A/N: This chapter was unexpectedly hard to write. :')
"Leo!"
Raph ran to Leo and dropped to his knees, his first thought being that Leo had been hurt, too. But there was no blood, no injuries, just vomit. Raph uncertainly rubbed Leo's shell.
Leo finished throwing up his lunch, supper, and whatever else he'd eaten. He gasped sharply, then lurched down with a guttural gag. Raph grabbed onto Leo before he could fall forward. Leo choked and spat bile, then struggled to draw a breath.
"Leo. Leo, breathe," Raph pleaded. "You're okay, Leo, you're okay."
Leo's next heave choked off, his breath stuttering. Raph hugged him, only for Leo to shove him away. Leo gasped out something incoherent as he stumbled to his feet and ran, narrowly avoiding the vomit in his path.
"Leo!"
April sprinted by. "I got him!"
"Raphie!"
Mikey's tortured cry kept Raph from chasing Leo. He turned quickly to find Mikey slumping in his seat, tears streaming down his face and shaking.
Raph understood instantly. He rose to his feet and hurried over to scoop up his youngest brother. He carried Mikey to the skate room, where Mikey could let out his pent-up sobs without disturbing Donnie.
Raph looked for Leo, but the broken sobs finally broke the control Raph had managed to hold onto. He dropped to his knees, curling over Mikey as if he could fend off the onslaught of fear. His own tears streamed free, releasing all the panic and anguish over Donnie's injury.
Raph didn't know how much time passed before he lifted his head from where he'd pressed it against Mikey's temple. Mikey's sobs had lessened to sniffles and hiccups. Raph's throat hurt and his eyes were blurry and scratchy. More than anything, though, Raph was exhausted.
A hand gently touched his shoulder. Raph turned his head, blinking blearily until he could clearly see April.
"Arm," April said.
Raph blinked at her. April repeated the command, and Raph slowly put one arm out. April quickly cleaned the dried blood away, then helped Raph shift Mikey to Raph's other side so she could clean off Raph's other arm.
And Mikey. Raph bit his tongue to keep from reacting when he looked down and saw how much blood had been smudged on Mikey.
Mikey's eyes drifted open. He peered up at Raph, blinking owlishly until April cleaning away the blood brought his gaze down. All too quickly, his half-asleep features shifted back to fear.
"D-Donnie?" Mikey asked, his voice raspy after the harsh crying.
"Still sleeping." April put aside the now bloody rag, then offered Mikey a bottle of water. "Here, drink."
Mikey made a low whine and pushed his face into Raph's plastron. Raph put his attention solely on Mikey and the slight distraction of trying to convince him to drink something. Mikey resisted both their efforts, clenching his eyes and shaking his head at their cajoling.
Then April held the bottle to Raph. Raph stared at the water, his mind going unbidden back to the hot, sticky liquid spilling over his arms. He looked down at Mikey, suddenly understanding his hesitation to drink.
"Hey," April said. "You're both dehydrated and stressed. You're going to make yourselves sick if you don't drink. You need to eat something, too, but we'll deal with that later."
"But Donnie-" Mikey whimpered.
"Will kill you if you're all too sick to say hi when he wakes up." April pushed the bottle at Mikey again. "Now drink."
Carapace against Raph's arm, Mikey took the bottle. He just stared at the water for a minute, then he abruptly gulped down half of it. Then he held it out to Raph, who couldn't deny Mikey's pleading eyes. He struggled to not gag as he finished the water, but at least the cool water was soothing on his throat.
"Next step, on your feet," April said.
Like drinking, standing was surprisingly hard. Raph had gotten stiff sitting on the floor, so it took him a few minutes to convince his body to rise. Almost without thought, Raph kept Mikey securely in his arms, cradling his little brother.
April led Raph toward one of the side rooms. Raph paused and turned toward where they had left Donnie. April started to say something, then trailed after him.
Donnie had been moved from the table to a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor. The blood had all been cleaned away and a blanket covered the temporary shell. If Donnie hadn't been so pale with his face clenched slightly in sleep, it might have looked normal.
Except Raph knew what was wrong. He stepped toward Donnie.
"Not right now," April said, taking Raph's wrist.
