💕🌸 Konichiwa My Lovelies 💕🌸

"Okay, ready for this?"

"Yep! I got this!"

"Alright then-"

"I was born ready for this!"

"-calm down and we can-"

"I am all over this!"

"Hey Y/N, calm down or it's not going to work."

"Oh, right. Got ya," you manage now with a blush.

“Now it's a simple course run and you’ll be timed, but it's only simple because there aren’t any traps or things this time around.” Explained Leo as he stood besides you. “This course is a bit tighter than the one we use, but Splinter said he’s tested it himself and you should be just fine size-wise. I doubt it, but if anything happens it’s going to take me a bit longer than usual to get to you.”

“Yes, Sensei,” you smile, not wanting to miss an opportunity to mess with him as his cheeks colour.

This was one part training exercise and another part a test. None of them had called it a test but you had been training with the turtles and Splinter for six months now, what else was it going to be but a test?

“Now, you have the device that Donnie made for you?”

You lifted up a gloved hand and turned it so he could see the extra tech that Donnie had crafted onto the material. With the shrinking of technology these days, it hadn’t been hard for the tech wiz to install a tracker and panic button on the glove. He’d also made sure that while it was easy to activate, it was tricky to activate by accident.

“Check, Sensei.”

“And the route is clearly marked.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“And I’ll be waiting right here for you, since this is the start and finish.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“And-”

“Leo, are you sure you want me to do this?” You ask now, smirking playfully as you raise an eyebrow at him.

The blue masked turtle chuckled lightly with mild embarrassment, one hand on his hip as the other came up to rub at the back of his head. “Yeah I’m sorry, it's just… humans are so much more fragile than we are. I don’t want you to get hurt by accident… ever.”

You give a flirty giggle and move in closer, clasping your hands to your bosom as you playfully bat your eyelashes at him. “Oh Sensei, is this where you confess your deep, heart-felt feelings for me and we make-out instead of train?”

Leo freezes up for a moment and so do you. 

But you recover quickly, laughing as you dance out of reach and making sure to keep your back to Leo. Because despite you both laughing, you didn’t want to risk him seeing how much you actually loved him. You didn’t want him to see the love and adoration in your eyes as you looked up at him, teasing and playing with him but wanting nothing more than what you’d actually just said. To be wrapped up in his strong arms and held safely against him, to know that he’d go to the ends of the earth for you… because you already know you’d do that for him.

“So, you ready for this Leo?” You ask, looking over your shoulder and seeming to snap him out of his thoughts.

“Alright, on my mark,” nodded the large turtle, serious once more.

“Ready? Set… And… Go!”

With a deep breath you jump off the starting point and start running full pelt down the tunnel, excited at this chance to prove yourself at last. 

You had known the turtles for a few years now because you worked at one of their favourite take-out places. There had been orders coming in for years that had been picked up by the back window instead of the front shop, and the boss had been very insistent that you place the boxes on the AC unit outside the window and turn away. When you heard two knocks, you could go back to the window and collect the money left there. But you weren’t one to take orders and not question them, so after figuring out how regularly the mystery buyer visited, you hid and waited to catch a glimpse.

Except you were apparently about as stealth as a white cat on a dark night and they had spotted you the moment they stepped up to the window. But as your eyes had seen them, taking in their forms and met his eyes, you knew you couldn’t have turned away or stopped yourself from saying hello.

Leo had commented a few weeks later that the only reason they didn’t disappear on the spot was because of the way you had smiled at him. According to him, you had smiled like a child on Christmas, not someone seeing four large mutant turtles.

The rest was just a matter of talking, meeting up, hanging out and falling head over heels in love with Leonardo, leader of the Brothers. In your defence, it wasn’t like you planned it.

It was surprising really because you had actually made friends with Mikey and Raph faster than the other two, in part because Mikey could befriend a giant alligator and have it sitting down to eat pizza after a few hours. 

Raph had warmed up to you when you’d asked if you could watch the game at the lair, since sitting in your apartment on your own was dull. He’d not been big into football compared to basketball, but he had said later on that he understood what it was like to watch a sports game alone. After that you’d watched so many games in the lair that Splinter had started joining you for the company.

Donnie had only been distant to you because he was always busy and you had had to go out of your way and try to talk to him. Once you were able to strike up a conversation it was like talking to a family member you hadn’t seen in a long time -especially since your Uncle Jimmy seemed to speak the same tech-language as Donnie and you got along great with him.

But Leo?

