Synopsis: Raph falls ill and becomes like a teddy bear, wanting Leo to take care of him. This first part was written by me from Leo's POV.
Raphael moved with the grace of a bull on roller skates during a training session with Donatello, and Leonardo glared at the mediocre brawl, holding back the urge to disrupt the fight many times.
Sloppy, Leo hissed in his mind; he knew if he blurted it out someone would erupt with rage. Instead, Leo coolly said, "Missed again, Raphael," as Raph's leg whistled through the air and missed Don. It was an easy dodge for Don, and he caught Raph behind the knee with his bo. Leo impassively nodded at Don's performance, but when Raph hit the floor, so did the rest of the room's atmosphere.
Master Splinter disciplined the Rolling Thunder on the floor, and Leo was grateful for the break. Splinter could say anything in the world to Raph and the Lair would remain in one piece. Raph's face was a mix between a bulldog sucking on a lemon and a warrior painting his own defeat. For just a fleeting second, Leo felt sorry for his heated brother, but it quickly disappeared when Raph opened his mouth.
Raph mumbled an acknowledgment towards Splinter and rolled onto his side. It was apparent to Leo that Raph was off his usual game that evening, evident by the way he bounced off the mat and had a slight shake to his step. There was always a pattern to everything, even little special Brotherly snowflakes.
The sympathetic Michelangelo had extended his hand to help Raph but declined the offer and continued to muscle through the battle. Typical, Leo groaned.
A few moments ticked through the room, and the Bo and Sais clashed again. Raph had regained his robust style and became the victor, but he had closed his eyes momentarily before the confrontation. Splinter complimented Raphael, rather nicely too, and questioned the sudden change in Raph's technique.
Floundering for the wall, Raph moaned, "I can't see," and some other indistinct words that Leo couldn't make out but he was sure he heard his name in there; Leo closely watched his brother scooting along the wall. Naturally, Raph dismissed any nonsense concerning illness, even when Don tried to help him off the wall. What a mule.
Shortly after that, the Mule hit the ground with a heavy thud. Everybody in the room gave Raph a few moments to stir, but when he didn't move, eyes grew wider.
"He's out for the count!" Mikey blurted and groaned as he helped Leo shuffle an unconscious Raph into the lab; Don was moving quickly across the place, pushing containers and papers off the bed.
"I knew something was up, but he wouldn't listen to me even if I told him to stop," spat Leo, helping Mikey pull a blanket up to Raph's chest.
Trying to ease the tension, Mikey joked, "He better not die; we still have a mission on Zelda to finish. I have two bags of Doritoes with his name on it. Literally. He marked it with a sharpie..." Mikey's voice trailed off into a whisper when his brothers weren't paying attention or even smiling.
"We wait now. Donatello, we'll leave this to your expertise." Splinter motioned for Leo and Mikey to follow him out of the room.
It was so like Raph to keep holding things up, even when he was sick and unconscious. Leo chuckled at that thought and then quietly chastised himself for thinking such nonsense. Raph pushes himself too much, he dreadfully knew, and he doesn't know limits or boundaries when it comes to his own body.
A green and orange blur whisked into the training room. "Hey! We have signal again! Come on!"
Mikey's funny way of saying Raph was awake; Leo almost chuckled but was too busy feeling relieved at the good news.
"You fainted," was the first thing Leo heard when he stepped back into the lab, and it came from their father, sounding equally comforted but firm. For the brothers, it was the sound of their heavenly light when returning back to the material plane.
Leo's solace was washed away once Raph showed gratitude in the form of denial and dissatisfaction: trying to get up and then being pressed back down by Splinter. A fiery streak boiled in Leo's stomach and he suddenly wanted to punch Raph through the bed and scream about how ungrateful he was acting towards a concerned, caring family.
Thankfully Don broke up Leo's fantasy mutiny by trying to examine Raph, who clouted Don away like a mosquito. "I want to listen to your heart. Hold still. Did you drink last night or anything?"
"No." Raph seemed frustrated or was maybe getting sick again; Leo couldn't pinpoint Raph's exact temperament.