Raph was too tired to argue. Besides, Splinter was kneeling solemnly beside Donnie and Shelldon hovered over him, shining a green light on Donnie's still form. Donnie wasn't alone.
Raph let April pull him away. His mind distracted, Raph was a bit surprised when he found himself in what the boys called the bath room.
Tubs and bowls were scattered around the room, with four hoses attached to spigots coming out of the walls. The room was where the boys had taken baths all their lives, and they generally just kept the tubs they'd found to like, resulting in the little bowls from when they were babies to the literal vat that was one of the few tubs Raph fit into anymore.
April was still trying to pull Raph forward, though she hadn't succeeded once Raph stopped in surprise. He looked at her determined face, then kept following.
In the back of the room was a long, low tub. Unlike the other tubs, this one was built into the floor with concrete. Donnie had been the one to make it, and he'd included heating rods of some kind around the sides and bottom. He called it a hot tub, and it was the boys' favorite spot in the winter.
Except it wasn't winter. The tub was full and steaming, but the lair wasn't cold.
"Get in," April ordered.
Raph blinked at her. April's firm expression softened.
"It'll help, I promise."
Raph didn't know how it could help, but he obeyed. Stepping in, he discovered that the warm water was soothing on his stiff legs. But could he really relax in the hot tub when Donnie was…
Raph looked at Mikey, who was still clinging to him. Mikey had barely moved since he'd started crying. If Raph was a bit stiff, Mikey had to be worse. Adding to it, Mikey's sniffles had returned with a slight shiver.
Raph lowered them both without a second thought. Mikey flinched when the water first touched him. His eyes opened and he peered oddly at the water, then he shrugged and curled closer to Raph.
Raph eased himself down until he was laying half on his side, half on his carapace. He settled himself so Mikey was in the water up to his neck.
Already, Raph could feel Mikey relaxing in his arms. Mikey's shivered eased, and his sniffles slowed into deep, even breaths.
Raph shifted one arm to press against Mikey's back so he wouldn't roll over in his sleep, then he looked up. He briefly considered leaving Mikey in the tub and getting up, but… he didn't want to leave the warm water all of the sudden. His body protested against even the slight movements of settling Mikey, urging him to lay still and let the water relax him.
But he was afraid to relax. Donnie-
"Splinter's keeping an eye on Donnie," April said.
Raph blinked slowly at her. "Did I say that out loud?"
"No, but I know what you're thinking." April affectionately patted Raph's head. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when Donnie does."
Raph smiled gratefully at her, but another thought nagged at him. He was forgetting something. Sinking into the warm fog of sleep, it took Raph a minute to remember.
"Where's Leo?" Raph managed to ask.
"Don't worry," April said. "I've got him."
Except she pretty clearly didn't… but April would make sure Leo was taken care of. Like she did with Donnie, and Mikey… and Raph. Yeah, Raph would let April take care of his brothers this time, he was too tired…
Raph's eyes closed and he drifted to sleep.
April watched Raph sleeping for a few minutes. Once she was sure he was deeply asleep, April rose to her feet and all but ran from the bath room.
She returned to the main room. Splinter didn't open his eyes, but Shelldon swiveled toward her. April ignored them for the moment, striding to the corner of the room. She pushed aside a blanket that had seemingly been thrown there without thought, revealing Leo's odachi.
Right where she left it.
April went to Donnie's side and knelt. She gently stroked the blanket covering his shell, then looked up at Shelldon.
"How's he doing?"
"Still alive and kickin', dudette!"
April rolled her eyes. Helpful. "And Leo?"
"Still no sign of the wayward turtle dude!"
"Stop yelling everything."
Shelldon gave a grumpy warble, then fell silent. April checked Donnie herself.
Donnie seemed fine, pale as he was. But April knew shock could still kick in, and infection was her biggest fear as long as Donnie had holes in his shell.
Knowing Donnie would still be sleeping off the sedative for a couple hours, April rose to her feet. Then, arming herself with a bottle of water and a heated blanket, April continued her search.
When Raph had had to help Mikey, April had chased after Leo. But he had vanished by the time April left the room. April had spent the next hour searching for him, but had found nothing.
At least Leo had dropped his odachi at some point while Donnie was being treated. The success of Leo's portals were sketchy at best when he was focused and in a good mood. April didn't want to think of where Leo might end up after a panic-induced portal.
