Leo rarely ever let the forces of nature impede on the nightly patrol. A little cold weather never stopped the Kraang, so why should it stop them, right? So naturally, when Leo lifted the manhole cover and felt cold droplets of water landing on his skin, he continued on without any hesitation.
"Leeeeeeeeo," a long whine came out from the manhole, "it's pouring. My mask is gonna get wet. This is my last clean one." Mikey protested. He didn't see why they had to patrol when the weather wasn't a fair condition.
Leo understood, however, that unfair conditions for Mikey covered every range of Mother Nature. It was always either too hot, or too cool, or too windy to patrol in Mikey's mind. "Tell you what, Mikey," Leo thought up an agreement, "I'll cut patrol short tonight, only five times around the city. But every time you say something about the rain, I'll add another lap."
Mikey agreed. Raph came up behind Mikey and clocked him over his head with the back of his Sai, "You better keep your mouth shut," he aggressively pointed his Sai in Mikey's face. He, too, took no pleasure from patrolling in the rain, unless of course, there were heads to smash.
Mikey nodded, mimicking the action of locking his mouth shut and throwing away the key. Raph smirked, and slid his Sai back in his belt. He made his way up to the rooftop quickly, following Leo. The four brothers started their laps around the city, running into minimal trouble as they hopped along rooftops.
Donnie stopped moving, soaking wet from the rain. He wiped the raindrops out of his eyes before speaking. "Uh, Leo. We've gone around five times now." He stated in that matter-of-fact voice he spoke in when he was secretly annoyed. He spoke as soon as he saw Leo make a move to start a sixth lap.
Leo slid to a stop in the puddles forming on the rooftop. He looked over his brother's faces, all soaking wet and shivering. "I did say after five, we could go back home." He recalled. The night still seemed so young to him, as it was barely 10:00. "Alright, let's head back." He sheathed his katanas and jumped down the fire escapes and back down into the sewers.
His brothers followed quickly behind, not wanting to be on the soggy surface a second more than they had to. They trudged back to the lair. The sewer had begun to overflow from all the rain flowing down through the storm drains, splashing them all in the calves as they walked. Each sighed in relief when they recognized the gleam of the turnstiles in the distance, quickening their pace a little. They rung the water out of their masks over the steel subway tracks before entering the lair.
It was still too early in the night for the brothers to be tired. On a night when the weather permitted they could be out until midnight, or later. Collectively, they made the decision to watch a movie before calling a night. After randomly selecting a movie to watch, they sat on the couch and enjoyed a movie.
Raph sat on the end of the couch, his head suspended by his palms. He wasn't all that interested in the movie they had selected…or any movie at all. He turned his head away to sneeze and was hushed by all three of his brothers, "Geez! Sorry my sneeze interrupted your movie," to which he received no reply. He growled and continued to "watch" the movie, sneezing a few more times.
Finally, Donnie spoke up, "You okay, Raph. You're really sneezing a lot."
"Just a tickle, it's whatever. Don't let me interrupt your movie." He stood up from the sofa to get a tissue from the kitchen to blow his nose. He stayed there a while longer, annoyed at both the movie and his brothers' attitudes.
"Raph, you're missing the best part." Mikey yelled in from the other room.
After he was addressed, he went back to sitting in his spot on the sofa, resting his head on the arm of the couch. He pulled his legs up off the ground and brought them up to the couch as well, obtaining a fairly comfortable sleeping position. It wasn't long before Raph was fast asleep.
When their movie ended, Leo, Donnie and Mikey stood up tiredly to go to their rooms. They looked over at Raph, none of them willing to move him to his room, and lazily threw a blanket over his figure to let him spend the night in the living room. "Mikey, take Raph's mask off him, it's still a little wet." Donnie instructed, preceding a yawn.
"Okay." Mikey yawned, not hearing exactly what Donnie had told him to do. He figured it wasn't that important and went to his room after he closed the lights.
