Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a normal day in the Hamato household. 

April was talking to Donnie about which class sections she should register for for optimal study and social life balance.

Leo and Mikey were enraptured with Splinter acting and talking out some Lou Jitsu scenes, and Casey could just tell they were cooking up some Lou Jitsu-inspired mischief.

Casey himself was draped around Raph’s shoulders like a cat as the large snapping turtle walked around the lair showing him angles he’d never seen before and making height jokes at his and April’s expense.

It was loud and chaotic and homely.

Casey wouldn’t rather have any other family. This was perfect.

Lunch, as always, was a fend-for-yourself affair, and with six teenagers in the house it was a bloodbath.

Wars were raged over the pizza. 

Chores were traded over the fruit. 

Faces were shoved over the juice.

Casey smiled lightly to himself as they all sat around the table with their spoils of war. 

Every day was exciting. He had no idea he could be this happy and relaxed all the time. The play fighting was nothing like real fighting, although there was a real chance of pain (drawing blood meant a scolding from Splinter, a time-out, and last pickings of the food).

He stared directly into Leo’s eyes as he ate his pineapple, and if looks could kill Casey would be on life support in the med bay.

Once the dishes were all cleaned, however, all animosity was forgotten as they went back to their activities and general reckless behavior that they decided they all deserved to embrace after the invasion.

This had been the best year of life Casey’s ever lived.

He hoped his family would be proud of him and what they’d been able to accomplish.

More than that, though, he hoped they were resting well wherever they were. They deserved some peace just as much as Casey did. More so, even, considering they fought the whole nine yards, whereas Casey only lived a snippet of it.

As Casey tangled himself with April during a Twister tournament, he couldn’t help thinking that it was a great way to stretch and stay nimble while having fun.

Maybe that’s the point, he thought to himself. Since we don’t do official training regularly, maybe Splinter and Raph introduced these games to trick the others into staying fit.

As Mikey called right hand red and April did her best interpretation of a pretzel, she groaned and bemoaned her impending loss.

“Noooo, not now!” she shouted.

“What is it, April?” Casey asked, confused.

April's face scrunched up. “I just needa…” and then she sneezed and promptly fell over, causing Casey to go down with her.

Mikey laughed as Casey cried out, “My funny bone! Oh my god April!”

“Sorry, Casey!” April laughed, “I couldn’t help it, your hair was tickling my face!”

The two humans shoved each other around as Leo chased Donnie through the lair.

Mikey was laughing so hard he clutched his plastron and started wheezing.

Casey had never felt so content. It was nice.

I never want to leave.

Chapter Text

Casey woke up dry. Which is usually a good thing, no one really wants to wake up wet. But he had a dry throat, which no one wants. 

Unfortunately for him, he’s used to dehydration, having grown up in an apocalypse and all. 

So he doesn’t think too hard about it and downs the water bottle he always keeps on his bedside table. 

Constant access to water, he thinks to himself, is truly God’s gift to mankind. I love water.

The water soothed his throat, and so he continued his day like he normally wood. 

Until maybe half an hour after family breakfast. 

His dry throat came back, so he drank some more water. 

And again. 

And again. 

And then he had to pee because he was drinking so much water but his dry throat refused to go back to normal.

And Casey… had no idea what was happening. Why was his throat so dry and why wouldn’t it fix itself?

By the time lunch rolled around, the tingling in the back of his throat was a constant and he had gone to the bathroom twice from drinking so much water and he wondered if there was such a thing as being too hydrated?

But he didn’t even feel remotely hydrated because no matter how much water he dried to drink, he felt like he was bathing in sand.

And so he buckled down and rolled with the punches, like he always did, like he was trained to do since birth. He was born in an apocalypse and survived past infancy. He had an immune system like a steel trap, is what Sensei had told him. 

So Casey drank more water in hopes that this time his throat would finally absorb it and moisten up again. 

Until he started coughing, which only irritated his throat more and made his eyes involuntarily water. 

Oh sure, he thought bitterly, have enough water for tears but not for my throat.

His breath caught on another cough, and Mikey looked over from where they sat in the living room.

“You okay, Case?”

“I’m fine Mikey, just a dry throat,” he replied, voice cracking embarrassingly.