Don looked a little cautious, ""Uh… you don't like… do drugs we don't know about do you? I mean, I won't judge or anything…"
It was when Raph rolled his eyes that Leo finally had to step in, "I would!" He crossed his arms to consciously keep himself from starting a huge fight. Not in front of Splinter and the others at least.
"I don't do drugs! How stupid do you think I am? I'm out of here."
Always trying to ship out when the waters get heavy, Leo fumed under his skin. Splinter refused to let Raphael go and shoved him back on the bed. That was the end of that.
Raph could stir up anger in anything, even Leonardo, and it was time to get the negativity out of his body. The dojo was the only place he could get it out; it was no wonder why Raph always spent so much time in there balancing weights and pressing out his frustrations. It actually did wonders for Leo's temper since it was rare that he lost his cool. It sounded conceited, but he always kept his head clear or it wouldn't benefit them as a team. And they couldn't be a team without each other.
Even without Raphael's hot blood: the blood that also unconditionally spills for all of them.
Leo's meditation took him to serene places, like the mists in the mountains and a morning walk in the forest. He was walking to an underground waterfall when he heard Don screaming his name and what sounded like a rhinoceros' mating call. When he dashed into the infirmary and shoved a disgruntled Mikey out of the doorway, Raph had given the place a new makeover with his stomach contents.
"What happened? Raph?"
Raph wiped his mouth with his own bandanna, ""Nothing. I just want to lay on the couch."
Leo felt the bite of a maternal bug and extended his hand towards Raph. "Need help?"
It was like the angels were singing in heaven when Raph took his hand and allowed Leo to shuffle him to the couch. Leo had a different look in his eyes: they were bouncing and warm. Raph looked up at his brother and mumbled, almost pleading, "You gonna stay here?"
Now Hell was singing and it was snowing there, if that was possible. Mikey disappeared in a hurry, probably not wanting to clean the lab or watch two of his macho brothers acting like sissies, and Don was stuck with the hazard waste. Leo didn't hear what Don shouted from the lab.
The maternal bug was still biting, but Leo had to put a little humor into the strange predicament. "Don said you were asking for me. Want me to kiss you and make it better?"
Raph's mind was on Cloud Nine and a half and he desperately wanted to get it back, "No. You can take care of me though. Feels like I'm having an out of body experience."
"Yeah, okay, Butch. I'll take care of you. Want some soup?"
Raph had no energy and as much as he didn't care for anybody taking care of him, this was a rare opportunity. "Okay. I want to watch a movie. I can't walk to the TV though."
Suddenly, the bug stopped biting and Leo was getting a funny feeling but he couldn't leave his obviously-sick brother just wallowing in self-pity and infection. "What do you want to see? I was going to exercise more. I need to get in these new katas before tomorrow. I have some new stuff planned for our next lesson. It's all new and cool stuff."
Leo was sure Raph was being incoherent when he mentioned about kissing and being a virgin; it was the same crappy old tune playing over and over again. Raphael the Broken Butch Record. It even caused him to slap the dvd case on the tv. "Well, you talk about it so much. I'll tell you what. I don't care who or what you go out and sleep with. Just do it and then shut up about your virginity. Just don't bring back any babies for me to raise or STDs. How about Shrek?"
"I want to watch something really kickass."
"Kickass huh? How about Transformers? You like that a lot. Explosions. Cars. Pretty girl." Leo noticed that Raph had stretched out on the couch and was pressing his face into a pillow.
"I don't wanna play with girls. I wanna play with women."
Guessing he could sit on Raph's shell and watch the movie instead Leo puffed, "I'll get your soup on. Don't suffocate while I'm gone, piss brain."
The movie had just started and Raph complained to Leo that his soup was too cold. "I like it steaming hot. I need something hot."
"Then lick the stove," Leo snapped and yanked the bowl away spilling some of its contents on himself, "Yeah you're right. It is too cold," and ran back to the kitchen.
"You want me to pause?" Raph screamed and then winced at the pain.
"No! Seen it a million times!" he called from the kitchen. The microwave door slammed.
Leo knew Raph was grinning when he said from the couch, "It's the part with Bernie Mac and the old lady. Don loves it."
He multi tasked in the kitchen, even using his foot to open the microwave door, and hurried back to Raph, who was drifting in and out. "Try this."
