Author's Note: Well, I've got another drabble up quicker than usual! This one contains some Leo and Donnie bonding and, as I stated before, with a twist. Now I hope I haven't made Leo out-of-character when dealing with his injuries up in Northampton. I just figured the fight with the Creep made his injuries worse and he's feeling increasingly frustrated that he's not healing fast enough. That in-turn frustrates Donnie when his brother does things that are, well, stupid. Don't worry, though, it's all good...but I shouldn't speak too soon. Anyway, read and review!

Drabble 11: Heal

Donatello woke with a start when a thud in the hallway reached his ears. Ending his nap for the day, he jumped out of his designated room and went to find the source of the noise. Mikey dropping something? Probably not. Raph and Casey rough-housing? Not loud enough for it. April momentarily losing control of her powers? There would be more destruction. That only left one obvious and very frustrating culprit…

"Again, Leo? Are we seriously doing this again?"

Leonardo lay kneeling in the hallway, teeth gritting in pain and letting out ragged breaths. Donnie's auburn eyes darted to his brother's still-swollen knee and lack of crutch anywhere in sight. The genius turtle wanted to scream; this was the fourth time this week his brother pulled this stunt. He'd try to sneak out of his room and go downstairs without the aid of his crutch, impeding his recovery all the way to prove something to them. What, he didn't know…but this finally got to outrageous levels of ridiculous and he had to stop it.

"Come on, Leo. Back to your room." Donnie grunted as he helped his eldest brother to his feet.

Despite his brother helping him, Leo tried in vain to shrug him off and stand on his own. "Donnie, I'm fine. I just tripped."

"No, it was you putting too much pressure on your knee and collapsing in pain." Donnie argued in a biting tone, "If you tripped, you'd be flat on your plastron, not just on your knees."

"I said I'm fine, Donnie." The blue-masked turtle growled, still fighting his brother's hold.

The purple-masked turtle chose to simply ignore his brother's protests and lead him back to his room. Once they entered the room, Donnie found one piece of the puzzle: the crutch laying haphazardly on the floor near the wall, as though someone carelessly tossed it over there. Shaking his head, Donnie walked Leo to the bed and unceremoniously plopped him back on the quilt and mattress, careful not to agitate his damaged knee. Leo didn't look amused, but Donnie didn't care at this point. As much as he knew his brother needed support, he wouldn't sugarcoat things like Raph and Mikey did.

"I don't know why you want to be difficult, but since you've irritated your knee, you're getting a dose of medicine." The genius turtle huffed as he went for the first-aid bag in the bathroom two doors down. "Don't move."

Leo, wishing to be defiant, tried to get off the bed again, but his knee offered protest. "I'm not taking any more of that-"

"Ibuprofen, Leo." Donnie interrupted, coming into the room with two red-orange tablets and a glass of water. "I disposed of that mutagenic medicine after dealing with the Creep. That way, you won't take giant swigs of it and puke up another mutant." A cross look from his brother made him correct himself, "It's not your fault, Leo; I should've given you clear instructions not to take massive doses of it. Of course, Raph just had to push you into starting training too soon-"

The blue-masked turtle swiped the tablets from his brother's hand and downed them with the glass of water in a swift gulp. Sitting the empty glass on the nightstand, Leo growled and replied, "Raph was just trying to help, and I need to get back to training as soon as possible."

"And damage your knee further? I don't think so." Donnie argued as he picked Leo's crutch off the floor and leaned it against the nightstand, ignoring the look of contempt Leo gave the object. "Raph pushing you into training was reckless enough, but I expect that from him and that impatient personality of his. You, however, aren't this reckless. Give me a good reason as to why you're walking around WITHOUT your crutch and impeding your recovery process!"

"I don't need a lecture, Donnie; that's my job. Second of all, I'm not so fragile that I'll break at any second, so stop treating me like I'm so helpless!" Leo retorted spitefully, "I don't need that stupid crutch; I did just fine against the Creep without it!"

That was the last straw. Slamming his hand on the nightstand, the genius turtle finally shouted, "What is WRONG with you, Leonardo!? I'm just trying to help you heal, and you're throwing it back in my face like it means nothing! Is this what you want!? Do you want to be crippled the rest of your life because you don't want me to fulfill my promise to you!? Why do you hate me helping you get better!?"

"I don't want you to think I'm useless, okay!?" Leo spat as his brain-mouth filter completely went away, leaving him to confess the motive behind his reckless actions, "I hate being seen with the crutch because it makes me…" He swallowed hard and concluded, "It makes me feel like you guys look down on me now. It makes me feel like I failed as a leader…that you guys will keep moving forward and I'll just hold you back."

Silence settled between the two, and Leo immediately wished he could take back what he said. Donnie, however, got tired of the silence and decided to speak.

"…Do you think that lowly of us to believe we look DOWN on you, Leo?" Donnie asked in a low voice. "Leo, you got the tar beaten out of you by Shredder, and you think we think less of you for losing?" The blue-masked turtle opened his mouth to speak, but Donnie raised his hand and cut him off, "Leo, didn't we make a promise last week that we'd be there for each other as brothers? Didn't I swear to you that I'd help you heal? Are you seriously going to throw all that away because of your wounded pride?"