“Haha okay, I’ll make you some throat tonic that helps with sore throats!” Mikey sprang up from his spot and went to the kitchen, Casey following behind.

“I forget where I got this recipe from,” the orange turtle continued as he mixed some random assortment of ingredients according to Casey, “but it always helps us despite the taste. But I’m sure you’ve probably had worse haha. Just sip on this.”

When Casey took that first sip of “tonic”, he almost gagged. It was spicy and bitter and sweet and rough and smooth all at the same time? Literally how?? It was, for lack of a better word, just plain weird.

“Thanks, Mikey,” the boy said. “It’s… good.”

“Don’t worry, Case, we can add more honey ‘til it’s edible.”

“Oh thank goodness.”

Casey stirred in more honey until he could confidently swallow without throwing it back up.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get any worse, or you’ll have to deal with Medic Leo.” The turtle shuddered, imagining his older brother in no-nonsense healer mode.

“Nah, I’ve got an immune system that’ll knock anything out. I’ve never felt icky for more than a day.”

“Man I bet! Can’t have had the best hygiene practices in an apocalypse, huh?”

Casey took a look around the kitchen and into the hallway, taking in the lights and the sound of the leaky faucet. “Nope. Everything here, the constant electricity and water supplies, is Heaven on Earth. I knew the adults missed it, I would hear them complaining sometimes. But I never knew what it was like before, so it wasn’t the same for me. I didn’t miss it; I couldn’t even imagine it. But now that I’m here… it truly is a life-changing experience. The ease we should’ve had had the Kraang never appeared.” He glanced into his cup, taking a couple more sips. “I understand now why you all worried over me so much when I was young.”

Casey could see curiosity sparkling in the turtle’s eyes, but he must’ve known better than to pry when he could tell the boy didn’t want to speak more of his past.

Mikey hummed. “I think I’ll make beef stew for dinner.”

Casey smiled as he went to wash his mug. “Sounds good,” as Mikey started on prepping the meal.

The rest of Casey’s free time was spent in his room, studying for his GED, scrolling on his socials, and sipping on the tonic.

Once it was all gone, Casey was surprised to find his throat wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. It wasn’t completely healed, he could tell, but he could breathe and talk so much easier now.

Dinner was as natural as always. Mikey’s cooking was amazing as always, the twins threw around snarky comments, and Casey talked enthusiastically with Raph and Splinter about the Lou Jitsu Cinematic Universe.

Casey only coughed a couple of times because of his throat, the stew keeping his stomach fed, his body nourished, and his throat moist. Mikey’s subtle way of helping, he’s sure.

Then it was tea, popcorn, and Jupiter Jim and the Missing Planets, Part 12: The Eleventh Planet, Part 7.

This particular installment, unlike the previous six, was only two and a half hours long… and had been misnumbered, the creators naming it Part 12 when it was actually supposed to be Part 11. Apparently, that had been the cause of many fan theories on the Jupiter Jim numbering systems, or Jim having amnesia, or missing movies in the series. Thus, this particular movie was rather important if one was trying to understand fan references and theories of the overall Jupiter Jim Cinematic Universe. 

Unfortunately for Casey, he still fell asleep before the movie finished. He thought he deserved an early night, though, with the sore throat and pushing through it all day. 

Besides, the turtle pile was really comfortable. That, plus Raph’s baritone rumble, plus Leo’s blanket, made Casey’s eyes heavy. He was so content laying there he wanted to let out a pleased chirp himself.

Before he knew it, his pillows got up and started walking around, cleaning up the living room and putting dishes in the dishwasher.

Casey sighed, and stumbled his way to his room to fall asleep for good, handing out good-nights as he passed.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Casey woke up suffocating.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he definitely wasn’t breathing normally. 

He sat up too quickly, if the head rush was anything to go by. He coughed, and discovered that his throat didn’t hurt anymore (yay), but in its place came congested sinuses (boo).

So Casey once again started his day by drinking his water and cleaning himself up. Which, gross, took longer and was more important than usual with all the snot running out of his nose.

I can never get a day off, huh?

By the time Casey walked out to breakfast, Mikey was already serving Raph and Splinter their waffles. 

“Good morning, Casey!” chirped the ever-pleasant Mikey.

