This was a request from a Guest reviewer a while back. Sorry it was so late! Takes place before "Scroll of the Demodragon".

NOTE: There will probably be grammar mi which I will fix later.

"Ahhhhh-CHOO!"

"Ewww!" Mikey laughed as he pointed at Raph, who was lying on the couch and buried under a mountain of blankets. "Look at Raph's boogers! Gross!"

Raph sniffled and glared up at him with bloodshot eyes. "Shut it," he grumbled.

Donnie arrived with a steaming bowl of chicken soup and sat down on a stool next to the couch. He carefully held a spoonful to Raph's chapped lips. "Here comes the soup train," he said in a sing-song voice. "Choo-Choo!"

"Pffft!" Mikey clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

Raph glared daggers at his gap-toothed brother and lifted his hand under the blankets. Donnie had the sneaky suspicion that Raph was flipping him off.

"Alright, you two," Leo stepped into living room with a glass of water. "Stop making fun of Raph's predicament."

"'Predicament'? What predicament?" Raph snapped and sniffled. "I keep telling you all, I'm fine!"

Leo shook his head and gave Raph a lopsided grin. "Sure you are, Raph. Here, drink your water."

Raph sat up and snatched the glass from Leo, gulping the water down and soothing his sore throat. "And I don't need you all mothering me. I can take care of myself."

"You can't even stand, Raph," Donnie said.

"Oh, yeah?" Raph kicked the blankets off and stood up from the couch on wobbly legs. "HA! See?" he smiled smugly and took a step forward. "Satisfi-IIIED!" His legs gave out and he fell flat on his face. His brothers all immediately rushed to his side and helped him back onto the couch.

"Do us all a favor, Raph," Donnie sighed as he fluffed Raph's pillows, "and stay on the couch."

"Well, if I'm on the couch, then who's gonna go patrolling with Leo tonight?" Raph glanced over at their leader. "At least one of us has to go with him."

Leo smiled at him. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure Donnie can take your place."

"Uh..." Donnie scratched under his chin, looking a bit unsure. "Actually, Leo, I promised April that I would go see that new movie Heartstrings with her. I can't just blow her off."

"Okay," Leo shrugged. "Then Mikey can come with me."

"Yeeeeah," Mikey rubbed the back of his neck and glanced to the side. "See, the thing is, Mondo and I are gonna go skateboarding at the junkyard tonight. Promised the dude I'd meet him there by nine."

Leo groaned and did a facepalm. "Figures," he mumbled. "Well, I guess that means I'm going alone-"

"NO!" All three bros screamed at him in unison, nearly making him jump out of his shell.

"Leo, we talked about this!" Donnie sternly said.

"No more solo missions!" Raph crossed his arms.

"Yeah!" Mikey nodded. "Something bad always happens to you whenever you go alone!"

"Not always!" Leo retorted. "I'm not completely helpless on my own!"

"Face it, Leo. Tonight, we're all taking a break."

"That is not an option, Mikey!"

Donnie got in close to Leo's face, forcing his older brother to look only at him. "Leo, don't force us tie you up and lock you in your room," he warned. "We really don't want to, but we will if we have to."

Leo's eyes widened in surprise, before he sighed in defeat, knowing that even he couldn't take both Mikey and Donnie alone. "Fine," he murmured as he headed to the dojo and slid the doors shut.

"He's totally gonna sneak out," Mikey said.

Donnie sighed softly and nodded, actually agreeing with Mikey for once. "Yeah, you're right."

...

"Now remember, Raph," Donnie handed his sick brother a T-phone, "if Leo makes any attempt to sneak out of the lair, which I'm sure he will, give me a holler."

Raph scoffed and took the phone. "Whatever. If he tries to leave, I'll just knock him out."

"Not in your current condition, you can't," Donnie scolded, tucking the blankets around Raph. "Just call me, okay?"

"Sure," Raph grumbled as he hid the phone under his pillow and pulled out the remote. He turned on the T.V and switched to the channel where the Space Heroes marathon was airing all night. He figured that if Leo did try to leave, he'd be entranced by his favorite show of all time and stay to watch it with him.