That was different because unlike the others, he seemed to have kept his distance on purpose. He was never rude and would always talk to you when you spoke, he’d hang out or eat with you all when asked but he wouldn’t seek your company like the others would. 

Until you had been walking home from work one evening and someone had tried to mug you, jumping out from an alleyway and dragging you into it with a knife at your throat. It had lasted all of five minutes before he was gasping in pain, on the floor of the alley with a broken arm and Leo was standing over him with an expression you’d never seen before. You’d never seen him look that angry even when he was arguing with Raph. Hell, you’d never even seen Raph that angry and you’d seen him smash an engine block with his bare hands while in a rage!

That was how you had ended up training with them all, because you had tried to break the tension and made an offhand joke about not having the same kind of training as the turtles. Leo had turned to look at you, that same intense expression on his face still, and offered to train you to be able to look after yourself.

Now, following the loops, turns and twists of the route, you had never been happier. The only person more flexible than you was Splinter and that was getting to be a close run thing, since gymnastics had been your specialty while still at school. You had kept yourself as limber as you could but strength had never been… high on your list of personal skills. So Splinter had put together a training plan that worked on your speed instead; hence the test course today to see how well you were doing with the jumps, spins, kicks and flips Leo had been training you in.

You were so focused and so in the zone, following the signs and moving from space to space that you missed something that should have been obvious. What you missed, was that it was raining outside and you were in the sewers. Sure, the brothers lived and moved in the part of the sewers that dealt with storm run off instead of human waste management, but that still meant there was water everywhere.

That meant that as your foot slipped while you made a jump, the jump failed and you fell when you were supposed to land in the wide mouth of a pipe. You didn’t even make it close enough to try and grab hold of the mouth, missing it by inches as you fell into the darkness around you.

Panic filled you and it was all you could do to pull your arms and legs in, ready to brace and roll. You hit something with your ribs that knocked the air out of you but it seemed to work in your favour as you grabbed blindly. It slowed you down enough that as you fell again, you slammed into something that only knocked the wind out of you again, instead of breaking any bones.

Laying there with your eyes closed and feeling the cold, wet cement underneath you, you wait for the world to stop moving and your heart rate to start slowing down. Not sure how long that took, you take a moment to feel your body. Your ribs are on fire but your pretty sure they aren’t broken because you can still breathe without it hurting too much. Aside from that, there’s nothing else that won’t heal in a few days.

Opening your eyes, you let out a groan as you realise you can’t see anything. There’s not a single mote of light anywhere that would allow you to see where you are. All you can hear is the echoing sound of trickling, flowing water but that's it.

You had been using a headband with two LED lights fixed to it but that seems to have come off as you had fallen. And since no one had expected you to have a problem, you didn’t have any kind of backup with you. Even the gauntlet Donnie had made for you didn’t have so much as a single LED light on it.

Realising you were stuck, you activated the panic button and started to shift about, exploring the space you were in with your hands. Taking deep and even breaths and focusing on your breathing -as best you could with bruised ribs- you quickly find the wall behind you and the drop all the way around. You had landed on a ledge that was roughly two metres by two and had once had something to do with access ladders, since you can feel the start of a ladder going downwards but it had since rusted through before the first rung.

Sitting up with your back to the wall behind you, you keep trying to focus on your breathing but it's getting harder. It's getting harder and the blackness around you is starting to feel like it's pressing in on you.

You could handle it normally, you tell yourself. You can handle the sewer tunnels heading to the lair and back because they have to fit the brothers in them. Easy. And you could handle the dark, you are an adult. But this?

Placing your hands on the concrete beneath you, pulling your legs up to your chest, you try to distract yourself. 

But… but it's not working. 

It feels like the darkness around you is getting thicker… 

That it's getting harder to pull in each breath because it means you need to pull this darkness into your lungs… 

Opening your eyes or closing them, it doesn’t matter.

You can feel the darkness around you.

You can feel it like a blanket pressing down on you.

It’s pressing down on your too much! 

It's too tight!

The walls are getting too close and you can feel the weight of the cement above your head.

You can’t see it but you swear you could feel it all.

Why is it so hard to breathe?

The only thing you can hear is the sound of your breath and your heart pounding in your ears.

You can’t even hear the water anymore!

Help.

Where is help?!

Will they be able to find you?!

You should call out!

But how?

You can barely breathe!

Why is the air so thick? It’s like trying to breathe water.

Help! 

It's so dark!

So close!

Dark…

Breathe…

…

Dark…

…

..

.

A hand touches you suddenly and makes you gasp in a breath, jumping so hard that it's only that same hand that stops you falling off of your ledge.