"Better. My head feels like an anvil's sittin' on it. " He dribbled soup on his chin and Leo wiped it cleaned.
"I guess this is what it's going to be like when we're old and crippled. Wiping your chin and probably your ass."
Raph gawked, "You ain't touching my ass. Stay away from it."
Leo wiped Raph's plastron. "How did you get it down there? Sit up correctly and eat the soup. I'm not wiping you all day, you big butch baby."
Raph scuffled to a better sitting position and watched Megan Fox in a daze. "I want April to come here and kiss me." The spoon clinked in the bowl.
"Not with chicken noodle soup and vomit all over your face. "
"I'm too sick to be horny. Will you feel of my forehead?"
Leo clicked his tongue and put the back of his hand over Raph's forehead, "You still have fever. Quit fighting your sleep. Megan Fox will still be here later."
"I hope I dream of banging her," Raph sickly moaned and was slumping towards Leo.
"Ew," Leo mouthed and was getting uncomfortable with Raph's weight on his shoulder. He reached over and took Raph's half-eaten soup and placed it on the table. "I bet you won't do this for me if I ever get sick."
Raph was out like a light; Leo graciously stuffed Raph in the cushions while he grabbed a blanket and then settled back in the couch. Leo leaned Raph's feverish body on his knees and pulled the Spongebob Squarepants (full of smoke holes) over the snoozing giant.
Megan Fox and that goofy guy saved the world. Funny how it was called Transformers but the humans had most of the screen time, Leo mused. He read through the ending credits and switched on the television.
Leo peered down at Raph's big head on his knees. It was the most peaceful moment between the two in recent memory. At least Leo's memory and that's where it was going to stay.
Raph's POV, written by the too-cool-for-school Connie Nervegas
"Missed again, Raphael," Leo said with all the personality of an automated customer service representative as Raph's leg swung through the air and missed Don by centimeters.
Don caught Raph behind the knee with his bo and he flew onto his shell, hitting the ground. A machete hanging on the wall vibrated as Raph's girth hit the floor.
Master Splinter clicked his tongue at them both. "You must concentrate, Raphael." Raph thought Splinter should record himself saying that and just play it in a loop through all their training sessions.
"I am." He rolled onto his side, fighting off the mounting nausea that haunted his insides and the mild shake in his hands. It felt like that time he'd eaten all of April's Halloween candy before she got a trick-or-treater and washed it down with a two liter of Pepsi.
Mikey held out a hand to him as he grunted to his feet and he swatted it away. "Okay, come at me again," Raph said.
But there was a problem. Everything was going blotchy. Black and red patches obscured Don's subtle movements. That wasn't a problem. He was a ninja after all. He closed his eyes to block out the distorted view and instead listened to the tiny sounds Don made as his feet shifted, preparing for an attack. The bo creaked in his hands and then whistled as it cut through the air. His sai caught it an inch away from his face and he sent Don flying behind him.
"Very good, Raphael," Splinter said in a flat tone that told him that it was the same caliber of talent that he saw every day from him in the dojo. "Why did you choose to close your eyes?"
"I can't see," Raph said. He groped blindly for the wall. He knew Leo was watching and felt like tossing a sai at him. At least it might distract them all briefly.
"Are you okay?" Mikey asked. "You look sick."
"I ain't fucking sick! Get away from me!" He shrugged his shoulders to get Don's fingers off of him. He hated it when they put their hands on him in sympathy. It was like being attacked with affection and he needed to find a way to escape. He tipped over sideways as the room spun under his feet and the wall moved away from his hands. Everything happened at once. He was so hot and his stomach threatened to erupt. And then his vision clouded over and it was peaceful for a while.
"You fainted." The first words he heard upon his recovery. He knew he was in the lab. Raph had spent so much time on the infirmary bed that he could tell the difference in the mattress texture and the pattern in the ceiling. How many days had he spent staring at that ceiling over the course of his life?
"I did not faint." He moved to sit up, but the room tilted and he felt his father's hand press him back onto the bed.
"You will not move," he said. "You became unconscious during practice. Do you remember?"
Raph growled an assent. He'd fainted. What kind of a sissy fainted? He hadn't fainted when he lost half his blood after he fell in that crate of throwing stars.
