Chapter Text
Blinding light. That was the first thing he remembered. After that, muffled and incoherent sound. He felt liquid in his ears. He squirmed, trying to get it out. It didn't help much with what he could hear.
He was being carried, and whoever had him was running. There were three other figures, green and scaled. When he looked up, a furry face. Their mouth was moving, and he felt the vibrations of their chest.
Hamato Yoshi ran as fast as he could while adjusting to the new form. Why was he a rat now, of all things? Why were the four turtles he had been watching become children? Sure, they still had shells, and beaks, and other turtle-y things, but they looked more like toddlers now.
It didn't matter. Everything around him was collapsing, and he had to get out. Running through one of the exits, he turned around to see a plume of dust rise up. He coughed violently, stumbling into one of the streets and diving behind the nearest recognizable portal.
He came out onto the streets of New York panting, crouching behind the nearest cover he could find. He carefully let down the small, squeaking, squishy things in his hands. He checked each one, finding each to be breathing and largely unharmed.
He picked one up, noting its rough yet soft shell and turned it around. He was almost startled to see milky white eyes staring at the ground. He wanted his hand in front of its face, watching it bring its head forward as if to smell him.
He double-checked the others, seeing nothing like that in them. It seemed… blind, he thought. Maybe some kind of infection in the eye while it was developing. He put it down again, thinking. If he could pass as human for a bit, he could get the small funds he would have access to without his face and get them all a place to stay. He put two in each pocket, walking to a nearby bank while trying to keep his face hidden.
He opened his mouth and chirped when he was enveloped by darkness. At least, he thought he chirped. His chest vibrated and his mouth opened, but he couldn't hear it. He remembered a time he could hear, he thought. Then he was put in… whatever that was.
He looked around, seeing another next to him. Cloudy white eyes stared back at him, a small nose pointed in the air. He reached out a hand, watching them bristle just before he touched. He wriggled around and came to rest beside them, grabbing onto their hand.
A while later, maybe days, they had rented an apartment. Hamato Yoshi took the babies out, seeing the two in his left pocket had been holding onto each other. They were all set down, and immediately began exploring. He flipped each one over, discovering that turtles didn't have anything external and quickly giving them all names. For now, all of them were sons.
Raphael, the one with the spiked body.
Michaelangelo, the one with orange on his back.
Leonardo, the one with red marks on his eyes.
Donatello, the one with the soft shell.
He held each, admiring them. So tiny, yet each so full of personality already. They played with their environment, each other, him, anything they could get their hands on. He clapped, watching Michaelangelo giggle and mimic him. The others turned to the sound, Donatello seeming frightened.
All except for Leo.
He clapped again, then again at a louder volume. Barely any reaction, if at all. He made more noise, finding that Leonardo didn't react to it. Nothing could get his attention, at least until he tapped him or went within his line of sight. It wasn't definitive, but he had a guess as to why. One blind, one deaf. That would be challenging, to say the least. He had never had a child, and certainly not one with anything that meant disability accommodations. His sign language was mediocre.
He would figure it out.
Leo crawled around, watching mouths move and things fall. Or be hit against something else, which seemed to be the case every time Mikey got a hold of something. He had his own curiosities, finding that carpet didn't taste very good and neither did many other things on the floor.
He watched Donnie, his hand on the wall. He was shaking lightly, flinching occasionally as he cowered. Leo stumbled over, sitting just far enough away.
Donnie tried to move, running into objects in the unfamiliar room. He finally stopped, clinging to the leg of the table with his head far away from the lights. Leo observed this, curious as to what was going on. Maybe they just needed help?
He went over, tapping their wrist.
Donnie raised his head, tilting slightly as to angle his ears in Leo's direction rather than his eyes. He opened his mouth a few times, and Leo tried to chirp back by instinct. Leo grabbed his hand, beginning to walk away from the table.
He was stopped suddenly when Donnie refused to let go of the table, shaking and scared. Leo went back again, feeling the tension drain as he stopped pulling. He gently grabbed their other wrist, easing them off of the table leg and leading them to the center of the room.
