metalogs | I want to be blinded from this dull today

Entry tags:

I want to be blinded from this dull today

Who: Leonardo

faceguy, Donatello

purplexing, Accelerator

levelshift
What: Three children commit light B&E and felony theft.
When: Late May. Probably after that Fantastic announcement, what timing.
Where: An electronics recycling facility in Central.
Content Warnings: Kids committing crimes, body horror, psychological horror, blood, sensory overloading. These kids have trauma, thanks nightmare floor! Will update as necessary.

[With everything going on in Central City - the flooding, the lockdown, Fantastic taking over the Alliance - the smart thing to do would be to delay this whole mission. Or even better - call it off, because even though it should be a (mostly) harmless crime for the benefit of Donnie, stealing equipment meant to be recycled is still illegal. But no, they've made plans, scoped the place out, trained. Dropping things now would be putting all that time and effort to waste, and besides, it should be a simple stealthy in-and-out mission, right? It's a recycling facility, how bad can the security be?

Besides, it'll be fun to stick it to Fantastic. A heist (albeit, a small one) happening right after he becomes head of the Alliance? Now that's fantastic.

Accelerator isn't too sure what to expect. He's been in a recycling facility before, back in Academy City, and the security was incredibly lax. This is a different city - different universe, with different rules. He's a little cautious, since this was originally his idea, and he's the one with only thirty minutes of power to work with. Otherwise he's a weaker-than-normal high school student relying on two very capable ninjas.

It's fucking weird to be relying on other people. He kind of hates it, and he isn't totally sure why, though he can't exactly overthink it right now like he usually would. He's trying to stay focused on breaking into the facility and not fucking anything up for Donnie and Leo. He's even made something of an effort for tonight, with a duffle bag to store equipment (a smaller backpack is inside for stuff he'll grab for the Society's cut) and a black hoodie in case he needs to hide his hair (he isn't sure, white hair just doesn't seem very stealthy).

So far it's going smoothly. With Leo's planning and leadership and Donnie taking care of the security system they're able to sneak in and avoid the paths of the security guards. In fact, it's going so well that it sort of seems like they might be able to get in, grab what they need, and get out with no incidents whatsoever.

Of course, it's absurd to throw all caution out the window simply because things are working out right now. Especially when they run into their first obstacle.

After dodging a few more guards, the trio will come to a long hallway, the only path to their goal without having to pass directly several security stations. Spread through the length of the hall are little red lasers, arranged into one very elaborate grid meant to ward off would-be thieves such as themselves. It's like something out of a spy movie, and it's unclear whether these are the kinds of lasers that will cut a limb off or simply sound an alarm if tripped. Maybe it's both.

Accelerator leans heavily on his crutch, looking thoroughly irritated with this obstacle. His reflection might be actively detrimental here.]

This is fucking ridiculous.

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["'Putting a lot of effort into something that could just die on you despite everything still seems like a waste of time to me,' Misaka suggests from a conversation about gardening as Misaka wonders if it carries over in regard to other subjects," chimes one just behind the three, words Accelerator had told Donnie not too long ago, horribly dark without context, particularly with such a delivery.

He's still got his eyes shut, unsure of whether it's helping or not, but he'd already seen enough of what's around him to just imagine the myriad of mutated Sisters. At the moment all he's able to do is hear the words they relate, things that if they aren't targeted, seem meaningless. They aren't, not here. If it's not for him, it's for someone else, although in that moment he's not sure who it's meant for, but it's a chilling suggestion all the same.

Donnie's arms and legs are starting to ache, but at least it's his pain and not something conjured by this cursed room. It's the slightest thing, but it's new in the face of everything else that it provides a new point of focus. He struggles to drag himself out of the mental retreat he'd nearly slipped into. Being a deadweight won't help them.

Being a burden won't help Leo.

How far are they? Where were they, even? Donnie risks a look and instantly regrets it the moment he catches a glimpse of something new. What is it? He's not sure, but it has to be something bad if it's here.

Something tells him they need to move faster before they find out exactly what it is.]

...-ow far? [His words almost stick in his throat, barely above a whisper. Swallowing audibly, he tries again.]

Leo? Our position?

[Leo just barely caught what the Sister said to Accelerator, and it occurs to him for the first time that these are all clones. Even though the first one said a number, some of the others have said numbers, he just assumed they were all visions of the same girl.

