Chapter 16

Raph P.O.V

The moment Leo had stopped midsentence, Raph knew something was seriously wrong. Not only was it the way his brother had grasped his side, his knuckles white, but Leo's eyes had flashed so suddenly with agony that the eldest couldn't hide it, meaning that this was no ordinary pain- it was unbearable.

As Donnie sprinted up the stairs with Mikey and Casey on heel- April was collecting the firewood Raph had dropped- Leo had fallen limp and for a terrifying moment Raph believed his older brother had just dropped dead in his arms. Thankfully a quick check for a pulse had come back positive, signalling that he was in fact alive.

Donnie had taken one look at the collapsed leader and Raph's shocked expression before cursing and asking Raph to lay Leo down on the bed. He then turned to Casey and asked if he could give them some space, which he complied with, leaving the room but not going down stairs as Mikey sank to the floor, his face pale, but the two middle turtles barely noticed.

"I should have checked him more thoroughly after the fight!" Donnie snapped at no one in particular as he checked his eldest brother over. "He must have over exerted himself…" He suddenly turned to Raph, his eyes cool and calculating, not giving any emotion away. This was the scientist, the brother had been closed off for the moment. "Raph, what happened?"

The red banded turtle struggled to put the sudden happenings into words for a moment.

"He… he was speaking like normal, and then he kinda stopped, grabbed his side and collapsed…" Raph faltered, "Will he be okay?"

Donnie took another look at their unconscious brother and straightened rubbing his eyes.

"In a few days- possibly, but…" now it was Donnie who couldn't find the words, Raph could see the scientific turtle's massive brain debating on whether or not to tell them something, but as he was about to open his mouth, Donnie seemed to change tact.

"I think the Creep must have knocked his shell loose again, judging by the cracks and the fact he grabbed his side- this must have caused his shell to press against his organs so that's the pain he felt…" The genius added a barely audible, "He should have come to me with this…" before continuing, "From his reaction, I suspect his body will need to shut itself down from the shock of it all for a short period of time-" Donnie held up a hand as Raph felt his eyes widen, "NOT for another three months, but probably a day or so, just so his system can overcome the massive trauma it received…" his voice faded.

"But?..." Raph prompted, reading his directly younger brother's face perfectly.

"But," Donnie sighed, "I'm worried about when he wakes up again…" He paused as Mikey suddenly looked up, seeming to come into the conversation.

"Why?" the youngest queried, his baby blue eyes wide and damp. Raph moved across the room and sat next to the orange masked turtle, placing an arm around Mikey in comfort, but holding no answers for him. Both of them looked up at Donnie who looked as if he were debating a serious matter. Eventually he seemed to decide it was best to speak, and opened his mouth, his words confusing his brothers.

"You guys remember Karai's mutation? How Leo became really withdrawn afterwards?" There was a long pause in which Raph and Mikey shared a look.

"What's this got to do with-" Raph began, but a look from the Brainiac silenced his protests, "Yeah, of course- but what-"

"Leo blamed himself, more than usual-" Donnie interrupted, hating the fact he was betraying his brother's secret but knowing deep down that it was time for the burden to be shared. "He got really bad depression, night terrors, insomnia- the whole lot. That's why we had less training and spent less time with him."

Raph just stared past Donnie, looking at his elder brother laying prone on the bed, his passive face hiding all evidence of suffering as it had all that time ago.

"So the scars on his wrists-" Raph muttered, remembering seeing them before, but thinking they were just some old battle wounds. Donnie nodded in confirmation. "W- why didn't he tell us?!" The hot head muttered, turning his gaze to Donnie as his voice grew more hostile and dripping with annoyance of his inability to see that his brother was suffering, "And why did he tell you?"

Mikey, during this had slumped into Raph's side, hugging his own knees as he stared at his eldest brother, the one he had always looked up to as a role model but who, despite his seemingly invincible exterior, was really hiding his own demons.

