#Casey draws little red stripes on his eyes to honor his sensei with and to kinda match with his mom

[turtleblogatlast]

Sorry if this been asked before But how would Casey feel about the whole ordeal?

Like i mean, Casey was technically the one that trapped leo in the prison dimension(even tho it was necessary).

He watched Leo's family and friends mourn, these ppl who he knows very different apocalyptic plagued versions of and has probably gone to a few of their funerals too, mourning the man that raised him (well not really but kind of but yes).

How would Casey feel when leo comes back all battered up? Would he just feel guilty? Or just happy to see him again? Would Casey feel bad over the years watching leo watch his brothers grow old without him? Would Casey feel like he could have done more for the leo in his timeline?

[ cw: death mention / ]

The fate of solitude is the worst one there is. Casey knows this all too well.

Casey Jr. would be…really messed up from this entire situation. Starting all the way back to when he shut the portal.

And, initially, you’d think “oh, someone’s gonna yell at him, blame him for this happening because he shut the portal” and yeah, maybe a few do secretly harbor a bit (or more) of resentment for the guy initially, but the one who screams, who shrieks, who rages that it’s Casey’s fault is Casey himself.

It’s hard for the others to lash out at him when he’s doing such a great job doing it on his own.

His connections to April and, eventually, Casey Sr help him immensely, but there’s an off balance to him still.

He’s the first to believe Leo was dead and gone, too used to losing people at this point. He had his hopes of having “Master Leonardo” back before, and he’s not about to feel that being dashed again. Fool him once, and all that.

So when Leo comes back, perpetually sixteen, perpetually injured, Casey thinks it’s the universe playing a sick joke.

To have a Leonardo (one that is so small, too small, Master Leonardo isn’t meant to be smaller than him-) back is unquestionably a good thing. It is, it is, but.

But.

Death has taken Leo away from Casey twice now. And now? Now it will never leave Leo alone, forever toying with him but never letting him reach peace. Keeping him in pain, in place, never letting him grow…it’s horrifying.

Leo is back with them, there to stay, and yet there’s a wall there, a separation that was built and fortified the second the portal to the Prison Dimension closed.

And Casey believes he set the foundation of that wall himself. No matter how much everyone disagrees with that sentiment, no matter how much he knows it was technically necessary, he can’t help but feel it true.

The two of them have a lot of talks over the years, ones about misplaced guilt and responsibility, about the future and the past, and eventually about anything and everything, but these talks take on a heavier note with each new wrinkle on Casey’s face.

Casey can’t help but curse the universe, for once again damning a Leonardo to be the last of his family alive.

The fate of solitude is the worst one there is.