Raph and Splinter nodded at him with their mouths full, and Casey replied with a very nasally “Morning.”

Mikey and Raph snapped their heads around to stare as Splinter commented “Yeesh, what stole your nose and refused to give it back?”

Casey giggled a bit at that as he accepted breakfast from Mikey and shrugged. 

Well, he tried to accept the waffles, but a green streak snatched them up from right in front of his face before he could.

He glared up to Leo, stood right beside him with a shit-eating grin on his face.

He really didn’t have the energy for this right now. He just sighed at took the next plate Mikey handed him.

“Dunno what it is. I just woke up not breathing right,” he finally replied to Splinter.

“Oof, what was that ?” Leo asked incredulously to Casey. “Why do you sound like a drowning duck?”

Casey just shrugged while Donnie (jumpscare, jeez how does he just sneak up on you like that?) quipped back with “Ducks can’t drown, Leo.”

“Uh, yeah that’s the point , Donnie. Ducks aren’t supposed to drown; Casey isn’t supposed to get sick.” He turned back to Casey. “Any other symptoms?”

“I had a sore throat yesterday, but it’s gone now and replaced with the congestion.”

Leo took another bite of his stolen waffles, never taking his eyes off the human. What he was looking for, Casey couldn’t say, but he didn’t need to seem to guess with Raph there to interrupt.

“You’re thinking too hard, Leo, he clearly just has a cold.”

“It can’t be,” the blue turtle disagreed.

“And why not?” Casey could hear the eye roll from Donnie.

“Guys, Casey never gets sick.”

‘Casey never gets sick! I don’t know what to do!’

‘Calm down, Leo, he’ll be alright. You’re a medic, just make sure he’s watered and rested.’

‘What if he gets worse?’

‘We’ll make sure he won’t.’

“He’s from the apocalypse, Donnie.” Oh, Leo was still talking. “You’ve read his records, there’s no way someone who survived infancy and almost two decades of apocalypse comes out the other side with a weak immune system. He’s been here a year and never so much as sneezed wrong-”

“Exaggeration, but sure,” Donnie interrupted.

“-He’s got an immune system like a steel trap. There’s no way whatever gets to him now is a simple cold.”

The rest of the family seemed contemplative, but ultimately unconvinced it seemed.

Leo looked back at Casey. 

“I feel fine, Leo,” the human stated. Then immediately sneezed, sniffed, then coughed when his breath stuttered in his throat.

“Mhm, sure.” The slider looked unimpressed with his frankly disgusting display, and handed him a box of cold relief.

Casey stared at the box in bafflement. It clearly stated DayQuil Cold & Flu , so it must be medicine, but… Where did he grab the box from? He didn’t even move a muscle!

Leo just sighed and grabbed two capsules from the box, handing them to Casey. “Take these.”

Oh he used the Voice. He took the pills immediately.

“See me if it gets worse.”

He nodded.

Breakfast went back to normal and was finished quickly after that.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on for Casey. 

Sitting in the living room with Leo, Raph, and Mikey would usually be fun, but now it just felt like too much.

He felt awful. He would get the urge to sneeze, but wouldn’t, then his eyes would water, and that pre-sneeze tingle just sat in his nose and wouldn’t go away and why couldn’t he–

Oh, there it is. 

Damn that hurt, he thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes. Never has he heard such a loud or felt such a soul-rattling sneeze before. On the rare occasions he could get a sneeze out, it felt like his body was trying to dislodge his lungs through his nose. It hurt his throat and echoed in the subway tunnels.

“Damn hermano, you good? You could rival Raph and Dad with sneezes like that!” Leo quipped from across the room.

He only had the energy to give a thumbs up.

“Hey!” Came a defensive shout from Raph.

“Aw, let him be, Lee, he’s sick!” Mikey came to Casey’s defense.

Said sick human couldn’t help but wince at the volume of their voices. There was pressure surrounding his eyes, and a construction crew must’ve taken up residence behind them based on the pounding in there.

Maybe a nap is in order.

“Maybe you should take a nap, Case,” came Raph’s soft, eldest-brother voice.

Casey blinked at him.

Did he read my mind?