Something cold pressed on his plastron and he swatted it away. Don said, "I want to listen to your heart. Hold still. Did you drink last night or anything?"
"No." He sighed as heavily as he could and his eyesight blurred.
"Uh… you don't like… do drugs we don't know about do you? I mean, I won't judge or anything…" Don's eyes blinked several times.
"I would!" Leo said, crossing his arms.
"I don't do drugs! How stupid do you think I am? I'm out of here."
Splinter shoved him back down on the bed. "You will stay."
Raph's eyes widened. "Yes, Sensei."
He tried to relax and ignore Leo's eyes boring into him with worry.
Don pulled the thermometer out of Raph's mouth and held it up to the light. He cringed. "Oh, 103 degrees. Looks like you're grounded, pal."
He crossed his arms to demonstrate his willingness to remain still. Shot him a yellow-eyed glare of loathing.
"Hey, that doesn't work on me," Don said, sitting lightly on a stool and swinging his legs. "And if you're unhappy with the results we can always do it anally." He waited for Raph's growl of disgust and smiled. "You know, I'm sorry I asked if you do drugs. I mean… sometimes I wonder about what you do when you're away…"
"You got me, Don." Raph sat up. All of his joints creaked like rusty door hinges. "I'm running a meth lab. Where's Leo?"
"Oh, he's in the dojo doing some katas."
Raph fought to keep his eyes open. They fluttered shut against his will and he forced them open. "Could you get him?"
Don said, "I can get what I you need. I'm your brother too."
"Go get Leo." Raph jumped off the bed as his stomach swirled like the contents of a dishwasher. "I gotta puke. Do you have a bucket? I need a bucket." Don casually grabbed a bucket from near his feet. Always the doctor. Planning for every contingency.
He sat on the floor and waited for it to come. He'd walked around the lair for a week with a nail in his foot, but he couldn't throw up without convulsing for five minutes and nearly passing out again. At least his stomach was muscular enough that the dry heaves didn't ache when they subsided. April had said that throwing up really hurts. At least if your stomach isn't as hard as planks of wood.
Don passed him a towel and he wiped his face clean. "You okay?" Don asked.
He was covered in sweat, pale and shaking. "I'm fine. Where's Leo?"
"He's in the dojo remember. I'll empty the bucket and get him."
But Raph jumped to his feet and stumbled sideways. Nobody would dump out his vomit like he was a dog who couldn't help himself. But he only made it a few steps before he stumbled. The bucket flew out of his hand and spilled the stinky contents all over the lab floor. Some of it splashed onto the computer cables that ran in bundles all over the lab.
"What… You can't wait! You can't just listen to me for once! LEO!"
Don stood the bucket up with a clunk and stomped out of the room to get a roll of paper towel.
"Hey, what's… holy shit that smells!" Mikey said, holding his nose, the smile dissolving off his face.
Leo shoved him out of the doorway. "What happened? Raph?"
"Nothing. I just want to lay on the couch."
"Need help?" Leo held out his hand to him.
He let Leo haul him to his feet and escort him to couch, where he fell heavily into a sitting position. "You gonna stay here?" Raph asked in an unusually pleading voice.
Mikey vaulted over the back of the couch and disappeared into the dojo, under the guise of official ninja business with Splinter so that he wouldn't have to help Don clean up the lab. Don's bitter voice mumbled as he tore off a paper towel and then choked as he bent down to approach the toxic spill. "What did you eat this morning?"
Leo smirked and sat next to Raph. He knew he was laughing at him, sitting there all pale and panting from his exertion of moving to the couch. He knew it. "Don said you were asking for me. Want me to kiss you and make it better?"
"No. You can take care of me though. Feels like I'm having an out of body experience." Raph hated to be taken care of. Why had he said that? He'd rather ask Leo to drag him out and leave him in one of the tunnels than take care of him. It was like his mind was floating around in space.
Leo laughed and then tried to straighten his face. Made him look like he'd swallowed a lemon. "Yeah, okay, Butch. I'll take care of you. Want some soup?"
"Okay." His voice was docile in his ears. He didn't like it, but it would take too much energy to assert himself. "I want to watch a movie. I can't walk to the TV though."
