Title: Rope Burns
Day: Febuwhump 2024, Day 5
Prompt: Rope Burns
Fandom: TMNT 2003
Word Count: 1803
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: T
Characters: Leonardo, Michelangelo
Warning: NA
Summary: With his baby brother unconscious, people all around, and a dangerous fall beneath them, Leo will hold on for as long as it takes to make sure that he and Mikey stay safe, even if it means pain for him.
Notes:
Rope Burns
Leo grunted and did his best to adjust his grip on the rope. It was hard to do without dropping Mikey, but if he didn't adjust his grip, they'd both go plunging down into the debris-filled water below them—and Leo didn't need to have Don's eye for things to know that would be a very bad thing to have happen. The old broken pieces of wood and rusted metal sticking above the water's surface told Leo exactly what would happen if one or both of them fell.
Too bad Mikey wasn't awake to help hold himself up.
Leo took as deep a breath as he could manage, centering himself, and re-evaluating the situation. This was supposed to be nothing more than a simple run to burn off some energy. Leo had been feeling the need to move tonight, and Mikey had been particularly energetic this evening, so no one had objected to him taking Mikey along. Leo didn't mind. He liked spending time with Mikey, and it was just going to be a fun time, just goofing off a little.
At least, it was until they had stumbled upon a Foot operation not far from the docks. One thing had led to another and now Leo was hiding both himself and Mikey under some old, abandoned docks, clinging to the ropes underneath to keep them both hidden from the dock workers who were coming to investigate the explosion at the Foot warehouse.
He just hoped that they didn't check under this dock anytime soon.
For whatever reason that Don would probably know but that Leo wasn't going to question, there was a tangle of ropes hanging under this dock. Some of them looked like they might have been here a long time, perhaps at one time attached to something or serving a purpose. They weren't any longer, and apparently no one had bother to clean them up, probably not counting it worth their time.
Still, it had served Leo's purpose well enough, and he had managed to get both him and Mikey hidden underneath the docks by holding his brother to him with his legs and using his arms to hold onto the ropes. Unfortunately, the workers weren't clearing out, Mikey wasn't waking up, and Leo could only hold someone up for so long. He had felt his grip slipping and, in desperation, had figured out how to wrap the rope around his wrist without falling. It had pulled and he could feel the rope biting into his skin, but it had kept him from slipping.
It had also given him another idea and, carefully, Leo had maneuvered his arms and legs through different loops and ropes, sometimes wrapping them around said limb, until he was suspended horizontally with Mikey laying on top of him. It wasn't the best choice, but it kept them hidden, kept them safe, and redistributed the weight a little.
Now all he had to do was hold on, wait for the others to realize something was wrong, and come find them. He sure hoped that his shell cell had fallen off somewhere nearby. Or that Mikey would wake up and still have his. Leo couldn't risk reaching for it right now.
Leo took another breath and tried to move his mind away from how heavy Mikey was and how much the ropes were biting into his skin.
The seconds ticked by, turning into minutes and then turning into hours. The dock workers came. The fire department came, put out the flames of the warehouse and left. The police cordoned off the area. The dock workers left. Leo wasn't sure how long all of that took, but it was long enough for him to start to lose feeling in his hands and feet. It was long enough for him to worry about the fact that Mikey wasn't waking up and that his head wound was still sluggishly bleeding. It was long enough for him to become more and more numb to the pain he was in and the feat he was doing. It was long enough for him to lose track of time. It was long enough for the sky to just begin showing the first signs of the night fading away.
Leo let his mind fade to a place where he was not consciously paying attention to what was going on. He just drifted, mind and body becoming numb. At least until a couple of very familiar voices broke into his awareness.
"Leo? Mikey?"
That was Don. He was looking for them.
"I don't see 'em anywhere."
That was Raph.
"The shell cell signal leads around here. They've got to be nearby."
His brothers. His brothers had finally come to find them. Taking as much of a breath as he dared, Leo called up to his brothers.
"Here…" his voice was light, and he cleared his throat and tried again. "Raph! Don!"
There was a pause and then there was the sound of scrambling feet that stopped somewhere on the dock above him.
"Leo?"
Raph's voice came from directly above him.
"I'm here," Leo grunted out. "Underneath. Mikey's hurt."
"We'll be right there," Don said. "Just hang on."
"Planning on it," Leo said.