“Raph’s no mind reader, I’m just the oldest brother. I can tell when my bros need a nap, and you are no exception.

Casey blinked away definitely-lingering-sneeze-tingles-tears.

He let out a single, small cough.

Oh well, it’s not like anyone could tell the difference anyway, I guess.

He nodded, and slowly made his way to the blissful darkness of his room.

He checked his watch on the walk there. 

1:23pm.

Heh, nice.

He dropped face first into his pillow.

Then he quickly realized he couldn’t breathe in that position, like, at all, and felt disgusting with his runny nose squished into the fabric.

So he turned over, laying on his side so the snot would clear from the congested nostril until it all pooled into the other one, ‘cause gravity yay.

Then he turned around to start the process over again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And really, Casey was getting more of an abdominal workout than he was sleep at this point.

Oh well, at least his eyes were closed and his room was quiet.

He must’ve fallen asleep at some point, however, because he was awoken by Raph’s soft voice at the door calling him to dinner.

So Casey pulled himself out of bed, followed Raph to the kitchen, and grabbed the apple slices off the table right as Leo was reaching for them.

“Hey, apples!” the slider complained. The turtle looked up at the thief, narrowing his eyes as he saw Casey standing there. “Now, now, Case…”

Casey smirked, and Leo paled at the expression.

“Okay, Casey…” the slider hesitated.

Casey slowly lifted up the bowl.

Leo, and now everyone else, looked on with trepidation at what the human would do.

His face, he knew, was a perfect copy of Leo’s Purposefully-Being-A-Nuisance Face.

He opened his mouth…

And coughed into the bowl of apple slices.

It was chaos. Sweet, blissful chaos as the family exploded with mixed reactions.

Mikey was fake gagging because “HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE SACRED FOOD LIKE THAT, YOUNG MAN, YOU BETTER THANK YOUR MAKER THAT YOU’RE SICK RIGHT NOW–”

Donnie looked slightly grossed out but more so seemed to be taking notes on the ingenious that was Casey Hamato-Jones Junior.

Splinter, for his part, was laughing his ass off for how funny he found the whole situation. Howls of “That’s ingenious, Junior! Hilarious!”

Raph, to Casey’s eternal thanks, was physically holding back an irate Leo who was trying to claw his way to the most recent addition of the family.

Casey ninja-ed his way back to his room, relishing in the screams of “TRAITOR! YOU SHOULD BE ON MY SIDE!” to Raph and “WHEN I CATCH YOU CASEY, CASEY WHEN I CATCH YOU–” aimed towards himself.

Sitting on his bed, slowly eating apple slices in the dark, it was a good moment to be Casey.

Until he decided he’d eaten enough and became hyperaware of his body. If he’s said it once, he’s said it a thousand times but… he felt disgusting. His veins felt like they were filled with slime, his hair sat heavy and greasy on his head, his face was oily, and he could feel his heartbeat in his neck.

He shuddered and went to take a shower to wash off all the feelings.

After a long, lukewarm shower, he spent the rest of what little energy he had on reading until his eyes started to droop.

Who knew causing chaos could be so tiring?

Chapter Text

Casey woke up.

He checked the time on his watch: 10:03pm.

So he probably got about two hours of shuteye. Definitely not enough.

He sniffed, rolled over, and fell back asleep.

Casey woke up from a drawn out buzz from his watch.

He looked down at it, brain taking a second to comprehend the words on the screen.

‘High Heart Rate. Your heart rate rose above 120 BPM while you seemed to be inactive for 10 minutes starting at 9:53pm’

Oh. He looked at the little chart displayed on the screen and… yikes. 146 BPM.

That’s probably not good. Maybe some deep breaths to calm my heart rate? Yeah, that should work.

With a plan, Casey laid on his back and took some deep breaths, holding them each time. 

He fell back asleep.

Casey woke up from a drawn out buzz from his watch.

He looked down at it and yep, same heart rate notification as before.

11:17pm, 132 BPM.

More deep breaths, roll over, fall back asleep.

Casey woke up from a drawn out buzz from his watch.

Same heart rate message.

11:58pm, 132 BPM.

Strange, I don’t feel bad or anything? 

Casey laid still and took stock of his body. This is the third time he’d gotten the notification, so there must have been a cause he didn’t notice before, right?

