Leo is Asthmatic.
"Slow down Raphie!" his brothers yelled in unison.
"You guys need to speed up!" Raph complained, stopping in order to face his three brothers who were much further behind.
He stopped his foot in impatience as the three other turtles began to get closer, Donnie leading the group.
"Next...time…you need…to wait…for us!" Donnie said, in between deep breaths.
"Whatever!" the green-eyed turtle muttered, crossing his arms.
"Dude! That was…so much…work!" Mikey cried trying to steady his breathing like Donnie had done.
"Where's Leo?" Raph asked when the oldest turtle hadn't appeared yet.
"He was right behind us. Maybe he's a little more tired than us?" Donnie surmised, looking down the sewer in an attempt to see if there was any sign of his older brother.
"Tired? He never stops training! How can he be tired?" Raph asked, his voice rising in pitch as he spoke.
The other two boys shrugged their shoulders, not really having an answer aside from that.
"Leo? You comin'?" Mikey called down the sewer.
All three brothers listened, waiting for their other brother's voice to echo through the giant pipes.
There was no answer.
"Leo?" Donnie tried, beginning to walk back down the way that they had come.
Mikey and Raph soon began to follow their genius brother, calling out Leo's name as they went.
"Leo!" Donnie called out as he rounded a corner.
Donnie gasped at what he saw.
His big brother was kneeling on the ground, clutching his plastron with his one hand, the other bracing himself against the concrete floor.
"Leo! What's wrong?" Donnie asked, kneeling down by his brother's side.
"Can't…..breathe," Leo whispered hoarsely, his words coming out extremely rapid. His eyes were shut tight, his teeth clenched as pain coursed through him.
"Mikey! Go get Master Splinter!" Donnie ordered his little brother.
Mikey swallowed, but nodded and ran off towards the lair all the same.
"What's wrong with him? Why won't he get up?" Raph demanded, fear rising with his voice.
"I don't know!" Donnie replied, scared at seeing his oldest brother's condition.
"Leo, where's the pain?" Donnie asked, his hands ready to feel any spit his brother indicated.
"My…lungs," Leo responded weakly.
"What does the pain feel like?"
"Fire,"
The word came out airily, barely heard by the other two turtles.
"…and it was so scary!" Mikey's voice could be heard as he came around the corner with Splinter. It sounded like the six-year-old had been crying.
As soon as the sensei saw his eldest son, he ran as fast as he could, Michelangelo in his arms.
"Leonardo! My son," the martial arts master said, dropping to his knees.
Leo looked up into his father's face, tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Sen…sei," Leo whispered, barely able to get the word out. "My….lungs….hurt,"
"Do not speak my son," he ordered him softly. He gently picked up his son, clutching him to his chest.
"Raphael, bring Michelangelo back to the lair. Donatello, come with me," he told his other three sons.
"Raphie," Mikey said barely above a whisper.
"What Mikey?" Raph asked his youngest brother.
"I'm scared,"
Raph looked down at his brother, his bright blue eyes red from crying and his cheeks stained with tears.
"It's ok Mikey. Leo's tough," he told him, wrapping an arm around the shorter turtle's shoulders.
"He's ok?"
"Leo will always be ok,"
"How do you know?" Mikey asked, sniffing.
"Cuz he's our big brother. And he loves us," raph said.
"Like Splinter?"
Raph nodded.
"I wanna see Leo," Mikey muttered softly, rubbing his arm self consciously.
Raph nodded again. "Let's go home,"
Raph and Mikey walked into the lair and passed the door to the dojo just as Donnie and Splinter were figuring out what was wrong with Leo.
Splinter was performing what looked like a healing technique on the turtle as he was lying down on the floor. He repeated his mantra several times, a whit light surrounding his hands and Leo's body as he spoke.
"Leo!" Mikey cried, trying to run to his big brother but Raph held him back.
"No! Leo!" Mikey yelled, his tears beginning to fall again at the sight before him.
"It's ok Mikey. He's gonna be ok," Raph reassured his baby brother, hugging him tightly.
"It's ok,"
He said it the third time more so to convince himself that it was truth instead of comfort his little brother.
He wanted to run to his big brother and wrap his arms around him, never wanting to let go; but he couldn't. He needed to be here with his little brother right now.
And he would do that.
Leo lay still, his plastron rising and falling with every breath he took.
They had been in there for almost two hours, figuring out what had gone so wrong.
Mikey had fallen asleep, curled up next to Raph as he watched the doorway to the dojo.
Splinter walked out of the dojo after what seemed like forever, his eyes showing signs of exhaustion.
"You may go see Leonardo if you wish," he told his two sons, smiling wearily at them.
Raph suddenly smiled back at hearing the news.
"Mikey," he said, shaking his brother's shoulder slightly.
"Mmm. No, I don't need big glasses," he muttered in his sleep.
"Mikey!" Raph tried again, a little louder.
"Hmmm? What? Did I win?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his blue eyes.
"No. Better. We get to see Leo,"
"Leo?" Mikey questioned, the words his brother said beginning to click in his head.
"Leo!" Mikey jumped off the couch and ran towards the dojo, his little legs carrying him as fast as he could go.
"Leo!" he said happily at the sight of his older brother sitting up and awake.
"Hey Mikey," Leo replied a little hoarsely, smiling at his youngest brother.
"You scared me!" he said, tears coming to his eyes again.
"I'm ok now Mikey; but I was scared too," Leo said.
"You were scared?" Mikey asked, looking up at his big brother in awe.
Leo nodded. "Yep,"
"You get scared?"
"We all get scared Mikey. Things that scare you, don't scare me, and things that scare Raph, don't scare you,"
"Like bugs?" Mikey asked.
"Like bugs," Leo affirmed.
"I'm happy you're ok!" Mikey exclaimed, hugging his brother tightly, nuzzling into his plastron.
"I'm happy too!" Leo said, smiling at his family.
"What was wrong?" Raph asked, the concern not as severe as earlier.
"Donnie said I have Asthma," Leo explained, both his brothers giving him confused expressions.
"I don't breath right. It's hard to breath when I run a lot or train too much," Leo explained his brothers letting out exclamations that let everyone know they now understood.
"So, he's not a ninja anymore?" Mikey asked Splinter, turning to the sensei
Splinter shook his head.
"No. Leonardo will still be a ninja and will train just like the rest of you,"
"I just gotta be safer with what I do. If I'm not, it might start again. So I gotta be safe with what I do and how much I run,"
"Can it go away?" Mikey asked.
Leo shook his head, his smile dying down slightly.
"No. It stays with me forever. It's in me," Leo said, pointing to his plastron covered chest.
"Get out of my brother, you freaky as-whatever!" Raph screamed at Leo's plastron.
"It doesn't work like that, Raph," Donnie told him.
"It's ok. I just gotta be good with my Asthma," Leo told them.
"You look really calm about this," Raph noticed, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"It helps me see how far I can go. Helps test me," Leo said proudly.
"You're happy about a test? You're as bad as Donnie!" Raph said, pointing towards his younger brother.
"It lets me know how much I can take; and Splinter said that if I work hard, I can make it better! That makes me happy!" Leo exclaimed excitedly.
"I'm happy you're ok!" Mikey said, hugging his brother again.
"Me too!" Raph told him, joining his two brothers.
"Hey! I wanna join too!" Donnie complained, walking away from his station to join his family.
Splinter smiled at them, kneeling down to embrace his for boys in his arms.
That was, until Leo said, "I can't breathe!"