Leo accepted that Raphael was temperamental. Hot headed. Brash. And typically scowling.
But in the last four years, he'd also watched Raphael in action as a vital member of their team and he knew that Raph was also fiercely protective, unusually tender with animals and a powerhouse of strength. He was also loyal to their human friends, April, Casey and Woody. Although Woody was mostly Mike's friend and Casey had somehow become Raph's best friend. A situation that grated on Leo's nerves although he did his best not to let it show.
So despite their loud and numerous arguments, he typically didn't get actively angry with Raphael. Because he knew Raph needed the arguments to vent out the frustration that seemed to come so easily to him. And out of the brothers, Leo's shell was the only one tough enough to take the jabs. And hand them back. And he also willingly engaged with Raphael because he could still remember the sweet boy Raph had been when they were children, which led him to dismiss almost 99% of the things that came out Raphael's mouth.
Typically those thoughts kept him fairly calm during their arguments, even if visibly he was seen yelling back at his angry brother.
But tonight, his patience had run out.
"What the hell were you thinking, Raphael? I told you to get out of there!"
"I did!" Raphael yelled back, his shout echoing off the sewer tunnel.
"Yeah, ten minutes later," Leo growled back.
"You were surrounded by purple dragons. What did you want me to do?"
"I wanted you to listen to me for once! I wanted you to help Donnie carry that- whatever that is," he jerked his head in the direction of Donnie and Mikey who were walking ahead of them, carrying a large metal crate between them, "out of there before Hun got his hands on it. I had Mikey with me for back-up! Instead you left Donnie to struggle alone and he almost lost his head!"
"I was fine, Leo," Donnie interjected, "I saw the guy coming."
"Not now, Donatello!"
Donnie snapped his mouth shut and rolled his eyes at Mikey as they walked on. Leo and Raph had stopped walking and were staring each other down.
"You got the full name treatment!" Mikey whispered tauntingly to Donnie.
"I wouldn't have let anything happen to Donnie," Raph growled menacingly at Leo from where they stood.
"Oh, I forgot you can be in two places at one time," Leo said, sarcastically.
"I saved yer ass. Yer welcome."
"I wasn't thanking you! I was –"
"Lecturing me. I got it. I forgot, perfect fearless leader Leonardo is always right!" Raph bit out before he began once again moving down the tunnel to trail behind Mikey and Donnie.
Leo stood there for a few minutes until his brothers were out of sight before muttering, "If I was actually perfect, you wouldn't hate me."
Raph stomped back to the lair, gulping in big breaths of air in an attempt to calm down. He was grateful Leo could no longer see his face. He didn't turn but he sensed that Leo wasn't actually following him. Yet.
He knew that Leo typically stayed relatively calm during their arguments, something that drove him up the wall. But right now, he could see Leo losing that control he usually held onto so tightly. The swearing at the start of the argument tipped him off even before he got a good look at those frantic blue eyes. He backed off for once because he knew Leo was legitimately pissed. And if Leo was legitimately pissed, then Raph knew that his goody-goody leader was probably in the right.
Leo reached the lair soon after his brothers. Mikey exited Don's lab after helping him deposit the big crate in there. It was already the early morning hours of the new day and Leo made a mental note to check on Donnie later and make him go to bed instead of spending the entire night researching whatever they had brought home.
He watched then as Mikey and Raph headed upstairs where Leo was hoping their immediate plans included sleep. Mikey was apparently never too tired to annoy Raphael, however, and he watched as Mikey punched Raph in the shoulder before sprinting ahead of him and slamming the door to his own room before Raph could even react.
He kept his eyes on his emerald brother until Raph reached his bedroom door. Suddenly Raphael turned and his focus zeroed in on Leonardo's face. They stared at each for a few moments. Leo's eyes were full of remorse. He didn't enjoy screaming matches with Raphael. And as much as he hated the push back on his leadership, he knew that Raph really only second guessed him in the middle of a fight if he believed Leo was truly wrong, which meant he must have believed that Leo was truly in danger tonight.