“Shush shush, I got you,” croons a voice by your ear.

It's gentle, soothing. 

A voice from your dreams and one you could pick out of thousands.

“Leo?” You croak, shifting and blinking open swollen eyes.

When did you start crying?

“Hey, don’t try and speak just yet,” he soothes as he tries to look you over.

Blinking again, you realise you can see!

You can see around you.

You can see those blue eyes, the ones that can enchant you with a glance. Crystal blue eyes that seem to look right through you but you treasure their glance nevertheless. Your eyes flick around his face, taking in the eyes, the mask, his green skin firm muscles, the beak and those wide, soft lips. 

Everything that you thought for a moment, you would never see again.

Gentle hands are tugging at you as he feels your arms and legs for breaks or swellings.

Those hands move up your arms, squeezing gently and helping you to feel grounded at last. You know he’s just checking you for injuries but… it helps you feel safe. Then as those hands move over your shoulders, his thumbs moving over your collar bone, your eyes lock with his.

Sitting there, dirty and bruised, your face still wet from tears, it's all you can do to fight off the urge to press a kiss to his lips.

You feel your cheeks heat up, as his hands slowly move up your neck, feeling the back of your neck and pressing against your head.

“Do you… do you… have a-any kind of headache?” Leo manages now, speaking slowly as his eyes never leave yours. It's like you have him in a trance somehow, sitting there and looking up at him.

“No.” You manage to murmur out, not wanting to move your head and dislodge his hands as they slip back down to rest, one on your shoulder and the other on your cheek.

“What happened Y/N?” He asks you in that same gentle croon, and you think that it's not far off sounding like a churr.

You’d heard the boys churr a few times, usually after Raph or Mikey had fallen asleep on the sofa and been gently woken up by Splinter. Or from Donnie when he was distracted and you placed a fresh cup of coffee on its specially made heat-pad coaster. He’d do it as a way of saying thank you, not even realising he was doing more than just nodding his head in gratitude.

But you’d never heard it from Leo before.

Now you could hear it. Softly, as he tried to sooth you because you realised now, that you were still shaking. It felt that, as you realised you were going to be okay, your body suddenly realised it too and the pain came back in waves.

Every muscle was tense and hurt, from the fall and from being curled up so tightly for who knew how long. Two minutes like this was probably too long, you think sardonically.

“I was running the course,” you mumble, leaning into his hand on your cheek and slowly moving a hand to wrap it around his wrist. His skin always felt cool unless he’d been training but now it felt too warm as you realised how cold you were.

“I was running and slipped on something wet… I fell and missed the pipe I should have been in.”

Your throat hurts but as you start to breathe, as your body starts to calm itself down from the state you were in, it is already feeling easier to talk.

“I’m sorry.” You manage sadly, still not taking your eyes off of his.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Leo says softly, kneeling down closer to you and pressing his forehead to yours. You can’t help but let your eyes slip closed as you feel his breath on your face, his warmth so close to you, you could just stay like this forever.

“We didn’t test the route when it was wet. It’s my fault this happened.”

“Oh shush,” you manage in a lighter tone, almost teasing. “A ninja should be prepared for anything.”

Leo manages to let out a huff of a laugh, his eyes flicking open as he goes to pull back but you tug gently on his wrist and he stops.

“And I’m still sorry,” you continue, letting your eyes slip closed as fresh tears fall. “I didn’t tell you… I’m… I’m scared of…of…”

“The dark and small spaces?” Leo fills in for you as your voice fails you.

You feel so ashamed of yourself. Your a grown ass adult and here you are, crying like a child that’s scared of the darkness around you.

The rational part of your mind points out that humans weren’t made to live underground, that even people who worked underground everyday would get upset and disorientated if left in complete and utter blackness.

You didn’t listen to that part of your mind and continued to feel terrible, until you felt a hand shift and wipe your tears away.

“Don’t cry, Y/N, I’m here now.”

That voice again.

That soothing sound that could calm you and ground you, no matter the situation.

Opening your eyes and looking up at him, still sitting just higher than you, he smiles down at you. 

“There we go,” he encourages as his free hand slips down to rest on your shoulder again. “There’s those beautiful eyes. You can’t keep hiding them from me, not if it means your going to be crying.”

Beautiful eyes?

Oh gods you were going to have another panic attack again.

“Don’t go widening them at me like that,” teases Leo playfully, smirking as he leans back slightly. “That’s like putting a knife to my throat. I’ll end up giving you anything you want.”