Donnie sat down with him, reaching out his hands to touch his face. He felt around, and Leo didn't push him away. It kind of tickled, feeling his cheeks and his face being squished and touched. It made him smile, and he watched Donnie carefully feel the new expression.
This continued for a time, Splinter eventually separating them for bed. They each had a bin full of blankets that worked as a place to sleep. Mikey and Donnie were in one, Leo and Raph in the other.
Crying ensued.
Splinter listened to the wailing, wondering if he had made the right decision to take all four of them in. He tried a few things, like giving them food or holding them, but it wouldn't stop. Especially the two that he had yet to figure out how to properly care for.
Leo climbed out of the bin, the only thing stopping it from tipping being Raph's weight. Raph seemed to be the biggest, which meant he was probably the oldest, right? It didn't matter.
He picked up Leo from the carpet, hearing him squeak in panic and anger, and moved him back into the bin. Then he crawled out again. Then Splinter put him back. Then he crawled out again…
This continued for a time, until he simply decided to let him crawl. Maybe he could show Splinter what he wanted. He expected the turtle to explore for a bit, but it seemed he knew exactly where he was going as he stumbled on new legs to the other bin. He climbed up, then promptly fell over the side before he could drop down.
Splinter ran over, seeing him uninjured. Leo sat next to Donnie, taking his wrist again. The crying stopped as they moved closer together, Leo looking around while Donnie listened.
He didn't question it. The sobbing had stopped, and his headache was beginning to dissipate. He moved Mikey in with Raph so the bins each had two, then tried to sleep.
He woke up to a turtle on his face. Specifically, Mikey. Donnie and Leo had moved out of their bins and into the corner, and Raph was still trapped within the confines of the plastic cell.
Donnie was curled up, holding onto Leo. Something about him looked different, and his first feeling was concern. He was less… shiny? Was that a thing that happened? What if some part of the mutation had gone wrong and now he was sick?
Splinter crawled over to them, speaking softly to alert them to his presence. He picked up the young turtle, separating him from his brother and causing them both to squeak. After a moment, he picked up Leo too. After that, Mikey came over. By that point, he decided to take all of them with him.
He brought them a few feet over to the kitchen sink, realizing they were all like that. They weren't sick, but they were dry. He grabbed a small plate, shallow enough that he was sure nothing could go wrong, and filled it with water before putting it on the counter with them.
Mikey stayed out, watching the other three swim. Or more accurately, flail around in the water. It wasn't long before Leo climbed out, then a while later Raph. Donnie stayed, seemingly content to soak. Splinter tried to move him a few times, but it only ever ended with angry squeaking and trying to find his way back in.
He watched Donnie, seeing that he was still running into the edges of the plate. He would have to address that, somehow. It was a long time before he came out again, and Leo had gone over when he saw. It seemed that the two had bonded. After more face touching, the two were on the nearby towel to sleep.
Splinter watched them nap, Mikey and Raph following soon after. They seemed tired out from the few hours they had been awake. He watched them sleep, taking out the small bag of food he had and deciding to prepare something. A few hours later, each of them were waking up on their own.
He put a small price on his finger, holding it in front of Donnie’s face and watching him smell it. The child slowly stretched his neck forward, seeming surprised when the cold food touched his beak before eating it. At least feeding would be easy.
He looked at his sons, wondering what the future would hold. One blind, one deaf, the others seemingly average.
Of course, they had his DNA…
They had the Hamato lineage…
They had the fate he had been avoiding since day one…
And he would continue to do so. War and protecting the planet were far too big to worry about for such small creatures. They could fit in the palm of his hand, they weren't ready to fight. What about Donnie and Leo? How would they do it? He could give them training, but…
He brushed the thought away. He would figure something out, and if not the children themselves would find a way.
Months went on. The twins grew closer together and further apart with the others. Donnie learned to rely on Leo, and Leo on Donnie. They communicated through touch, finding their own way in the world. They had a new language of signals they made as children.
And they were never far apart.