But Leo was still missing, and probably outside at by this point. Without a portal or the Tank -which April had locked in the garage for good measure- Leo couldn't go far outside the lair, but April worried about what kind of condition he could be in after an hour.
April went to check Leo's room one more time. She'd already checked his room three times, along with Raph and Mikey's twice. She'd checked most rooms twice, actually. The only exception was Donnie's room, which was currently open.
April's sprint slowed to a stop. She turned to Donnie's open door, knowing for a fact that she'd tried to open it several times in the last hour. She'd finally decided that if she couldn't get it open, then neither could Leo.
Apparently, Leo knew something she didn't.
"Leo?" April said as she approached the open door. "Leo, it's April. You in here?"
Silence answered her. April peered inside cautiously, quickly spotting Leo. He was seated at Donnie's desk, his back to the door.
"Leo?"
Still nothing. April hesitated to approach Leo; she'd learned her lesson about surprising the brothers.
Well. Not really.
"Leo!"
Leo finally turned his head marginally. Just enough to acknowledge April's presence, then he looked back to whatever he had in front of him.
"Oh-kay. Comin' around you, Leo."
April cautiously walked around Leo, keeping out of arm's range. Just in case.
Leo was holding Donnie's battle shell, fiddling with a bit of broken harness. Mikey had brought Donnie's goggles and staff, but the battle shell had been missing the whole time. Had Leo left to get it?
"Leo," April tried again. "You hear me?"
Leo's eyes shifted toward her, then back to the shell. April looked at his hands. She was glad to see the blood cleaned off his hands, thanks to the rag he was using to wipe dirt off the battle shell. Spots of Donnie's blood still marked his arms, though.
At least, April hoped it was Donnie's blood. None of the brothers had mentioned any injuries, but Donnie's had taken priority at the time and none of them had been in any condition to question after that. Raph and Mikey both had only a few bruises, and April hoped the same was true about Leo.
Another couple steps, and April could see Leo's face completely. She froze. Under glassy eyes, Leo's mouth was smeared with dried vomit and blood.
Alarms blared in April's head, but she forced her voice to remain level. "Leo, we need to clean you up."
Leo's eyes shifted toward her, but he still didn't make a move. April rejected the idea of making Leo move. If Leo tried to stand now, he'd probably pass out. Already had, if the fresh bruise on the right side of his face was any indication.
"Okay, Leo, you stay right there," April said. "Got it?"
Leo nodded once.
Huh. So Leo was understanding her, after all. April didn't know if that made his continued silence better or worse.
April hurried to the kitchen, where she got a rag and bowl of warm water. She returned to find Leo right where she'd left him, thankfully. April set the bowl and rag on the desk so Leo could clearly see it.
"Okay, buddy, time to get cleaned up," April said.
Leo reached slowly forward before April could. He set his soiled rag aside and took the fresh one. He dipped it into the water, then sat back and continued to clean Donnie's battle shell.
"Leo?"
Leo gestured briefly and silently at the battle shell, his meaning clear. Well, he was cleaning, just the wrong thing.
April reached out to take the rag, then stopped. Leo usually spoke when he was upset. He rambled incessantly until every fear or qualm had been soothed. She knew a little about trauma, but Leo's current condition was uncharted territory for her. Maybe it would be best to just let him do his thing until he was ready to talk.
But he still needed to get cleaned up so April could make sure he hadn't been hurt. Leo was typically the first to start complaining about even a tiny cut, but still. It wasn't like him to still be silent, so who knew if he'd mention any wounds?
April got another bowl of water and a few extra rags. Leo didn't resist when April turned the chair away from the desk, aside from a low grunt when he had to move his bowl of water so he could still reach it.
April wiped the corner of Leo's mouth. He paused his work to blink at April, then he continued. April cleaned his face with slow, careful strokes, noting no cuts and the only bruise being the one she'd noticed earlier.
"I think you're alright, Leo," April said.
Leo looked at her, blinked, then nodded once. April sat leaned against the desk.
"Want to tell me what's on your mind?" April asked.
Another slow blink. Then a raspy whisper, "I can't fix this."
"Neither can I. But Donnie'll be glad that it's clean for when he does, huh?"