Pulse? He felt it, I’m alive so that’s great. Obviously out of whack and irregular since I keep getting notifications.

Head? No headache anymore. My sinuses seemed to have calmed down a bit, but my nose is still a little stuffed. Just not runny, so that’s fantastic. Eyes are heavy ‘cause I’m sleepy.

Chest? Doesn’t feel tight and I have no trouble breathing.

Arms? He wiggled his fingers. Ten working fingers, check. 

Legs? He wiggled his toes. Ten working toes, check.

Casey found nothing out of the ordinary with his physical body. He didn’t feel anxious, a fact supported by his lack of physical symptoms. And he didn’t have a bad dream, either.

If anything, his dreams this night have been just plain weird, even by dreaming standards.

But, just to cover all his bases, he drank some water and went to the bathroom before falling back asleep.

12:16am, 129 BPM.

Casey huffed and closed his eyes again.

12:35am, 132 BPM.

Casey rolled over and closed his eyes again .

12:59am, 134 BPM.

Casey groaned. What the hell is happening?

1:58am, 125 BPM.

Why does he keep waking up?

2:36am, 135 BPM.

Casey just wanted to sleep. Was that so hard to give him?

3:17am, 129 BPM.

WHY.

3:50am, 130 BPM.

CAN’T.

4:55am, 127 BPM.

HE.

5:59am, 131 BPM.

SLEEP?!

6:13am, 143 BPM.

Casey wanted to cry.

6:26am, 150 BPM.

Casey woke up.

Well, since it’d only been just over ten minutes from the last time he opened his eyes, he did really wake up since he was already awake since he couldn’t sleep, God why couldn’t he sleep he just wants to rest and–

No. He took a deep breath. No tears. Save the water, save the energy. It’s only… oh. 6:27am. He could've sworn it was only 3am at the latest. He frowned. It definitely only felt like it was still witching hours, though he considered that could probably be due to the fact that he never properly fell asleep. 

Every moment with his eyes closed was just that - shuteye, not sleep. It was that weird state between consciousness and REM sleep where you start to lucid dream but can also process outside stimuli.

It was hell on the senses, and Casey wanted to cry.

But it was 6:30am, a reasonable waking hour, so he drank some water, brushed his teeth, and made his way to the kitchen.

The lair was still dark and quiet, so Casey tried to be also. He didn’t want to wake anyone up. He thought he was doing alright until he got to the kitchen area and stepped on… something that made noise.

He winced at the sound, then just about jumped out of skin when a face snapped around to face him in the darkness, lit from underneath.

The two beings stared at each other while Casey considered the possibilities of the lair actually being haunted until a soft huff snapped him out of it.

The light brightened, and Casey could now make out Donnie’s profile, his phone being the only source of light in the otherwise dark room.

Casey took a deep breath. Did you go crazy, Casey? Hah, crazy Casey.

“You alright there, Space Case?” Donnie asked, once again snapping him out of his thoughts. “You’re never up this early. In fact, Mikey won’t even be up for another hour to start breakfast.”

Casey swayed the rest of his way into the kitchen before claiming a bar stool, staring at Donnie work the coffee pot.

Coffee… could be good since I can’t sleep. Caffeine wouldn’t be good for the heart rate, though. Don’t really like the taste either. But we have milk, so that’ll help–

“You’re staring.”

Casey blinked back into consciousness, realizing he had in fact been staring at Donnie. Wait, wasn’t there something… “Huh?” he asked very intelligently.

“Are you okay?” Donnie set down his coffee mug. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all.”

“I didn’t.” Short and precise, straight to the point like he knew Donnie liked, and then felt his soul leave his body through the widest yawn he’d ever yawned.

“Hmm. Was it because of your cold?”

Casey rested his head on his hand and shrugged. “‘S weird,” he mumbled, “I don’t feel bad…”

“Do you have insomnia like Leo does?”

He shook his head.

Gave a weak cough.

“Hm. I was going to go back to my lab, but I don’t think I want to leave you alone right now…”

Casey just shrugged again. Honestly, Tello could do what he wanted, he knew how important lab work was, and if he still has a cold he shouldn’t be in the lab anyway and–

“Come to the living room with me.”