A messed up thing to learn, but it’s not slowing him down!

He continues pulling them forward, unaware of the red searchlight, even as it sweeps dangerously close to their position. Leo doesn’t have the coordination or energy or desire to lift the goggles right now, so his awareness of the nightmare is limited mainly to his other senses. Which, really? More than enough.

Donnie speaks up, and Leo feels just a little better hearing him, even if he sounds… not great.]

We’re… fifteen feet from the other wall.

[Donnie said the room is forty-five feet before, and they had covered ten feet when they hit the pool of blood. So they’ve covered twenty feet since then. He almost laughs - it feels like it’s been miles and miles.

Still… can’t lost hope. Look on the bright side!]

We’ve made it two thirds of the way there, so, no problem right?

[The Sisters are still saying things right in his ear, now berating him for letting Mikey and Donnie get separated from him in the tunnel under Metro Tower, now berating him for leaving Gram-Gram behind, now berating him for lying to his brothers about the Maze of Death (oh come on, he was fourteen). Some of the things are meant more for Donnie than him, he thinks, and he tries to filter those out as much as he can.

He pushes forward another step (fourteen feet), then kicks at a Sister in front of him so he can move again (thirteen feet). The searchlight passes by just to the left of them.]

[Another Sister reaches out in the blood and takes hold of his free hand, tugging, and it's taking whatever bits of broken willpower Accelerator has left to not just go with her. She's mumbling something but he can't discern it, and it doesn't really matter, because he's heard that inflection before. She's likely repeating something she had said to him in the past, back when he was trying to force conversation out of her before their trial began. For a second he actually squeezes her hand back before Leo's grip on him and Donnie's voice brings him back, and he lets go.

Two thirds of the way there. Only one third left.

The searchlight sweeps closer, over the crush of Sisters, and though it looks harmless right now he can't help but think what if it hurts them? Not himself or Leo or Donnie - his priority is the clones. It's always been the clones, since August 31st. That's why he visibly winces when he catches sight of the kick, though he doesn't make any moves to stop Leo from what he's doing. It's an uncomfortable dichotomy of knowing that they're fakes controlled by the security system and whatever Krang influence was overlaid on top of them, that they need to get moved out of the way so the two real people can survive, and wanting to protect them because of who they are and what they represent regardless.]

... They're innocent people. It isn't their fault.

[He's croaking that out quietly, even if it won't make any difference. They don't deserve to get hurt, even if these ones are illusions designed to drag them down and break them. The real ones, both alive and dead, certainly don't deserve to have their faces be used in this way.

The searchlight sweeps over again, and this time he manages to pull together a question amidst the cracks of lightning and girls talking over each other.]

What is that?

[More waves of words that threaten to crush against him, submerge him under the sounds. Yet Donnie can actually make out the words here and there, suspecting because they're specifically said towards him, and it threatens to tug at already unravelling threads.

Fifteen feet.

He's not sure he can hang on for that long.

Leo's still trying to keep things light, and Donnie's not sure how much of it is show. He'd already seen the affect just seeing that place around him had been. But he's still trying.

...and because of that, Donnie can't give up either. He can't let Leo shoulder it all again. What kind of useless weight of a brother is he? Being useless is even worse than any of this, and that thought seizes him tightly.

Another voice speaks up, almost unrecognizable for who it is by how different Accelerator sounds. He's still with them. He's hanging on. But they can't stay another minute.

It's especially troubling to hear the esper's confusion as he too takes notice of the strange, searching light. In that moment, Donnie's thoughts are clear: Leo can't see this.]

L-Leo, I'm going to cut the distance, but you need to tell me when we get close enough. Hang on to Accelerator.

[The lack of further explanation says a lot, but Donnie can do this much. They don't need to fly fancy. They just need to move faster.

The rotors of his battle shell unfold, flaring that trademark neon purple as they come to life before boosting them forward, just as that sweeping searchlight arcs around again.]

[They aren't real, is on Leo's tongue at Accelerator's objection, and the only thing that keeps him from saying it out loud is the wince, still perfectly visible on Accelerator's real face goggles or no. The girls aren't real but Accelerator's reaction to them, his feelings about them, are real, and Leo may not care about the apparitions but he does care about that.]