Leo actually smiled at April, brief and small as it was. His eyes focused a bit when he did, so April kept talking.
"Arm out, Leo."
Leo looked at her.
"I'm serious, Leonardo, unless you're wanting more red markings. And if that's the case, we'll get Mikey's markers."
"Takes two days to get off," Leo said, holding out his left arm.
"Uh-huh." April wiped away the blood. "Personal experience?"
"Mikey wanted to be me one time. Or five times. Raph had to hide his markers on the top shelf of Mikey's room, and we all pretended that the markers had run away by themselves."
"And Mikey believed you?"
"Have you met Mikey? He was even more gullible when he was little. Believed everything we said, especially once Donnie-" Leo broke off.
"What did Donnie say?" April prompted.
Leo took his cleaned arm away from April and stared at Donnie's battle shell.
"Donnie's going to be fine, Leo," April said.
"I know."
"We fixed him up."
"I know."
"Then why-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Why don't- no." April reached for the battle shell, but Leo twitched it away. "Leo, look at me."
Leo did, his eyes so full of pain and frustration, but then he turned away. "I'm busy, April."
"Leo, please, just talk to me!"
Leo's shoulders hunched. "Nothing to talk about, April."
April threw up her hands in frustration. "That's the first time I've ever heard you say that, Leo!"
"Well, get used to it."
"No. No, I'm not going to 'get used to it,' Leo. Something is wrong, Leo, you're hurting, and I want to know why!"
"It's my fault."
The answer was so quiet that April wasn't sure Leo had spoken at first.
"It's… your fault that Donnie got hurt?"
Leo nodded silently. April didn't say anything at first, agonizing that she hadn't asked Raph for more details.
"Raph said Donnie tripped."
"He shouldn't have been there, April! I had the device, we should have gone. But I had to…" Leo rubbed the side of his neck. "I had to…"
"To what?"
"To talk!" Leo's eyes blazed with anger. "My job was to get the device and run, but no. Couldn't do that, I had too many jokes. We'd been sitting there for so long and I was bored so I just had to do something, the foot-faces are so easy to fight, I thought it wouldn't be a problem, but then Donnie's shell was missing and-and-" Leo was half out of the chair, voice rising and eyes flashing. "And it was too late and Donnie was bleeding and I couldn't even make a portal and I'm supposed to make portals, nothing else, but I couldn't even-"
April slapped him, hard as she could.
Leo sat hard. One hand clapped to his cheek, eyes wide and surprised. He opened his mouth, but April cut in.
"Now you listen to me, Leonardo Blue Jitsu Splinterson!"
Leo closed his mouth.
"You boys throw yourselves into a lot of dangerous situations, all night, every night. Donnie's a big boy. He knows what he can and can't handle, and he knows how to ask for help. So what if you stuck around to kick a few Foot butts. You didn't hurt Donnie, the Foot Clan did! For all you know, he would've been hurt anyway! He probably would have, because none of you know how to quit. And then what? Could Raph and Mikey have kept Donnie safe without you?"
Leo didn't answer. He needed to answer, April had no idea what had happened. But she did know that Leo was beating himself up over something they couldn't change anymore.
"And stop acting like Donnie's dead. No, I'm still talking, Leo!" April grabbed Leo's shoulders when he tried to turn away. "Listen to me. Donnie is going to be fine. He's tough. And you and your brothers got him here, fast and safe. He's going to be fine, and when he wakes up, I'm going to tell him that you think it's your fault so he can tell you how dumb that idea is, got it?"
"Unless!" April held up her pointer finger. "When Donnie wakes up, I want to hear the corniest, worst joke that comes to your mind, got it?"
Leo rubbed his neck again. April gently took his wrist and pulled his hand down.
"Donnie likes your jokes just as much as I do. He just doesn't know it."
"Donnie knows everything," Leo said, but it was with a small smile.
"Sure, he just hasn't figured out how to show how much he likes it."
And as soon as Donnie was well enough, April was going to hit him with her bat -again- for making Leo think it was bad to tell jokes.
"But right now," April said, holding out a hand, "You're going to put Donnie's battle shell down and come get cleaned up. And probably eat something."
"I might throw up again," Leo said with a wince.
"Then we'll get something for you to drink," April said, realizing she'd left the water and blanket.