Casey blinked at the soft shell. And then literally blinked at the soft shell as Donnie began walking towards the living room, but Casey couldn’t put his finger on why his brain decided to focus on that particular detail.

So Casey just stumbled after him, trusting that the turtle would lead him to safety.

He saw Donnie standing in the center of the living room waiting for him, so he approached the deep loveseat and sat himself underneath a blanket. 

He stared as he watched the turtle nod and sit himself down next to the boy, grabbing the other end of the blanket to cover his own legs with.

As the shift in weight shifted his body, Casey squirmed as he felt something dig into his tailbone. He reached behind himself and pulled out a Rubix Cube of all things. And it was mostly completed too.

Well too bad, Casey thought, you shoulda finished it while you had the chance.

So he slowly mixed it up again in the silence. When his hands stopped after the cube was thoroughly mixed, three green fingers snatched it from him. He watched in the silence as the cube was solved and handed back to him.

He mixed it up again.

And again, it was solved before being handed back.

Another watch notification.

6:54am, 120 BPM.

The turtle next to him had started talking in a low voice at one point, but it was just background noise to Casey as he just existed and mixed the Rubix Cube. 

7:05am, 133 BPM.

At some point while Casey was dutifully mixing the cube, it was taken away and replaced with a cup of water. He took a sip and gagged at the salty surprise.

He looked over to the turtle in betrayal.

“Electrolytes,” came the only explanation.

Casey didn’t have the brain power to deduct that statement, but he was sure it was probably reasonable and important, and he trusted his family.

“Thanks, Tello,” he murmured.

He didn’t notice the slight pause of movement as he drank more of the water since he was too busy grimacing himself at the taste.

He yawned and tilted a bit to the side, almost spilling his water.

A hand caught the cup before it fell and placed it on the ground in front of the seat they were on, to provide company to the mug that was already there, he assumed. 

His blinks were heavy as he mixed the cube again, and leaned on the comforting weight beside him.

He blinked and realized his position had changed without him knowing.

He was leaned completely against the body beside him, wrapped in a blanket. Apparently he fell asleep and was woken by some soft whispering.

“–super early this morning.”

“How… he?”

“–feverish, and his... high for hours. ”

“How do you–”

“–saw his watch notifications… scanned him and saw–”

Casey decided the conversation wasn’t important and he would rather catch up on the sleep he missed during the night, so he let the sweet embrace of blackness envelop him.

He was awoken, again, by someone gently shaking his shoulder.

“-asey. Casey.”

He blinked his eyes open and saw a blurry green face in front of him.

“You need to drink this,” the familiar voice said.

He always obeyed that voice, he knew that much, so he sipped whatever it was through the straw.

And gagged. It was that awful salt water again.

“Drink, Case. You need it.”

Casey grumbled because he didn’t want to, it tasted disgusting.

“I know it’s gross but it’ll help you feel better.”

As he dutifully drank his contaminated water, he realized through his haze that there was no longer a body next to him.

“Where’s Tello?” he mumbled?

“In his lab. He handed you off to me when I saw you guys all cuddled together.” The stern yet soft voice, which he now recognized as Leonardo, answered his question and moved the cup away after the water was gone. “Eat this before you fall back asleep.”

Two crackers were pressed into his hand, so he ate and mumbled a weak “Thanks, Sensei.” 

Sleep came again.

The next time Casey awoke he was shivering.

He was so cold and tired he wanted to cry. A few tears might’ve actually slipped out because a voice was soon next to him soothing his thoughts.

“Hey it’s okay, Casey.”

“Un’l Mike?” Casey pushed between chattering teeth.

“...Yeah. Yeah, it’s Mike,” the orange turtle responded. “Drink this.”

Luckily for the boy, the water was salt-less this time.

“Cold,” Casey whimpered, still with his eyes shut.

He had no idea where he was, he couldn’t distinguish the textures around him and couldn’t hold onto any thoughts or memories sludged through his mind. He knew his Uncle Mike would keep him safe though, and therefore wasn’t worried.

“I know, Case, but you’ll be okay.”

“Don’ go,” he whispered.

“I won’t,” came the response.

Casey awoke again to the need for the bathroom.

Right now.