Donnie immediately understood his tactic and smiled down at him impressed. "Good thinking, Raph. Anyway, I'd better go. Can't be late for my date." The genius Turtle quickly left the lair, and Raph was now left alone with Leo. Mikey had already left about twenty minutes ago for his skateboarding appointment with Mondo Gecko.

"Ahh-choo!" Raph sneezed again and wiped his snotty nose with a tissue. "This sucks."

Suddenly he heard a guttural chirping sound and looked down to see Chompy hopping towards him on the floor.

He smiled and picked up the tiny space turtle. "Hey, little buddy. Did you come here to keep me company?"

Chompy wagged his tail and licked his finger in response.

Raph chuckled and cuddled with Chompy, who nuzzled him under his chin. The two watched Space Heroes together for the next two hours, and so far, Raph hadn't heard a peep out of Leo.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Leo step into the T.V area. He smirked to himself proudly. The plan worked.

"Space Heroes marathon?" Leo's voice sounded a bit...croaky. Great. Did he catch Raph's cold?

"Yep," Raph lifted his head from the pillow and looked over at Leo. "It still has two more hours to go-OH MY GOD!"

Leo was a complete mess. There were three deep claw marks that ran down his plastron and bruises all over his face, and his index finger on his left hand was bent backwards.

Yet despite the pain he obviously was in, Leo gave him a weak smile. "It's...not as bad as it looks, Raph," he said in a quivering soft voice.

Raph kicked the blankets off and started to get up from the couch.

"Oh, no, Raph," Leo shook his head and put his bloody right hand on Raph's shoulder. "Lie down. You're sick."

"And you're badly hurt!" Raph slapped his hand away and stood up. He gently eased Leo on the couch and hurried into the kitchen with wobbly legs. Seconds later he returned with a wet rag and wrap bandages.

"Raph, please..." Leo rasped.

"Shut up, Leo." Raph began to wipe the blood from Leo's face and mouth with the wet rag, then he moved on to the claw marks on his plaston, covering them with the bandages. Finally, he bent the index finger back into place, wincing when the bones cracked and Leo let out a strained scream.

They said nothing to each other as Raph treated him, then once the hotheaded Turtle was finally done, he asked his brother, "What happened, bro?"

Leo hesitated before he sighed softly and leaned back on the couch. "Trained too hard in the dojo."

Really? That was the best lie he could come up with? "Baloney," Raph immediately said with a scowl. "Come on, Leo. What really happened?"

Leo closed his eyes and sighed again. "Alright. I snuck out while you were watching T.V. I happened to catch Tiger Claw and Fishface robbing a jewelry store and moved in to stop them." He chuckled bitterly and touched the bandages. "Needless to say, they beat the crap out of me."

Raph sighed and rubbed his temples as he sat down next to Leo, placing Chompy in his lap. "How can you be so selfish?"

Leo looked at him bewildered. "Selfish? How is keeping the city safe-?"

"You keep risking your life out there without considering our feelings. One of these days, you're gonna get yourself killed and we'll have to bury you next to Father."

Leo's eyes widened and his face blanched.

Raph glared at him unsympathetically. "You really want to do that to us, Leo?"

The leader cast his eyes down to his hands that were folded in his lap, guilt radiating off him. "No. Of course not."

"Then quit the solo missions," Raph sternly told him, before he redirected his attention to the program, too mad to talk to his brother anymore or even look at him.

For the next ten minutes, they sat on the couch in silence. Leo occasionally glanced over at Raph, wishing that he knew what to say, but then he'd hang his head in shame again. He knew that Sensei wouldn't approve of his actions if he were still here.

Raph finally spoke in a quiet voice, "Donnie is so gonna have your ass when he gets back."

Despite himself, Leo smiled and chuckled softly. "Yeah. Now he has two patients to look after."

Even Raph couldn't help but chuckle along with him. And just like that, he forgave his big brother as always.