Leo opened his mouth, then hesitated.
"What? Say it, Leo."
"Water we waiting for?"
The pun was so terrible and Leo looked so sheepish that April long and loud, until Leo joined in. And they both laughed until Leo leaned into April, and April hugged him, and their laughter dissolved into helpless tears.
Leo stared at the ceiling and wondered how everything could hurt.
Scratch that. He knew why everything hurt. Sorta. Donnie had explained it before. Something about tension in his muscles releasing all at once.
Leo rolled his head to look at Donnie. He'd slept the rest of the night, and now the day was half over.
"Raph," Leo said, "How is Donnie not tired of sleeping yet?"
"Can someone get tired of sleeping?" Mikey asked.
Leo poked him. "You do."
Mikey considered the statement, then nodded seriously. "Raph, how long before Donnie gets tired of sleeping?"
"Um…"
"When he's ready to."
Leo sat up to look at April. "That doesn't make sense."
April peered over the top of her math textbook. "Neither does Donnie. Shelldon, how's Donnie's vitals look?"
"Same as five minutes ago," Shelldon droned.
Which was good… except Donnie was still unconscious. As far as Leo could tell, Donnie was fine. He wasn't bleeding anymore. The holes in his carapace were covered. He didn't have a fever or chills.
He just wouldn't wake up.
Leo looked at the others. Everyone was pretending that everything was fine, but they also hadn't left the living room. Splinter was still at Donnie's side, eyes closed and occasionally snoring. Raph was trying to fix the wheels on his skateboard. Mikey moved to sit behind April, pretending to help her with her homework so he could look at the pictures in her textbook. April let him. She hadn't written anything in the last hour, anyway.
Leo got up from the bench and stretched, groaning when his stiff muscles protested. After crying together for who knew how long, Leo and April had returned to keep watch over Donnie. April had tried to get Leo into the hot tub with his brothers, but Leo had been hesitant to leave Donnie.
So he'd ended up sitting on the floor beside Donnie for a few hours. He'd dozed off at some point, having woken up to find himself flat on the floor with three heated blankets wrapped around him.
All three heated blankets were currently around Donnie, along with every blanket in the entire lair making a nest. Keeping Donnie warm was pretty much the only thing they could do until Donnie woke up.
A big hand clamped down on Leo's shoulder, startling him back to the present. He looked up at Raph and grinned.
"I'm going to start calling you Mother Hen if you don't stop that," Leo said.
"Stop what?" Raph asked.
"You know, that."
"What? What's 'that'?"
Grinning, Mikey contributed, "That."
"Well put," April said.
"Stop that!"
"You're the one doing it, Mother Hen," Leo said, leaning against him.
Raph frowned briefly, then a mischievous grin filled his face. Before Leo could move, Raph wrapped his arms around him. Leo thrashed once. He knew it was useless, but that didn't stop him from squirming with a laugh.
"Mikey, help me!"
"Release my brother!" Mikey proclaimed dramatically.
"He's my brother, too, you know," Raph said, holding Leo with apparently no effort. "I can hold Leo if I want to."
"Uh…" Mikey hesitated.
Leo twitched his hands -the only thing he could move besides his legs- outward. "Really, Mikey? Also, Raph, I can't breathe."
"You're laughing!" April exclaimed, right as Raph reflexively released Leo.
Leo slipped free with a triumphant laugh. "Raph, you fall for that every time!"
"I wouldn't fall for it all the time if you didn't-"
"What's going on?" A low voice interrupted. "And… why am I on the floor?"
Everyone looked at Donnie, who was squinting wearily up at them. When nobody responded right away, Donnie shifted like he wanted to rise, but the blankets wrapped around him prevented him from moving more than an inch.
Leo opened his mouth, but hesitated. He glanced at April, who raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully at Donnie. Seeing she was about to speak, Leo blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"Obviously, you're just laying down on the job, Donnie!"
A/N: As delightful of an ending that this would make... this story isn't over yet. Also, April thinking about hitting Donnie with a bat -again- is a reference to That's Inhumane, Donnie. I realized that there should maybe be more motivation for Leo to keep silent than just the current story.
Leo's full name is something Cass and I spliced together using canon and "wouldn't it be funny if-" It was too good to not use, so there it is.