So up he sat, his head pounding and vision blurry.

He took a second for some quick-yet-highly-detailed-recon. Meaning, of course, he blinked through his blurry vision and noticed just enough to piece together he was still in the living room before deeming that adequate.

So up he stood, head pounding and legs wobbling.

He took shaky steps supported by various furnishings and walls until he made his way to the bathroom. 

He did his business and felt better, and decided through his fever-addled mind that walls were for the weak, and he was not weak, so he would walk confidently down the center of the hallway back to his couch.

He made it about five steps before the pounding in his head got too great and his legs grew too weak to hold himself up.

Blink.

He was making eye contact with the ceiling.

Blink.

“–at happened?!”

Blink.

“–on the floor!”

Blink.

“–hit his head. Is there–”

Blink.

“–sey. CASEY. Eyes open.”

His vision was still blurry, but this time he could make out multiple figures in front of him.

“There you are.”

Sensei? Did something happen?

There was some mumbled talking he couldn’t grasp at until someone tapped his cheek.

“Casey. Look at me.”

Casey looked at his mentor, who seemed worried and slightly off, but he couldn’t pin why.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

Casey hummed at the odd question and squinted to focus on the green digits. “Two.”

“Good. How does your head feel?”

“...My head?”

“We’re worried you hit it,” came a voice from his right, startling him a little.

He looked over to see who it was, but turned his head too fast that he had to close his eyes to stop the spinning. “Uncle Tello?”

A short Hm is all that came in response.

It’s them , he thought to himself, but why do they sound weird?

“We don’t sound weird, Case, you’re just sick.”

What? Sensei?

“Casey, eyes open.”

He opened his eyes, despite feeling lethargic. That the Voice. He should listen to that.

“How does your head feel?” the blue turtle asked while gripping the boy’s cheeks in order to keep his attention.

“Um…” Casey took stock of his head and winced. “Hurts.”

“Good. Where?”

“Um… everywhere. Pounding.”

“Okay. Inside or outside your head?”

Oh that was easy to answer. “Inside.”

Yeah his head felt like it wanted to explode. And now that he was aware of his body, he felt how much it ached. Every muscle was sore like they got after a hard day in the field. His breaths were weak, and he was cold and damp. 

Casey groaned and shivered. Oh he was freezing, never been this cold before, didn’t know it could get this cold, must be the end of the world…

The voices around him jumbled together meaninglessly.

Did I get hit during battle? I must be dying if I feel this bad–

“NO,” came through loud and clear as someone grabbed his face.

Huh?

“You’re not dying, Space Case. You’re just sick.”

He simply nodded and let his mind float.

Floating was peaceful. He was still awake, but detached from any emotions and external stimulation. Thoughts popped in and out of existence, refusing to be held onto, and the boy couldn’t find it in himself to mind.

Noise was slime, stretchy and gooping between his fingers, moving as it pleased.

Sight was a watercolor painting, dripping and mixing in ways that could be deciphered if he focused hard enough.

Casey snapped back into his body when a wet cloth was pressed against his forehead.

“Shh, it’s okay, we just need to cool you down,” came a soft voice.

He whimpered at the harsh texture moving across his skin. Not just his forehead but his arms and legs as well. He pulled back weakly trying to get away, but the hands were firm. He didn’t have much fight in him anyway.

His breaths were coming short and weak and he was so cold and so sore and–

“Shh, Casey, try deep breaths,” the soft voice came back, continuing to murmur sweet nothings.

But Casey was in agony and it was too bright and he could feel too much and he could hear more urgent voices around him.

He tried to make out what they were saying.

“–too hot an… too high–”

“–might have to–”

“–afe for him?!”

“We don’t ha–!”

Too loud!

Casey whimpered again and tried to cover his ears but his arms were too heavy and he’s pretty sure he’d started crying and the soft voice came back, right next to his ear.

The close proximity helped him to focus on that and drown out the background noise.

“–kay, Casey, you’re going to be okay, don’t worry about them, just try to breathe, it’ll be okay–”

“Wan’ m’ dad,” Casey whined weakly, “m’ dad.”

A hand replaced the cloth on his forehead, brushing back slick hair and rubbing calm patterns into his skin.

And he fell back into darkness.