For his part, Raph's eyes seemed to have their fair share of regret as well. Raph tipped his head in Leo's direction. Leo shifted his gaze to the floor. When he glanced back up, Raphael was out of sight, presumably in his own bedroom.
Leo turned and headed to the dojo where he knew Master Splinter would be waiting to hear a report on their patrol.
Raphael flopped into his hammock and beat his pillow into submission below his head. He stared up at his ceiling and for the thousandth time, wished he had something more interesting to look at in his room other than bricks and cement.
The events from the fight, the argument in the sewer and the look in Leo's eyes once they were back in the lair replayed in his head. He was tired of this. He missed his brother. He had been watching Leo in various battles since they had ventured topside and knew Leo could protect himself. Could protect the whole team.
Raph pushed his leg against the wall to send the hammock swinging. Together they'd run the Kraang out of their world. Defeated the Shredder. Run off the Foot. The purple dragons were becoming a problem, but the only other challenges lately included smaller gangs and petty thieves. Throughout all of those past battles, Leo had damn well tried that self-sacrificing bullshit often enough that each of his brothers knew to what great extremes Leonardo would go to keep them safe.
And wasn't that what Raphael had been trying to avoid in the first place? Isn't that what started all of this? He was trying to keep Leo from throwing himself in danger, and yet over the past four years he'd watched Leo throw himself out of buildings, use his own shell to block his brothers from explosions, almost go down with a technodrome, take on the entire Foot clan - Raph stopped his train of thought and shuddered, remembering those three months he sat by and waited for Leo to wake up from a coma at the farmhouse.
Apparently Leo was going to do those things whether Raphael was an ass to him or not. Whether Raphael loved him or not. He thought about that as he drifted off to sleep.
It took two full cups of coffee the next morning before Donnie perked up enough to remember he had good news for Raphael. He herded all three brothers and their father into the garage and pulled the sheet off the shellcycle he and Raph had been assembling together.
"You finished it?" Raphael said in awe, circling the bike. He clamped a hand on Don's shoulder in thanks.
"You know there wasn't much left to do. I found the last pieces finally on my last scavenge and installed them over the last few nights," Donnie replied.
"Just in time for your birthday!" Mikey chirped, bouncing up and down, thrilled that he no longer had to keep quiet about the surprise.
Raphael looked up at his family, an actual smile on his face. They all looked back at him with conspiratory smiles on their faces. He had forgotten about his birthday.
His father pulled a box out from behind his back and passed it to Raphael. Raph tore the lid off and his mouth dropped open as he pulled out a leather jacket large enough for his shell and wide frame. He lunged forward and gave his father an uncharacteristic hug.
Splinter laughed. "It's to help keep you hidden," he said, laughing. "You did choose a vehicle which leaves you more exposed than I would like."
"A sweater would keep me hidden," Raph said, pulling back to laugh. "You got me a kick-ass, I mean a very cool jacket."
Splinter shook his head, dismissing the curse in view of his son's obvious delight.
Leonardo stepped forward next and handed Raph a rather large, plain cardboard box. Raph kept his gaze on his brother's face for an extra few seconds before opening the box.
"You would give me a safety feature," he said, smirking as he lifted the large red helmet out of the box.
Leo grinned back, shrugging one shoulder.
He wasn't expecting it, and it happened so fast that he almost missed it, but his brother's scent filled his nose as Raph leaned over and hugged him as well.
"Thanks," Raph whispered before pulling away.
Leo's eyes shot to the ground, afraid of what they might show, he nodded in return.
"My present comes later," Mikey said. 'I'm making your favorite for dinner, plus a cake!"
"Thanks, Mike," Raph said.
"And we have one more thing planned," Donnie said. "But you'll have to wait until tonight for that as well."
Raph glared lightly at his family. They knew he hated surprises. But they just grinned back at him in return.