Blinking a few times, you wonder if you had in fact hit your head and died or were maybe just delusional and suffering from hallucinations.

It seems like he’s reading your mind as he tilts his head to the side, “don’t you believe me?”

You manage to shake your head slightly, despite his hand still on your cheek.

“Really?” He teases, but his expression is turning bittersweet and tinged with sadness. “You never noticed at all?”

Panic starts to fill you again as you worry about what it is he’s talking about, as you try and piece together whatever it is that you might have missed. What was he talking about?

“Oi oi, relax… shhh, relax.” Leo says suddenly, making shushing noises again as he leans down and briefly nuzzles the top of your head with his nose. “I’ve just got you calmed down, don’t go working yourself up until I’ve gotten you out of here. Now, do you think you can move?”

Distracted by the contact, you nod at him and with his help you start to shift and move. Using the wall and his hands, you get to your feet and look around you. Leo had brought several one-hour glow sticks and they were scattered around the space, making so much light after the darkness, it felt blinding!

After a few minutes for the dizziness to pass, Leo had you climb on to his shell and grip the straps he used for his swords, tucking your toes in at his sides. It wasn’t as awkward as you would have thought and you rested your head on the shell beneath you as Leo made short work of the climb up and out of the service shaft.

Once he says it's safe, you look around and see one of the more familiar, large round tunnels the brothers use. Leo had climbed out of one of the narrower tunnels that connected to this one, and you remember that you’d been cautioned during every visit for months, not to go wandering and exploring the off shoots.

Now you are glad you never tried to.

On your feet once more, Leo hovers close by as you look yourself over. The simple cotton trousers and long sleeve top you wear for training is filthy and ripped in a few places, nothing that will hurt your dignity but your going to be throwing the set in the bin without a doubt.

“How are you feeling now?” Leo asks now, sounding a little more like his normal self.

“Oddly… I think being down there like that helped me,” you say with a shy smile up at him. “I always felt like these tunnels were a bit… small but now? This feels great!”

Leo laughed quietly as you spread your arms and spun around on the spot, then as you wince from your ribs, he’s leaning back in again. Getting you to hold your arms up, you bite your lower lip as his large, unusual hands move over your torso.

You feel the blush on your cheeks like a fever and you know he had to feel your heart pounding in your chest as he knelt in front of you, looking up into your face for signs of pain.

“So Y/N… did you… really never notice?” Leo asks suddenly as his hands come to rest on your hips, his face looking up at yours as you slowly drop your arms. Without thinking, you bring your hands down to rest on his firm shoulders.

“Notice what?” You ask carefully, feeling hope rising in your chest like a flower blossoming. But it's burning as it grows and with it comes fear.

Leo’s eyes continue to look up at you, and in that moment you can read so much in them. He’s so open as he looks up at you, so much hope and love in those clear blue eyes. He’s looking at you like you just hung the moon and spun the stars, all for him. 

But there’s pain and fear.

“I thought I was just seeing what I wanted to see,” you whisper in a small voice as your mind brings up all the little things Leo was hinting at.

All those times when you had asked and he’d done, all those little moments when he’d be walking past and you’d call his name and he’d change direction without even breaking stride. Every moment when you had text him that you were bored or lonely and he’d pop up with some idea for you two to do together, or with the group.

Then you remembered every small gesture, lingering touch and shy glance.

“I… wasn’t just imagining it because…” Your words are small and quiet as you stand there, looking down at Leonardo, your hands resting on his shoulders as he looks up at you with hope in his eyes. “Because I-I love you… and… and I wish we could try and be m-more than friends.”

He smiles that slow, beautiful smile that’s had your heart fluttering since you first laid eyes on him and he did it then. Smiling, Leo lifts a hand to yours and takes it off his shoulder, bringing it to his lips as he presses a kiss to it.

“Would it be too forward to ask to take you on a date?” He says in his most charming tone and you can feel your face heating up again as you try not to giggle with nerves.

“Most certainly not,” you reply playfully as an idea occurs to you. “I even have somewhere in mind.”

“Oh?”

“Well there’s the Golden Gate Bridge?”

“Yes?”

“And I have a fear of heights…”

Your words trail off as he starts to chuckle, pulling you closer so he can bury his face in your stomach as the chuckle turns into a full laugh and you can’t help but rest your hands on his head as you giggle. After a few minutes, he lifts his head and looks up at you, still holding you close so that his chin is resting on your stomach instead.

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Not sure, but I’m your problem now!”

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Once again, I kind of just copy and pasted everyone that shared my last story. Hope thats still okay. :)