Sorry. [It's what he says instead, and he doesn't make more efforts to force the Sisters away. But this leaves a problem, because he doesn't have any limbs left and he's worn out from physically dragging the other two along and he doesn't know what he's going to do if he has to take the Sisters' wellbeing into account-

And oh great, apparently there's something new.

Leo is about to ask for some elaboration, since he can't really maneuver the goggles off to see for himself without help, when Donnie is speaking up, urgently.]

Okay.

[He doesn't know what Donnie's plan is at first, but he trusts his brother and if he has an idea then Leo is all for it.

And then he hears the rotors open, and he doesn't really need any explanation, anyway.

He changes his grip on Accelerator so he's holding him around the back instead of the shoulders, hooked under his armpits so he doesn't lose him. As much as he's been telling Accelerator to exercise, it's really helping that he's a skinny twig right now.

And then Donnie is boosting them, which handily solves the problem of how he's going to get past the Sisters without force. They push through the sea, and while he can still feel their gentle touches grabbing at him, they're moving forward.]

...Nine feet... eight...

[He helpfully counts down.]

[Leo's apology is met with a stony silence. Accelerator knows that they don't have any options here if they actually want to get out (and the turtles, at least, deserve that much), but he can't bring himself to say anything. On the flipside, he isn't actively trying to stop him from getting the Sisters out of the way. It's a middle ground that makes his guilt surge. He'll have to figure something out to say later - if there's a later.

There may damn well not be a later.

His brain is settling on that thought when Donnie speaks up. It's hard to hear him over all the noise, but he catches the neon purple out of the corner of his eye and Leo's grip is shifting around him. Well, any plan is a good plan, at this rate.

Holding his crutch a little tighter he - and part of him can't believe he's doing this - uses his free hand to grab onto Leo. As he does his gaze follows the searchlight (mentally numbering each Sister that it touches, one of them is asking him why he isn't helping her), and he looks upwards to try and see what the source of it is.]

[Seven...six...

Donnie remains silent as his focus is too frayed to try juggling things as easily as he'd usually be able to.

He just needs to stop them before they run headlong into the wall, or the door, he's not sure if they'd angled off any from their original path. Track of things had been lost rather quickly the moment everything became blood.

...four...three-

Out of the corner of his eye he sees it, something big, red light only highlighting edges of some kind of armored creature.]

-cutting the rotors! Leo! Keep going!

[Momentum stops, but it's as close as he'll risk it, not without visuals. The urgency in his tone should be clear enough.]

[Leo can't see it, but when Accelerator and Donnie look, it will come more into view - a massive, menacing suit of armor, with a big red eye being the source of the light, making it difficult to look directly at it. But if they look close enough, they'll be able to see the pink face of the Krang, stuffed inside the suit, with a hateful scowl as he searches for his prey.

Leo, oblivious for the moment, focuses on the door, just a few feet in front of them but a bit to the left - drifting off course was inevitable with everything going on. He angles toward it, dragging them with him, and they're close, they're so close to being out of here, he's reaching for the handle to escape-

"Ah, there you are, pest," says the voice of the Krang, booming through the space, and Leo's breath hitches. "Do you really think you can escape me?"

Leo is frozen. They've nearly escaped, his fingers are brushing the door handle, but he can't bring himself to move, every muscle in his body tensing in preparation for a blow he knows is coming.

The logical part of his brain, telling him that it's not real, just open the door, keep moving - it's drowned out by the fear, and even though Leo can see the shape of the door, he feels trapped.

What if they're wrong and this is real after all?]

[It isn't a kaiju, but it's certainly a monster. What Accelerator can see of the Krang is burned into his brain as they come skidding to a stop.

That thing. That fucking thing.

There are fewer Sisters close to the door, the majority of them having been concentrated away from it in order to keep the three of them in the room. They stop moving, even pulling back as if to let the Krang take over instead.

Fuck.

It's completely illogical since the Krang is obviously fake like everything else on this floor, but all Accelerator can think is that fucking thing is the reason why the Sisters are so messed up, why the turtles may have had their lives ruined back home. His head is already killing him, but now it feels like something sharp is completely splitting his brain in half and shredding it into dozens of tiny pieces.

He wants to kill that thing. He wants to kill that thing so bad. He doesn't care how much of a monster that makes himself, he's letting those feelings swallow himself up. All this room did was show him who he is, so he might as well indulge it.