Leo kept his silence and hugged his good knee to his plastron wishing he could just disappear. Yeah, it was stupid to think the others thought of him as useless, but being reduced to a hobbling has-been didn't help matters, nor did seeing his brother turned into a plant or fighting a creature born from his puke put him in a good mood. Yet Donnie was here doing his best to help him and fulfill their promise, and all he wanted to do was go 'oh woe is me' and act like a brat.

Donnie just wanted to help him heal.

"…I'm sorry, Donnie. I know I shouldn't be doing this to myself…but I just don't want to be useless. I don't want to be a-"

"Don't even call yourself a burden, Leo, because you're NOT." The genius turtle retorted, putting a firm hand on his brother's shoulder. "You may not be able to walk properly for a while, but that doesn't make you an invalid; it's not like Shredder paralyzed you. Listen, you'll heal in the right amount of time, but until then, stop pushing yourself to your breaking point. Then Shredder really will have won."

Leo gave a somber nod and an equally-somber smile, "…I know. But I'm alive…so he didn't win there. And I know I'll heal because I'm looking at the best physician in the world. Too bad you were saddled with a terrible patient."

Donnie rolled his eyes, "You flatter me, Leo. Should I tell Raph about yesterday where I carried you back to your room bridal style? I don't think he'll let you live that one down, dear brother."

"D-Don't breathe a word of that! I'll stay in bed and rest my leg the rest of the day; just don't tell him I had to be carried like that!"

The purple-masked turtle chuckled heartily and poked Leo in the snout with a cocky grin, "Fine, I won't tell him OR Casey…but don't expect me to not share it with April; she'd probably die from the cuteness of it. Okay, I won't tell as long as you promise to use your crutch until you're one-hundred-percent better."

The two exchanged laughs and had a long talk before Leo drifted to sleep an hour later.

Leo woke from memory lane with a start when he heard grunts and whines of pain below him. To his shock, the effects of the medication wore off and sent Donnie back into an agonizing fit. Since he was the only one in the room with him, he would be doing the honor of administering it through his IV. Unfortunately, the person most qualified to do it was gone and refused to answer their calls for the past three days, and they were already barely trained on administering this kind of stuff. Donnie's continued cries pushed aside Leo's anger towards the brunette and made him focus on helping his brother.

The lead turtle plucked an unused syringe amongst other medical supplies and a bottle of morphine; he'd thank her for at least providing them this. He had to remember the brief lessons she gave them: the correct dosage, get rid of air bubbles, etcetera. Leo pulled the correct amount of morphine into the syringe and gently flicked it a few times, getting rid of any air bubbles that could harm his brother. If SHE cared at all, she would be here giving him the care he needed and not leave it to a group of unqualified brothers who never bothered to pay attention to-

Donnie cried out once again, louder, and Leo wasted no time in injecting the morphine into his brother's IV just to make the wailing stop. Leo knew pain, but he never had an open wound in his plastron like Donnie did…and his brother being alive was thanks to her and some sort of miracle. Just thinking of her again made Leo dispose of the needle with a hard toss in a makeshift sharps container. What did Donnie do to her to make her refuse calls and avoid the lair? Why did she have to punish Donnie for something he didn't do? Why did Mikey and April-Karai even-still want her to come back? Someone who would abandon them like that didn't deserve kindness. It hurt even more knowing she left AFTER Donnie told her those three powerful words.

I love you.

"Shh, shh, shh…" Leo hushed his pained brother and rubbed his warm forehead. When Donnie's cries faded into hoarse murmurs, he felt a small wave of relief wash over him. "Calm down, Donnie…it'll stop hurting soon. Just give it a moment, everything'll be okay."

Until…

"…Ch…" Donnie murmured, eyes half-closed and breaths ragged as he turned his head towards the door. "…C-Cheyloe…wh-where…" Looking at it longer made his resolve stronger, apparently, "...W-Where...is...Cheyloe?"

Leo's fists tightened in anger. Even in excruciating pain, even when he was kept waiting with no results, he still wanted her and expected her to burst through the door? Like nothing happened whatsoever? No, no…don't let the anger show in front of Donnie. If she dared show up, he'd exchange words with her, but not in front of Donnie. Not while he was in this shape. Not while he had a gaping gash in his plastron thanks to that overgrown lizard Mozar. At least Cheyloe killed him as thanks. But that wouldn't soothe the leader's anger, not until she groveled at his feet and accepted responsibility for abandoning Donnie. Until then…he would be the one to treat the wounds, both physical and emotional.

"…You helped me heal in Northampton, Donnie." Leo muttered as he watched his brother slowly fall asleep, adding in a firm, "Now let me help you heal."

You don't need Cheyloe. I'm right here.

Leo kept that thought to himself for Donnie's sake.

Isn't it nice that Leo's protective of Donnie after he's injured by Mozar? I know he sounds unreasonably angry at Chey, but he's justified in it; she would even say his anger is justified until he drags it out. If you've been keeping up with the main story, that gets resolved. But since Donnie took care of Leo up at Northampton, Leo returns the favor as a thank-you. Next will be April bonding with the superhuman ladies, followed by a journal entry from Karai, and even more! Stay tuned!