei, hey!" Leo stutters nervously. "Uh, um– this is Y/n, a friend of mine... I was just about to–"
"I should hope you have a good reason for bringing a complete stranger down to our very secret lair."
"I'm so confused, he's not a turtle...?" I mumble out when I realize this is his father.
"Heh, so about that... She's not a complete stranger... Not to me at least. I may have been hanging out with her for a while now..."
The gaze in his expression turns stricter, and he begins to walk over to us. "Oh my god he's getting even tallerrrr," I flinch and back up into Leo as he moves closer.
"And how long is 'a while'?"
"Just about... everyday for about over a month?"
His father's eyes narrow.
"And... the guys have met her..."
"Just once before."
"She's super nice!"
"I've never seen this chick before in my life."
"Raph!"
His brothers all yell in unison. He just smirks, entertained by all of this apparently. But his dad hasn't said anything yet. We all can see a look in the rat's eyes, that most likely never means anything good. But before anything else can happen, Donnie notices something.
"Uh, guys, she's bleeding."
Everyone turns their attention to me at once, and I almost flinch again. "What?" I look down to see my shirt where Donnie is looking. It wasn't a lot, but there was some red dotting bleeding through the stomach of my shirt.
I had felt myself bruising over but hadn't realized my stomach must have started bleeding from when that PD kicked me with his sharp ass boots. I yank up my shirt in alarm, just enough to reveal a big bruise roughly shaped like his footprint, and where it's been bleeding. I can really start to feel a headache coming on from everything happening so quickly over such a long night.
Donnie stands and walks over to get a closer look. "I can treat that for you, easy."
"Y/n, what's wrong?"
"Hm?" My eyebrows scrunch when Leo's voice sounds so far away. But the tension only made me notice how lightheaded I was starting to feel again. Leo's hand is on my back the second I take an unsteady step back. Next thing I know he's holding onto me and leading me elsewhere, following behind Donnie.
The dizziness gets worse the faster I move, and the next thing I process is that I'm laying down on some cold table with everyone else standing around me, the rat watching from the door in my peripherals.
"Y/n, can you hear me?"
I groan as I feel even more disoriented, and it starts hurting my head.
"Yikes. One of 'em really got a good hit on her didn't he? Or– kick is what it looks like..."
"Yeah, but why is she dizzy again?"
"I don't know. Just give me a minute to do a check up."
I have to blink a few times to clear my brain, enough to register Leo looking down at me now. "Y/n? Can you hear me? What happened?"
"I'm okay..." I mumble impulsively.
Splinter's face appears behind Leo's, a hand resting on his shoulder to get his attention. "Let your brother help her, Leonardo. We need to talk."
After some while of Donnie painfully tending to me and Leo talking to his father elsewhere presumably, things settle down and I feel better after drinking some water and eating some of the gyoza– so. freaking. good– we brought back from the restaurant.
"I doubt we have any shirts laying around here for you to change into," Donnie says apologetically.
"It's okay, I've got some. But thanks for the medicine. And the patch job."
"Just don't try going a whole afternoon without eating or drinking anything again. The body doesn't respond well to stress on zero nourishment. And we literally always have food here so it shouldn't be an issue going forward."
The doctorly scolding makes me smile. "Will do."
That's when I notice Leo's returned to the lab with his father walking beside him, appearing much more approachable now. As bad and awkward as I felt after making such a scene, I get a rush of relief when he tells me Splinter is okay letting me stay.
"Excuse me for my behavior earlier, Miss Y/n. I am glad my son was able to find another trustworthy friend, and invite you to stay as long as you need. So long as you are willing to keep everything about our existence and location a secret."
"No yeah, of course." I stumble, trying to not make it obvious that I'm completely thinking about that fact that I'm talking to a giant mutant rat right now. "Thank you, for letting me stay. Seriously."
"Please, make yourself at home. And if you need anything feel free to ask me or any of my sons." His hand rests on Leonardo's shoulder when he says that, and Leo's face is just beaming so happily at me.
"I really hope I didn't get you in trouble with your..." the trains of thought in my brain run together, recalling what they've been calling Splinter and what I've been calling him to Leo, "Sensei dad..."
"Don't worry about that. I was worried about you. Did I just hear Donnie saying you didn't eat today?"
"Not since this morning," I say before he starts stressing out. "Then I laid around all day and didn't get hungry until I went out to meet you and... well I guess a couple spring rolls in the middle of all that chaos didn't hold me over. But I tried the gyozas and I feel fine."
I can physically see his body relax as he nods up at me. "Good. I'm glad you're better now." A smile pulls at my face, until his head tilts in thought. "You barely ate all day? You hate being hungry. Why didn't you eat anything so long before we met?"
"Oh. Well, I knew we were going out later so, ya know, thought I'd eat then." I thought I faked that answer well enough, but I can see in his facial response how well he knows how unrealistic it is that I'd ever let myself go on an empty stomach. Especially willingly, and for that long...
"Still. You really had nothing to eat all that time?"
Yep. He's just as on the ball and inspective as I figured he'd be with all that oldest sibling energy... And those inquisitive eyes of his aren't helping me out either.
But I just got so excited when he texted me about going to the restaurant. Then for some reason I got more and more nervous closer to our meeting time that I couldn't eat in anticipation. But I'm not going to tell him that. I just plaster on a wider, normal smile and shrug it off.
"Look, you know how much I like to eat. I know I like to eat. I just didn't want to pull a Y/n and end up stuffing myself before I left."
His gaze lingers on me for a little too long, and gives nothing away to me. But he eventually nods. "Okay. Just as long as you don't do it again."
Yup. He's definitely filling in as the mother figure around here.
After that, Leo is the one to show me to my room next to everyone else's. "We have extra blankets in here, too. You can have anything you want in the kitchen. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?"
I set my bags on the bed, further astounded by such a normal looking bedroom setup. "Thanks. I should be fine."
"Are you sure? I know tonight was a lot and... I never meant for you to get caught up in the mess between us and the Dragons."
"No, no, no, it's not your fault." I shake my head quickly. "Seriously, those guys like to mess with everyone. I'm just... I think it's really nice you guys are letting me stay here."
Leo nods to me. "I meant it when I said I'd help keep you safe." That phrase was enough to glue me to my spot. He said it so casually yet smoothly and I don't think he even realizes how it sounds to me. After a moment he smiles again. "Goodnight, Y/n."
"Night..." He starts to leave, but before he can I have to stop him. "Leo?"
"Yeah?"
My feet take me to him, then arms throw themselves around his neck and squeeze him tightly. "Thank you... for everything. I seriously owe you."
He hugs me back, arms embracing me, and I can hear him smiling. "No you don't."
I gently bite my lip in apprehension, force myself to take the chance, and leave a soft kiss on his cheek. Leo looks at me now, obviously stunned. "You really are a great guy..."
He blinks once, then finally his smile grows back even bigger, and his face mirrors the same red tint that's burning my face. Quickly, I wish him a good night again, him returning it, before I go back into the room as I lose my nerve and shut the door.
😏💙🐢 Remember to vote if you enjoyed the last two chapters! Y'all crazies wanted a bonus chapter of Splinter and Leo conversation, so here it comes!))