From his back bursts six pitch black jet sprays, stretching dozens of meters and twisting and writhing wildly. Accelerator barely has the things under control, the wings grinding against each other before three of them shoot straight into the Krang. He's under no impression that those things will actually kill that thing, he still has no idea the extent of the wings, and he has no idea what the Krang is fully capable of. But he doesn't care. He wants to smash that thing in the face and provide them a few precious seconds as the remaining three of the wings arc over their heads and slam into the door, sending it flying into the opposite wall. Then they curl back behind them, hitting the floor to launch them through the opened doorway.

(Since Leo has the goggles on, he'll be able to see the wings extending from and made up of the same field that's constantly surrounding Accelerator.)

He has to leave the Sisters, but it's them or the turtles, and the turtles aren't fake.

This isn't going to be pleasant, though. There's too much force in the wings, so they're all going to be smashing against the wall like the door did. When Accelerator hits the wall the wings shoot back through the doorway, intending to crash into the Krang again, but he's exhausted and at his limit, so they short out and disappear a few seconds later.]

[The armored Krang is frightening to see, every inch of it menacing, and the true brain of the suit that looms there isn't any more pleasant for the look it casts in their direction.

It speaks, and just like that, their move for the exit stops.]

Leo? Leo, Leo you've got to move, you need to move..! Leo, please!!

[He pleads for his brother to go, it's all he can do and it's not enough, and he can't do anything else. He clings tighter, as though whatever physical strength he has left can keep this mental construct from harming Leo any more than it already has.

Suddenly, things explode.

Donnie can't possibly process any of this, only staring in shock at these sudden protrusions writhing from their esper friend, and if his arms didn't feel cemented around his brother, Donnie might have let go simply out of reflex. He sees them begin to twist and extend, and then he's shutting his eyes again, hearing sounds of destruction and having no idea what is happening any more.

They're moving again, but he hadn't felt Leo take another step. Opening his eyes is once again a mistake as the scenes just seem to 'snap' from one thing to another, and he can't even register anything before impact.]

[Donnie pleads with him to move, but Leo's feet feel welded to the floor, like he couldn't lift them if he tried. Twin spikes of failure and guilt twist up with the fear but they aren't enough to actually get him to make that last step as he flinches against the sound of the Krang.

It comes to mind that he should at least turn and then maybe he can shield Donnie from whatever happens next, but before he can put that thought into action, Accelerator does... something.

It takes him a moment to process the wings, black and writhing, springing from the flickering aura (hadn't Donnie said it was a field?) that covers Accelerator's body. Leo hadn't put any thought into it before, but now he's briefly in awe as the wings arc back toward the Krang, and then forward into the door-

And then they're being launched and Leo slams hard into the wall, his plastron leaving a turtle-shaped dent in the drywall. He's lucky his head didn't go through it, too, though he'll probably have some whiplash later.

He sinks to the ground in a heap. He has no idea where they are now or where the others are. The goggles are still on, but now they aren't registering anything magic. There's just the hall, and himself and Donnie and Accelerator.]

[Running into a wall without his reflection on is easily the worst pain he's felt since those fights getting the shit pummeled out of him by Kihara. The wind is knocked out of him and he's seeing stars in his eyes, it's kind of amazing he didn't flat-out knock himself out with that move.

But he didn't, which means all that hatred and anger is still roiling in him in full force, another spike of it rising up when he feels his wings break and split apart. Goddamnit, not now, not when he hasn't gotten the chance to tear that piece of shit apart --

He pushes himself up on one arm, looking through the doorway they just came through. There's nothing but an empty, dark room. No blood, no prison dimension, no mutated Sisters. Certainly no mechafied alien coming after them. It's like none of that ever happened, aside from the broken door and the dents in the wall.]

....

[Shakily and without really thinking, he starts to reach up and switch his choker on. He needs his reflection on, and... he should check the vectors of his body for any internal damage, but before he reaches the button he stops. He vaguely realizes his brain is still in shambles, that thought to check for injuries squeaking through a myriad of disorientation, confusion, anger, guilt. His heart is racing badly and he still can't see straight. Despite being able to form those wings there's no way he could manage actual calculations.

So... he drops his hand. The vague shapes of Donnie and Leo are there, but he doesn't say anything to them as he sinks back down onto the ground and puts his free arm over his eyes to try and force his vision to settle down.]