Donnie joined his brothers on the floor and placed an arm around Mikey, brushing against Raph as he did so making Mikey relax slightly, yet he still stayed silent.

"Why do you think, Raph?" Donnie sighed tiredly, "You think I wanted to keep Leo's… problem a secret, you think I wanted him to sneak in my lab once a week for a private counselling session which I have no experience in?" The scientist rubbed his eyes with his free hand, "He asked me to keep it quiet. Besides, he didn't come to me at first, I was just up one night in the lab when I heard him pacing the floor by our rooms. I checked on him and he was falling apart because he couldn't find me and was certain his 'dream' had come true and I was dead." He shook his head sadly and added almost to himself, "I've never seen him so scared…"

Mikey muttered something into Raph's side and the two middle turtles looked between them at the youngest.

"What was that, Mikey?" Donnie asked gently, aware of how hard his little brother was taking the entire ordeal.

"So why you worried for when he wakes up?" Mikey's voice cracked as he raised his head to be heard, "You think he'll-"

"No." Donnie replied firmly, yet Raph saw a flicker of doubt in his brother's gaze, "I'm just worried he'll get more closed off again as he probably thinks it's his fault he got… tortured… and that we've been here for over three months, and after tonight, he's bound to think it was his fault the Creep de-mutated Raph."

"What?!" Raph exclaimed, "He couldn't do anyth-" then it dawned upon him and the genius nodded, silently telling him to continue, "Because he couldn't do anything…" The second eldest cursed, raising a fist and turning slightly to hit a wall, but thought better of it and settled upon resting his head against it instead. "So what do we do?" he eventually muttered.

Mikey turned to the eldest once more to watch the steady rise and fall of his chest before tapping Donnie on the arm,

"We won't let him do anything stupid-Leo-like." Donnie and Raph noticed the youngest's eyes light up with determination, "we stay with his like before and be there for him when he gets up!" He paused in thought then asked, "Could he hear us if we spoke to him now?"

The scientist frowned, pursed his lips and sighed,

"Honestly, Mikey, I don't think so. We got no reaction when we tried before- the chances of him hearing us now-"

"Are very likely." Raph cut in. He looked at his directly older brother then to his younger siblings, "when he woke up he said he'd heard me…" the hothead froze, choosing his words carefully so not to sound unlike the tough guy he pretended to be, "I may have been talking to him," he admitted, gaining an 'awww' from Mikey, but silencing him with a slap to the head, "and Leo said our voices brought him back… He admitted he thought he was dead at first until he heard us, but then he couldn't escape this… void as he calls it…" Raph faded off but his brothers seemed to understand. Raph for one knew that the youngest two turtles often forgot that Leo was only marginally older than him and that Donnie and Mikey were in turn, close to Raph in age. To the youngest two, Leo was a role model like Splinter, but this was so much so that they all forgot their brother was still just a teenager like them and not some legendary warrior of times gone by- although, Raph mused, he deserved to be.

When no one broke the tense silence which had settled about the room, the red masked turtle untangled himself from his brothers and moved to Leo's side.

"Don," he cleared his throat, "We just gonna leave him here, or do we need another bath run?" The scientist tapped Mikey's arm and together they stood.

"No. We can just leave him here, but I'll need to grab an IV tube and some nutrients to keep his systems up, but apart from that it's just like a natural sleep…"

"Only deeper and way more scary." Mikey murmured quietly. No one contradicted him.

There was a knock at the door and with a sudden realisation, Raph recalled they had told Casey to give them some room, leaving the black haired teen waiting outside.

"Come in Case!" Raph shouted through the door as he helped his two younger brothers arrange the eldest's bed so he would be more comfortable. The human entered, his features full of genuine concern.

"Man, what happened?" the three brothers looked at one another, then to Donnie. Raph nudged him and muttered,

"You're up, genius."

Oh Leo, you need to open up more! Look what's happened now!

SO:

When will he wake up?

What will Casey and April's reactions be?

What will the bros do when the eldest awakes?

Thanks for all your continued support!

LL99 OUT!