He had no idea what Raph and Don were doing, but he could hear them moving stuff, as if they were moving things out of the way or just around. He could hear them talking, but he couldn't focus on what they were saying. It wasn't as important to him as keeping himself and Mikey in place and he concentrated on his breathing. He flinched when he suddenly felt hands on him.
"Easy, Leo," Raph said. "It's just us."
Don made a noise of discontent in the back of his throat. "How long have you been holding him up like this?" he asked.
"Not sure," Leo said. Part of him wondered how his brothers were this close to him when there was so much space under the dock, but most of him didn't care. He was just glad that they were here.
"Raph, ease Mikey off of him carefully," Don instructed. "Let the pressure fade, don't just do a sudden release."
"Gotcha," Raph said, and Leo felt him take ahold of Mikey and easy their unconscious brother off.
The release of pressure made Leo hiss, as he felt some of the feeling trying to return to his limbs.
"Get Mikey to the Battleshell, and then come back and help me with Leo," Don said. He turned his attention back to Leo. "Just hang on for a moment longer, Leo. Raph will be back to help get you down in just a moment."
Leo nodded faintly. "Just take care of Mikey.
"We will," Don reassured him.
Raph returned quickly, and Don directed him to put his hands underneath Leo, supporting him. Then Don reached over Leo, a knife in his hand, and quickly cut the ropes away. Leo grunted in pain when his limbs were freed, Raph supporting him more and more as each rope was cut.
"Easy now," Don said as Raph shifted Leo, finally allowing Leo to see that the two had constructed some sort of platform that allowed them to stand up near the underside of the dock. They carefully moved Leo out from under the dock, and towards the Battleshell.
"Mikey," Leo said, his feet too numb to walk at the moment. "How's Mikey?"
"I'll check him over in a moment," Don said. "We've got to get you back to the Battleshell."
"I'll be fine," Leo said. "Just take care of Mikey."
Don huffed, but he didn't argue with Leo, instead helping Raph get Leo into the back of Battleshell. As soon as Leo was settled in, Raph moved to the front, starting the vehicle and driving away. True to his word, Don looked over Mikey before looking over Leo. Leo sat in the back on the floor of the Battleshell, still breathing hard, but watching Don carefully.
"Will he be okay?" Leo asked.
"Well, he's definitely got a concussion, from the headwound, but I don't see any other problems. He's breathing well and his pulse is strong. We'll just have to wait until he wakes up," Don said. He turned his attention to Leo. "Let me see about you, now," Don said.
"Me?" Leo said, a bit confused.
Don shot Leo a look. "Leo, have you even looked at yourself?"
Leo blinked and looked down at his arms and legs. The ropes were still on him, and he could see blood seeping into them and around them. "Oh."
"Oh indeed," Don said, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "You did good in keeping both of you hidden, but you couldn't have called us? We'd have been here sooner."
"I was afraid of dropping Mikey into that water," Leo explained.
"Well, I can't blame you for that," Don said. "But still…" he grimaced, looking at Leo. "I'll take care of these back at the lair, where I can at least numb you up before I get started cleaning them."
Leo's gaze drifted back over to Mikey. "Just make sure he's okay first," he said.
It didn't take them too long to get back to the lair. Splinter was on standby, as were April and Casey. Raph and Casey got Mikey to Don's lab, where they carefully laid him down on a cot, and April got to work cleaning his head wound. Don and Splinter supported Leo as he walked to the lab as well, Don forcing him to lay down on another cot before he got to work.
Leo was glad that Don numbed him up before he started. The ropes had, indeed, embedded themselves into his skin, and while Leo couldn't feel the pain, he could feel the tug on his skin as both Don and Splinter carefully removed them. The wounds underneath were deep from where they had dug into him, and Don fretted over them and potential scarring even as he cleaned them up and bandaged them.
Eventually they finished, and Leo was given strict instructions by Splinter to rest and not to aggravate his wounds. Leo did as his father asked, even though he still kept a close eye on Mikey. Thankfully, Mikey woke up a few hours later, with no complaints aside from a headache. Within a few days, he was back to normal, although a touch more subdued. Leo took a little longer to heal, with the injuries leaving very distinct scars on him.
But although Mikey apologized for the scars, and Raph and Don sometimes looked a little guilty about them, as if they should have been there sooner, Leo never minded them. To him, the scars from the ropes just reminded him of the lengths he'd go to, if it was to protect his family.