[The sudden shift between extremes is disorienting enough without being nearly knocked senseless by a wall. Donnie lies where he'd fallen, his shoulder throbbing from the awkward angle he'd met the wall, his ears ringing in the wake of the dead silence around them.

The hall's too bright, the floor's so cold, everything feels like it's all angles and edges and he's not sure if he actually welcomes the pain or resents it. All he can hear is the thudding of his heartbeat and the raggedness of his breath, two things he can't really shut out. His eyes are squeezed shut like he's trying anyway. Slowly, Donnie tries to curl into himself like he's physically trying to pull himself together.

Leo? Accelerator? He's sure they're here somewhere, but no one's spoken, and every movement Donnie makes just seems so loud right now, yet he can't coax himself to speak just yet.]

[For about a good solid minute, Leo is still and silent where he landed, just breathing as his mind spins through trying to process all it just went through.

Then he slowly pushes himself up, not quite sitting but more into a side lean on his arm, and slides the goggles up over his head. For a disorienting moment he expects to see blood on his legs and shell but finds himself at worst a little sweaty.

The hallway is bright and normal, the fluorescent lights buzzing away above their heads. He half expects to hear guards running toward them, but he can’t hear any footsteps anywhere nearby.

They did it.

He feels no joy, no satisfaction, just exhaustion.

He turns his attention to Donnie, who’s curling into a ball on the floor, and then Accelerator, also curled up with a hand over his eyes. He wants to reach out to them, wrap them both up in a big trembling group hug, but he’s not sure how overwhelming that would be for both of them and moreover his own arms feel like jelly.

So instead he gets the rest of the way to sitting and then pulls his knees up and buries his face against them, arms wrapped around his legs.

Just… give him a second.]

[It's a goddamn miracle they haven't set off any other alarms or had a security guard pass by - this hall is a cold, clinical, and welcome reprieve after all of that. Accelerator, not caring whether they're on some guard's patrol route or something, just lies there for several minutes. At some point he thinks to retract the cane portion of his crutch so it isn't in the way, but that's about it.

That static in his ears hasn't dissipated, and with no Krang coming after them his mind shifts back to the Sisters and their blank faces. It's technically been several months since he last saw any of them, and he didn't expect to see them again. Not here, not until he went back to his own universe. But they were there, perfectly replicated facsimiles, warped by the nightmares of the other two. But...

The things they were saying. What #000001 had asked him. Those were thoughts he's had before, hundreds of times. All they did was vocalize them. None of them did anything wrong, none of them have ever done anything wrong. He's the one who happily tore them to shreds for his own selfish gain. And no matter what Last Order thinks, even if one of them had said she didn't want to fight - if #10 031 had told him that in the alley while they were counting down the seconds to start the trial, or right before he jammed his fingers into the bullet wound on her shoulder and reversed her blood flow, he would've - he would've -

He would have still killed her. That's it. Ten thousand Sisters into the experiment and he wouldn't have stopped.

He's choking down any noises aside from his own uneven breathing.

And now all of that has officially followed him here, an entire universe away. It's not as if he's actively been running from his past, but he's deliberately avoided telling anyone in this universe about what he's done. Now Leo and Donnie have seen them, and he has no idea how he's going to deal with that. There isn't much difference between an active lie and lying by omission, and he's still a monster for doing the latter. Even worse when he's considering the former.

As he feels his pulse gradually slowing down a resigned sort of depression settles in the pit of his stomach. It's a familiar ache that leaves him feeling disgusting and raw. Getting out of here is going to be rough, when all he wants to do is lie here until the earth swallows him.

It's only when his eyesight has stopped shaking and refocused that he moves. His breathing is still unsteady and he can feel his hands trembling as he pushes himself up so he's sitting.]

... Fuck.

[They likely need more than a second. Concerns about roaming security are far from Donnie's mind at this point. At the moment he's not particularly focused on where they are or why they'd even come here.

Little steps, he'll get back up to speed.

He can hear movement from the others, a mild comfort in itself. Up. He should get up. He doesn't want to get up. The cold floor is numbing but it feels good against his shoulder, against everything else. No more fingers and crawling, creeping tentacles. No sickening wetness between his toes, no metallic scent overpowering everything else. The low buzz of the overhead lights replaces the thousands of voices, the thunderous lightning strikes.