Only to be rudely awakened by sharp coldness all around him.

His breath stuttered to a halt from the shock and he started thrashing.

Danger, danger!

“Woah, hold still, Case!” came a deep voice above him.

There were strong arms holding his body underneath a bath of ice water, and Casey wanted out.

“You gotta stay in, Casey! We need to lower your temperature!”

The boost of energy the cold gave him was short-lived as the aches and weakness came back.

His muscles tensed and trembled, and the baritone of whoever was holding him down rumbled in a soothing drone.

He was awake through the whole process, never getting used to the sharp sting of the cold.

The deep drone never faded and the voices around him spoke sweetly to him for who knows how long.

Certainly not Casey, to whom everything was a blur and all he knew was how uncomfortable he was.

He eventually faded again, detaching himself from his body.

Chapter Text

When next Casey awoke, it was neither to the cold nor to loud sounds. 

Instead, it was peaceful. 

His head wasn’t pounding, his breath wasn’t stuttering, and his muscles were only slightly sore. 

He was dehydrated, though.

So he grabbed his water bottle off his bedside table and downed it. 

He didn’t know where everyone else was, but he figured the kitchen would be a good place to start. 

Lo and behold, there was the family sitting around the table munching on eggs and sausages.

“Smells delicious,” he stated as greeting to the gathered ninjas. 

Five heads turned to look at him. 

“Casey!” Mikey greeted. 

Donnie immediately flipped his goggles down as Medic Leo started asking questions. 

“How are you feeling?”

“A lot better,” Casey smiled.

“Any lingering symptoms?”

“Nope!”

Leo turned to Donnie then. “How’s he doing, Don?”

“Heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and all other levels are stable and looking good,” he replied as he flicked his goggles back up.

“Well then, you are clear for duty, Space Case,” Leo smiled at him.

“Thanks, Doc.” Casey took a seat and grabbed the orange juice, immediately guzzling down a full glass before pouring more.

“That was a nasty fever you had, Casey. Raph was worried about you.”

“I’m all fine now, Raph.”

“You weren’t for a while, though.” Oh, Mikey was concerned. “You were delirious and your temperature kept rising and your heart rate wouldn’t calm.”

“Oh. I’m sorry I worried you. Honestly, I’m surprised it was that bad. Sensei always said I had a strong immune system; I’ve never had anything worse than congestion, and that would only last a day.” Casey frowned in thought.

An expression that perfectly mirrored Leo’s right next to him.

“Hmm. I wonder what you caught that didn’t exist after the Kraang.”

“Well I know I would hate to catch whatever was strong enough to take down an apocalypse survivor. If it was that bad for him, it would probably be much worse for us.”

Everyone shuddered.

“Which,” Leo interrupted their dark musings, “is exactly why I had you all taking vitamins and preventive medications the second I noticed Casey getting sick. So on the off chance any of us do catch it and fall ill, it’ll hopefully be diminished.”

“Heh, thanks Leo,” Raph said. “And someone text April that Casey’s all better, but she should still wait ‘til tomorrow to visit in case he’s still contagious.”

“On it,” replied Donnie. “Oh, and Casey…”

Casey looked up just in time to get a tube of chapstick thrown at his forehead. 

Everyone laughed as he fake grumbled and rubbed at the mark, but he put it on anyway.

“Drink lots of water to rehydrate and don’t overexert yourself and if you feel tired then rest.”

Casey smacked his dry lips together, thoroughly bothering the purple turtle, before chugging a glass of water.

“Relax, Casey,” came Splinter’s voice. He looked to find the man pushing a bowl of peeled mandarin oranges his way. His tail snapped at any hands that tried to nick some.

Casey’s eyes lit up as he grinned. “Thank you!”

He nibbled on the orange slices, frowning at any of the turtles who tried to grab some.

At one point Casey started slapping hands away, because fruit , and he wasn’t above hissing and snapping back to assert dominance over his meal.

All in all, things went back to normal.

He did have to take a nap around 1pm, but everyone was quiet enough for him to get some decent rest. Besides, Mikey napped with him, and he was always more comfortable tangled up with the orange box turtle.

And if the next day April fussed over him making sure he was okay, he would deny any warm feelings of contentment and deja vu.