Leo opened the video cabinet without a hint of resentment with his new role of nurse. "What do you want to see? I was going to exercise more. I need to get in these new katas before tomorrow. I have some new stuff planned for our next lesson. It's all new and cool stuff."
"I like being kissed," Raph said. It seemed like a logical flow in his fever fogged head. "I think I would. I'm a virgin, so I don't know."
A DVD case landed on the TV with a little thud. "Well, you talk about it so much. I'll tell you what. I don't care who or what you go out and sleep with. Just do it and then shut up about your virginity. Just don't bring back any babies for me to raise or STDs. How about Shrek?"
"I want to watch something really kickass." He lay down on the couch on his stomach, not bothering to preserve any room for Leo.
"Kickass huh? How about Transformers? You like that a lot. Explosions. Cars. Pretty girl."
Raph mumbled into a couch cushion. "I don't wanna play with girls. I wanna play with women."
Leo snorted through his nose. "I'll get your soup on. Don't suffocate while I'm gone, piss brain."
Raph opened his eyes and saw Leo's knee. He knew it was Leo's knee because he had every square inch of his brothers' anatomy memorized. His brain worked overtime processing the events before his collapse into his brother's lap. He ate half a bowl of soup and then they had watched Transformers. He'd gawked at Megan Fox for a while at least. He remembered declaring that he wanted April to come over so that she would kiss him.
"April here?" he asked, licking his stale lips.
Raph felt the blanket covering him being pulled down. Leo had covered him up while he was asleep. The late night news played dully from the TV.
"No," Leo said. He patted Raph's shoulder and then felt of his forehead. "Feeling better?"
"Ugh," Raph said. He pushed himself up. It felt like lead weights were strapped around his body. It made him appreciate his normally lithe movements and lightness. "It's coming up again… bucket…"
Leo threw the bucket in Raph's lap, catching the cascade of putrid soup as it came back up. Raph wondered if there was one bodily function he had yet to do in front of his brothers. The vomit stopped, but his stomach wouldn't believe it and Raph's chest contracted several times, making a loud and appalling inhaled groan with every dry heave.
"Hey, breathe. You're not breathing. That's the problem. Relax. Don't hold your breath." Leo patted Raph's arm. He forced himself to inhale and his chest relaxed and unclenched.
He was sweaty and shaking all over again. Leo stood up and Raph heard several of his bones crack. "How long were you sitting there?" Raph rasped, his throat burning with his own stomach acid.
"Since about four. It's eleven now. I'll get you some water. Need to go to the bathroom? I mean, do you need help?"
He did need help, but he would rather crawl there than ask Leo to help him with that. "Can I have water?"
"Surely," Leo said. He took a glass out of a cupboard and filled it in the sink over the unwashed dirty dishes, shaking his head at Mikey and Don's neglect.
"You're so nice to me," Raph said. "You're way too nice to me. I don't do anything to deserve it. I'm a real asshole, you know."
"You're my brother and I'm glad to help. I don't enjoy it, but I gladly do it." He handed Raph the glass. His hand shook and the water spilled over the edge as he brought it to his mouth. "And you're right. You don't do much to deserve it."
His mouth tasted like vomit and his head spun. Darkness crept into the corners of his vision, forewarning another fainting spell and Leo thought he didn't do anything to deserve his kindness. And his eyes burned and chest constricted. He heard the ominous roaring of suppressed tears building in his ears like a train whistle.
"Are you crying?" Leo asked. He might as well have asked him if he had a loaded gun and was about to shoot him in the head.
"No!" he cried through tears and mucus. "I'm not fucking crying!" He forced the water down his throat and nearly choked.
Leo sat next to him and took the water out of his hand. "You're a good guy though. Some of the time. When you want to be, I guess. You have… good points… Plus, if I let you die, then it would really screw up our sparring and stuff."
He laughed a wet and disgusting laugh. Awkward silence as they both realized they had just had one of those mushy moments that thankfully only happen every three years or so.
"I'm going to bed," Leo said. "I advise you to stay here on the couch. We'll decontaminate it tomorrow."
"Okay, good plan." Raph lay back down on his stomach and winced as his aching stomach stretched out. He hoped that he wouldn't remember this conversation tomorrow. But one horrifying fact remained. Even if he forgot, Leo would remember.