His arms and legs ache. That's a real sensation, nothing brought by some dumb magical illusion. He draws in a breath that all at once sounds too loud to his own ears, making him wince again, and breathing it back out doesn't sound any quieter but he tries to relax his body in preparation for trying to move again. Very hesitantly, he opens his eyes.

There's Leo. Just past him, Donnie can kind of make out Accelerator now that the esper's sitting up. They're okay. They're...well, they're here. That's enough, right now.

Slowly uncurling an arm from himself, Donnie reaches out for his brother.

He's still here. Leo's still here. Accelerator's still here.]

[The movement from Accelerator catches his eye first, and Leo slowly uncurls from his ball, blinking into the light in a daze. But it's Donnie reaching for him that actually spurs him to action, and he reaches back immediately, taking Donnie's hand in his. The touch grounds him, and he gently rubs his thumb over the back of Donnie's hand in what he hopes is a soothing motion.]

Hey, Dee. [His voice comes out hoarse, and he winces.

He reaches with his other hand for Accelerator next, now fully uncurled and leaning back against the dented wall. He puts his hand on Accelerator's shoulder, if he doesn't pull away, and he'll attempt the same thumb motions there, too. Just making sure the other boy is there and recovering as best he can.

He clears his throat and tries speaking again.] This floor is a two out of ten in comfiness... wanna come here, Donnie?

[It's okay if he doesn't want a hug or anything after all that, Leo won't take it personally, but he'll still help him get up off of the floor if he needs it.]

[Accelerator is still mostly off being buried in his own brand of overthinking. His brain, stupid efficient thing that it is, picks up that the turtles are up and moving, which means they aren't dead. That is an objectively good thing and subjectively bad thing, since it means he has no idea what kind of lie he could come up with that explains the Sisters.

He couldn't lie, anyways. It would be selfish, and they don't deserve that. They didn't deserve to have their agency stolen from them again, and they don't deserve to be re-victimized all over again by him telling people about them without their consent, but that magic system has kind of smashed everything to pieces. Now he'd only be making things worse by not being honest about them.

... Which means he's inevitably going to lose two people who aren't exactly friends, but he's kind of liked their company. Even when they've been aggravatingly sociable and he hasn't. Accelerator knows he should be fine with that, this is the life he chose after all, but that pit is growing in his stomach at the thought.

He shouldn't have left the room. He should've tossed Leo and Donnie through the door and just stayed there -

Aaaand then Leo is touching him. He starts, though he doesn't jerk away (he's still used to physical contact bouncing off his reflection, so his reflexes kind of suck). He looks from Leo's hand over to the two of them and sees what is plainly some familial comforting shit occurring. Obviously nothing he should be a part of, so what the hell, Leo???

Accelerator is giving him a look like he's crazy (maybe it's some nightmare-induced instability or something), and scoots away slightly.]

[There's the briefest shudder upon contact, but Donnie squeezes Leo's hand, seeking some confirmation that it's not something that will just vanish on him. His grip relaxes slightly, the reassurance from Leo in his simple gesture enough. A little more tension disperses with his sigh.

Floors generally aren't comfortable but Donnie's reluctant to part with its solidity. But he really should get up.

He doesn't trust his voice just yet, suspecting it'll sound just as bad as Leo's, but he nods, tensing this time in preparation to move.

Hearing movement from the other side of Leo, Donnie pushes himself up just enough to see more than just the top of Accelerator's head. He's not sure what to make of the face. ...he can probably figure it out but he's still trying to focus on one thing at a time, and right now not falling back over is taking priority.

Once he's up and pulling himself closer to Leo so he can be against the wall, Donnie leans tiredly against him. Now that they're not stuck in whatever hell that room had conjured up for them, as much as he wants his space, at this moment he doesn't want to be alone, and for sure he knows Leo doesn't want to be either.]

[He’s ready to steady Donnie if he starts to fall, but Donnie makes it up on his own, coming to lean on him against the wall. If this were either of his other brothers Leo would be throwing his arm around them and snuggling in right now, but since it’s Donnie he is content with the leaning. The constant pressure is a reminder that they aren’t alone. They have each other.

He does keep rubbing his hand, though, slowly.

His attention is pulled between his concern for his brother and his concern for Accelerator when he feels the other boy shift away from his hand, though. He looks over and catches the rather rude look he’s being given, and he quirks his head to the side. Not wanting to be touched he understands, but why is Accelerator looking at him like that?]

