Work Text:
Falling Asleep (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
By Haruka ([email protected])
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Leonardo rolled over in bed, making groaning sounds that he couldn't hear in his slumber. Earlier that day, he and his brothers had fought Karai's footbots, and once again, he'd fallen from a great height to certain death – only to somehow escape it.
Leo hadn't known that he had a fear of heights until after the first fall, but he couldn't afford to ever let himself give into it, or he'd be useless as a ninja. His subconscious, however, had been taking the time to remind him of it frequently in his dreams.
Here it came, another building edge, pushed to the brink by an enemy – Karai herself this time. That made it all the worse. Karai, both his sister and his crush, blinded by hatred, edging him ever closer, closer –
His foot found empty air and he overbalanced. This is it! he thought frantically.
"Leo!"
A familiar voice, a hand reaching for his. This was the point in the dreams where he always missed the hand and fell.
Not this time. His brother's hand caught his firmly and at the same moment, Leo sat up in bed, breathing fast. Three worried faces were staring at him.
"You were having a nightmare," Donnie said. "We could hear you from down the hall."
"Must have been really bad!" Mikey hugged his shoulders. "Was it full of Squirrelanoids?"
"Uh, no," Leo said, his breathing coming under control.
"You're okay now, right?"
He looked at Raphael and nodded. "Sorry I woke you all."
Raph smiled reassuringly and patted his arm. "Anytime, brother."
"Yeah, you'd do the same for us," Donnie agreed.
"I could stay here until you fall asleep again," Mikey offered.
Leo chuckled. "No, I'm fine. You can go back to bed."
He watched them go, waving, then laid back down and closed his eyes. He had a feeling that now, even if he DID dream about falling again, from now on he'd always catch at least one of three hands that would always reach out for him.
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(2014)
TMNT characters are not mine.
This fic is not to be re-posted.