Leonardo, out of all of them, was always known to have the worst anxiety

Of course it was there, as the oldest and their leader in the middle of a war. Issues that followed anxiety popped up here and there, but it wasn't anything they couldn't deal with. Sometimes, though, those issues were more difficult to deal with than usual.

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Several incidents over the past week, and Leonardo wanted to scream.

It was a good thing he didn't have hair, because he would've pulled it all out by then. Seriously, was there something wrong with the month? It was just one incident with him and his brothers after the other, every October. Really, it was a wonder that they weren't all superstitious at that point.

Maybe some sleep would help him. He was feeling off, anyway, he could use some rest.

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It started with breathing issues, towards the beginning of the day.

Nothing to bother Donatello about, but still a shortness of breath, a little more trouble with training, some lack of stamina, but nothing too serious. Towards noon, he started having chest pain. While it was inconvenient, it wasn't unheard of. Leonardo ended up deciding to meditate to help himself calm down.

By evening, before patrol, the chest pain worsened. Deep breaths hurt, and coughing only made it worse. There was a slight wheeze when he breathed, it felt like something was in his lungs, and it didn't take long to realize that, maybe, he was sick. With what though? He made sure to be extra careful with his health, because they couldn't take one of them falling sick at the moment. The temperatures were lowering, but they had been bundling up to avoid getting cold enough for sickness. He was sure he was fine.

And what would they think if he tapped out a couple minutes before patrol over something that probably wasn't even that serious? It wasn't like they hadn't performed with worse illnesses or injuries. Standing and brushing himself off, he decided to ignore it for the time being, and ask about it tomorrow.

Leonardo put a hand on one of his knees and stood up before heading to the turnstiles, pleased to find that Donatello was already there and waiting, doing something on his phone. The two waited in comfortable silence, and if Donatello noticed the slight wheeze, he said nothing about it.

A little while later Raphael joined them, and Michelangelo followed shortly after, almost late.

When they were all prepared, they took off. The walk was mostly uneventful, besides Michelangelo messing with Raphael and ending up invoking the hothead's wrath, requiring some interference to keep him from antagonizing Raphael with his youngest privileges.

They were on the roof almost immediately after getting outside, and continued on with their normal patrol route, sticking to routine.

He was still struggling not to heave for air, Leo realized with a frown. Already, he was tired and out of breath. Maybe he should've stayed back after all.

"Hey, Leo," Raphael nudged him and crouched, everyone else following suit. "Look there, some shady Kraang deal."

Leonardo glanced over and, sure enough, a group of Kraang were loading up a truck. Was that mutagen? ...Of course it was, it was Kraang, what was he thinking? He signaled to his brothers, and slowly, they crept along to surround the truck from above.

One, two, three.. NOW! he signaled, jumping down as soon as the countdown was over and landing on the top of one of the droids.

The pain in his chest sharpened as he landed, spreading into his shoulders and back. His already ragged breathing hitched, and for a moment, his mind fogged in panic. He couldn't have stayed home, though. If he stayed, his brothers would have stayed, and they would've missed this. Leonardo steeled himself in his resolve and struck harder at the enemies, clearing them out fast and efficiently.

Ragged breathing turned into desperate gasps, the pain growing unbearable, lungs fighting for air. Fighting was getting hard, fatigue pulling at his limbs, screaming for him to stop, he should have been moving faster but he wasn't-

A boot slammed into his bad knee and splintering pain shot through his whole leg from it, causing him to bite his tongue to keep from crying out. He dropped down on one knee, gripping it tightly, what was he doing, he needed to get up!

And he was still gasping, wheezing, unable to get the air into his lungs.

There was a gun to his head, and distantly, he heard his brothers scream. He was worrying them, he needed to get up-

Gritting his teeth and tightening the grip he still had on one of his katanas, Leonardo lunged forward and stabbed the Kraang droid in the abdomen, uncaring about the magenta spray that followed, and finished the battle alongside his family.

But of course, Donatello was immediately trying to smother him, looking him over and trying to figure out what was wrong. Behind him, Michelangelo tried to stay out of the way, and Raphael twirled his sai, tense and angry.

"Leo!" Donatello started, "What in the name of science-"

"Can this wait until we're home, Donnie?" Leonardo interrupted, "We need to get rid of this stuff, THEN we can talk."

Donatello opened his mouth to argue, but a glare and gentle shake forced him to leave it alone, even though he was against Leonardo carrying some of the mutagen and definitely against waiting to ask some medical questions.

Leonardo's breathing evened out a little on the way home, but not by much. There was still a wheeze, something louder and more audible than before.

He hated it, he decided. The entire day sucked.

"You good?" Raphael questioned, looking him over with almost the same expression as Donatello.

"Maybe we should stop," Donatello quickly jumped on the opportunity and slowed down some.

"NO," Leonardo started, then realized it was more forceful than he wanted it to be. "No. I'll be fine, just keep moving for now."

There were a few looks of concern, but the matter was dropped until they were home. There, the mutagen dropped off in Donatello's lab, and the eldest was pushed to a spot where he could sit and have Donatello look him over.

A stethoscope was pushed against his plastron, and when the genius told him to take deep breaths in, Leonardo didn't question him, even though he felt the ache throughout his torso afterwards.

"How long has this been going on?"

The question wasn't unexpected, yet it still managed to startle Leonardo. "Since this morning."

"This morning?" Donatello nearly shrieked, pulling away.

"What's up?" Raphael asked, popping into the lab only a few seconds after being forced to leave.

"I think one of his lungs collapsed, and it has been collapsed since this morning."

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"It can happen randomly, and there are a few causes. Leo, have you maybe been more stressed than usual?" Donatello turned to the oldest.

"Yeah?"

"Okay, because stress can cause it, so that's probably why."

"Is it bad?" Raphael pushed for an answer, coming closer.

"Only if left alone, there's something I can do, it's called Needle Aspiration-"

"Okay." At that point, Leonardo couldn't care less about what happened.

"What?"

"I said okay. I think it'll be alright."

"...Oh."

Donatello blinked a few times, as though he was expecting more of a fight. He moved around busily, injecting something into one of his sides after wiping it down to clean it. Shortly after, Leonardo was numbed, and didn't feel the needle when it was pushed into his side. The relief that followed was certainly something, though.

It was over fairly quickly, a bandage placed over the area where the needle had been.

"How long is it going to take to heal?" Leonardo asked, kicking his legs.

"Only about a week or two," Donatello responded automatically, "That's at most. No training or patrols until then though, and I don't want to hear a word about it from you."

Leonardo hummed, understanding why, but knowing that he would definitely become frustrated with that restraint in only two or three days.

"In the meantime…" Michelangelo began in a drawl.

"Oh no." The other three groaned, even though none of them meant it.

"It's movie time! If he needs the rest then a long marathon will work, right?" The youngest bounced backwards, out to the living room, and the rest followed, making Leonardo move slower as he was still numb. It wasn't that they were really against a movie marathon, anyway, since they hadn't gotten together to do it in quite some time.

The four settled on the couch, snuggled up close as Michelangelo set up the first movie of multiple. Raphael gave Leonardo's hand a light squeeze, reassuring himself that his big brother was still there, before leaning back and relaxing further.

The sound of movies faded deep into the night, accompanied by the soft sounds of snores from two or three brothers.