…Need anything, Accy? [He goes with that instead of asking if he’s okay. Obviously he isn’t, none of them are. But if something would help him, Leo is willing to offer it.] I won’t tell anyone if you want a hug. Your bad boy image is safe with me.

[Good for them, at least. Their entire family might not be here, but they at least have each other, and that's clearly helping in the aftermath of all of that bullshit. There's no way any of them are going to be able to shake any of what happened off, so they can lean on each other to get through it.

It wouldn't be inaccurate to say Accelerator is a little envious, but he's refusing to acknowledge those emotions. That becomes a heck of a lot easier when Leo speaks up.

He doesn't sputter, but he does give him the biggest death glare he can muster for the smarm. Nevermind how he's somehow managing the effort it takes to joke, it's amazing he isn't just telling Accelerator to go to hell.

Accelerator, of course, just growls.]

Fuck off.

[That should be the end of it. He should turn around and let them have their moment, which has nothing to do with him, and then they can all move on.

... Instead he scoots closer. God, he's going to regret this, he knows he is. He refuses to look at either of them.]

[It's easier for Donnie to allow a clingy Mikey, but then that's to be expected when he's the little brother. Being little-brothered in turn isn't something he's used to.

Leo's the only one who really knows him here. Donnies are finicky and he's sure if it were anyone else trying to comfort him right now, he'd just feel suffocated. This however? This is fine. But he is going to be super jumpy for a long while whenever anything or anyone comes into contact with him.

He lifts his head a little, enough to glance over at the exchange between Leo and Accelerator, and there's the faintest snort. Well, he's feeling better enough to be amused, at least.]

[Leo’s not used to little-brothering Donnie either. He might have joked about being three months older now, but in his head Donnie has never really been older or younger, he’s just Donnie. His little brother is Mikey and his older brother is Raph, and he and Donnie occupy the nebulous middle child space.

But Raph isn’t here to be the big brother and there’s always gotta be someone up the chain - that’s just how it works. Leo can’t fill Raph’s shoes, but he can at least move into this void and do what he can. And then maybe later he can lean on Huvrye - the next link in the chain Leo has made for himself here.

(He didn’t want Huvrye to know about this, but now he’s pretty sure he can’t get away without him knowing.)

But Donnie is… well enough to be amused, so that’s something. He keeps his gaze on Accelerator, who, despite his vocal irritation, has moved closer, and Leo takes that as an invitation whether it really is or not.

He slings an arm around Accelerator’s shoulders, pulling him in so he can lean against Leo like Donnie is, if he wants to.]

Alright, so that sucked. [His throat is still scratchy and his voice hoarse, but he’s doing his best.] But I don’t think we got caught, so… I vote we just chill in this hallway for about… ten minutes. Give or take.

[If he wasn't so intent on not looking at either of them he'd be shooting Donnie a glare right now. He heard that. Now he's sure he's never going to live this down. His life is over, when he gets back to his apartment he's going to crawl into bed and never leave.

... Those thoughts might be overdramatic, but he can't really help it when Leo throws his arm around his shoulders. This is awkward and embarrassing, and not solely because it's completely ruining the carefully curated jerk of an image he's created for himself. This is like, his first group hug ever. He can't even remember the last time he was hugged that wasn't some kind of obnoxious (and endearing) tackle from Last Order.

It's terrifying. He hates it, and he doesn't want to move. He's even leaning a little against Leo, despite being tense as hell.]

I can't do any calculations right now, anyways.

[The downsides to relying on complex brainpower for superpowers: heavy amounts of stress tends to screw it up. His head is still a mess, and he's going to need a few more minutes before he's confident he won't put a 1 in place of 3 or something.]

[Hiding under blankets in his room would be great right about now, even if not for the same reasons Accelerator wants to in this moment.

They're all sounding off, finally. Donnie figures he should do the same, now that he's leveling out a little more.]

We are not going through that again.

[His own voice sounds even worse than Leo's. It effectively shuts him up for a moment. Too bad they didn't pack any water.

Donnie hopes they can find an alternate egress if there's no way to disable that room, but even if they managed that, he doubts any of them would want to risk stepping back into it.

He tries clearing his throat while he casts a glance down his side of the hallway.]

...maybe they figure no one gets past this point to invest in security sweeps down here.

[They can hope, anyway. That room had knocked them all off their game and he doubts any of them want to have any encounters with anyone right now.]

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