Raph awoke the next morning the same place he was left: the living room sofa. He heard the sizzling sound of eggs frying in the kitchen and figured that Mikey was awake. But if Mikey was awake, that would mean it was late in the morning, well after 11. He leapt up from the couch, only to immediately fall back down. He gripped his head as it pulsed, his blood colliding with his skull. When he touched his forehead, he thought he felt a little warm, but it was hard for him to tell; he was so disoriented from the pounding in his head.
He tried standing again, only this time, more slowly, and hobbled over to his bedroom. At least there, no one could see him so weak. He'd hoped they'd all leave him alone. Maybe just forget about him for the day. He slipped underneath the covers of his own bed and laid there, hoping if he were still long enough, his headache would go away. He received no relief from the aching; in fact, more of his body began to ache.
"Breakfast is ready!" Mikey called to his brothers from the kitchen. He set the table for four and waited for his brothers to come in.
Leo and Donnie rushed in, practically famished. The three sat down to eat when they noticed they were one short. "Is Raph coming?" Mikey asked.
"I didn't see him." Leo shook his head.
Donnie claimed he hadn't seen their hot-headed sibling all morning. "I'll go track him down." He said, standing up from the table and heading in the direction of the bedrooms. He knocked on Raph's door and waited for a response before entering, knowing there would be severe consequences if he didn't. "Raph, bro, you in there?" he asked after a few seconds of waiting outside the door. He stood there patiently, awaiting some kind of affirmation that Raph was inside. "Mikey made breakfast." Donnie tried to coax Raph out, hoping his brother's stomach ached for nourishment as his own did.
Donnie heard a moan from the other side of the door and rushed inside, his doctoral instincts kicking in immediately. "Raph, are you okay?" He asked quietly. He saw how Raph held his head in his hands. "Does your head hurt?" He asked, though he already knew what the answer would be.
Raph looked up at his brother, "A little," He managed to force through his lips. His voice was hoarse and strained. "I just need more sleep. I'll be fine. Go eat." He turned away from Donatello and faced his bedroom wall.
Donnie placed the back of his hand on his brother's head, trying to guess what his temperature was. "You've got a fever, probably around 101. We need to bring that down before it goes up." He said complacently. He knew Raph would never willing ask for his help, but he hoped with enough effort, he would be at least able to convince Raph to accept some.
Raph groaned, "I told you. I just need to sleep some more." He complained his eyes already closed hoping that Donnie would take the hint.
Donnie stood above Raph silently, looking over him. Nothing seemed out of place. He'd even managed to put his mask on this morning. Unless… "Raph, when you woke up this morning, was your mask on your face?" He asked, recalling that he had asked Mikey to take it off the previous night.
"Yeah, why?" Raph affirmed. Before Raph could get an explanation, Donnie rushed out of his room and back to the kitchen.
"Where's Raph?" Mikey asked. He was answered by a swift slap across the top of his head, "Ow! Hey, what was that for?" He asked defensively.
"Did you forget to take Raph's mask off last night?" Donnie asked. Mikey's wide-eyed expression of confusion and innocence gave Donnie the answer he suspected.
"What's the big deal, Donnie? It's just a mask." Leo asked, taking a bite of his breakfast omelet.
"Raph slept all night in a cold wet mask." Donnie continued to explain the science behind how spending long periods of time in wet material can lead to an immune system failure, of which neither Leo or Mikey took interest.
"So Raph's sick, is basically what you're saying?" Leo asked simply, trying to make sense of what Donnie was saying.
Donnie sighed. Why did he still try to explain things to his siblings of lesser intellect? "Yes. He's got a fever, and I'm pretty sure a headache, too."
Raph could hear that they were all talking about how sick he was in the kitchen…they were talking loud enough. He figured it was about time he made an appearance, knowing that if he were present, his brothers would stop their incessant drabble. He wouldn't be able to convince them he wasn't sick if he spent all day in his room. Tiredly, he sat up on his bed and slowly forced himself to stand. He groaned as his room came into focus before he headed to the kitchen.