Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Places II: Rebirth ❯ Chapter 9

Part 9

Afraid his big brother might disappear, especially in sewers reminiscent of the Game's dark tunnels, Mike kept a firm grip on Leo's good hand. As they walked further, he realized he didn't have to worry. Leo leaned against him as if he'd fall otherwise and kept his eyes firmly shut, occasionally turning his head from the light that came through the rain gutters. The only problem came when they had to pass through the narrowest passages and walk single file without light, but during those stretches Leonardo would guide Mike through, sometimes tugging him away from the debris and rusted pipes that Mike couldn't see.

A few minutes before they arrived at the lair, Raphael called ahead and warned Splinter to take April and Casey to his room and stay out of sight. As docile as his brother seemed now, he didn't want to risk an attack on people that Leo might not recognize. He flipped off the communicator and looked at his brother. Maybe docile was the wrong word. Helpless, maybe, although he couldn't believe that, not after the race down the tower. Still, Mike seemed to be all that was holding Leo up.

The lair was silent. Eyes shut against the light, Leo trusted Mike to guide him through to the sick room and then to one of the beds. Behind them, Donatello moved to dim the lights but Raphael grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He shook his head and mouthed the word "no." Don frowned but didn't argue. He had plenty of bandages left over from his raid on Stockman's lab that he could use, winding them gently over Leo's eyes to protect them.

"I'm gonna go talk with Splinter," Raph said. When none of them answered, he sighed and walked out. He didn't look forward to the mass of questions he'd have to answer, and the burns on his hands throbbed painfully, but from the looks of things, Don and Mike would be busy with Leo for awhile. It was to be expected. After all, whenever Leo was injured, he always made sure that everyone else was treated first, no matter how serious or painful his own wounds were. Now it was Raph's turn to shoulder that, even if he didn't want to.

Mike glanced at Raphael as he left, then turned his attention back to big brother, watching Donatello pull out the items they'd need. "Anything I can do?" he asked.

"Sure," Don said, "get me some hot water. We need to clean out those cuts before anything else. I'll start him on an IV afterward."

"IV?" Mike asked as he took a few steps to the back of the room where Donatello had set up a small kitchenette, including a refrigerator and sink. He'd always wondered why Donatello would put a refrigerator in a sick room, but he'd soon learned that it kept several things inside that might have perished otherwise. It also meant he wouldn't have to leave Leo alone for more than a few seconds. Blind, tired, and hurt, he didn't think it would take much to make his brother panic, especially not after he'd thought they were dead.

He got a bowlful of hot water and set to work cleaning away the blood, human and mutant, taking the time to calm down. So much had happened and he only now had time to process it all. Shredder was dead and probably nothing but ashes, the foot clan was decimated, if there were even any survivors, and his brother...barely his brother now.

Once Donatello joined him, they sat on either side of Leo's bed and carefully patched him back together, in the case of his hand, literally. Packed gauze in the middle of the stab would keep it from bleeding or healing superficially, and enough bandage went around to both hold it secure and force Leo to keep his hand open. Mike just hoped that Leo wouldn't pull it all off later.

"Do you think he'll get full use of it back?" he asked.

"I dunno," Don said, stitching the gash on Leo's side. "I'm an engineer, not a doctor. If it was just a matter of rewiring and soldering new circuits, I could do it in a couple hours, but..." He finished the stitches and looked up at the long slice down his brother's arm and shoulder. "The only reason I've learned even this much is because I had Splinter to explain all of Stockman's supplies to me."

"Should we get Splinter here to do this instead?" Mike asked.

"I don't think Raph wants to risk Leo attacking Master Splinter," Don said. "He barely remembers us. Who knows what he'd do around anyone else? And besides, we're not doing such a bad job."

"I guess." Mike looked back at his brother and gasped. Leo hadn't made a noise through their conversation, but his face was drawn tight and his breathing came too fast. "Oh geez, I didn't even think--Donny, do we have any painkillers?"

"Huh?" Donatello looked up blankly at him, then paled. "Oh shit." He got up and rifled through the storage bins holding everything he'd plucked from Stockman's lab, considering which medicine to use, discarding one as too powerful, the next as too weak.

Since his right arm was mostly uninjured, Leo leaned against Mike and put his head on his brother's shoulder. Mike instinctively held him, careful not to brush the bandaged hand. "You're exhausted," Mike whispered, then half-smiled. "Of course you're exhausted. You even collapsed back there, I just didn't really notice."

"...I'm sorry."

The faint whisper still sounded a quiet scream, but at least it was coherent. Mike looked at him, but Leo had his head down, refusing to look up. "Sorry about what? None of this is your fault."

"...too weak. I couldn't stop."

Mike tried to bite back a laugh, but he couldn't help a soft snicker. "Weak...? Leo, you killed Shredder, destroyed the Foot, kept us safe...and made the country safe for democracy," he added, hoping for a laugh and happy even with the small one Leo gave. He put his arm around his sibling and sighed. "I hope someday I'm as weak as you."

Leo didn't answer except to press a little closer. When Donatello came back with a hypodermic needle in hand, he found Leo fast asleep on his brother's shoulder. He still gave him an injection, if only to keep the pain from waking him up later, but whatever Mike had said to him probably did more to ease Leo's suffering than the shot would.

Inside Splinter's room, Raphael closed his eyes and turned his head a little, flinching from the questions thrown his way as if they were as hot as the fire he'd just escaped. Splinter had started asking but then April and Casey had joined in, and now they were getting indignant because he wasn't answering. He held up one hand, accidentally showing off the friction burns on his palms, but it had the effect he wanted. They all shut up. He took a deep breath and coughed a few times, waving them down when they tried to start interrogating him again.

"I told you on the cell," he began, "Shredder's dead. Leo killed him and probably most of the foot clan."

"Probably?" Casey asked.

"The bodies weren't in no condition to be counted," Raph said, and they didn't ask again. "We followed him inside the tower and up the main staircase for awhile. I never realized how many floors all these skyscrapers have. Leo met Shredder somewhere above us, and they started fighting, and then we caught up and I helped double-team Saki. Leo killed him, he found us a way down through the fire, and we got out through the basement parking lot before the news vans showed up."

"Not just a fire," Splinter said. "Before we retreated here, we saw the news covering the explosion of the tower. They doubt it will collapse, but several floors have already been destroyed."

Raphael wanted to say of course he knew about that, they'd seen the damage as it exploded around them, but he figured that would just earn him more questions. Besides, Splinter had made that sound like an accusation. Great, Raph, glad your brothers are fine but couldn't you have avoided all the property damage? In fact, why did Leo get so far ahead of you that you lost control? He was confused and unstable and you're the one supposed to take care of him and Mike and Don and yourself if you can spare the time--

"No wonder he ran away," he said softly to himself. No doubt Leonardo had endured several similar interrogations. Raphael could understand how his brother had collapsed under their weight.

But he wasn't his brother.

Raphael shook his head. No, this was going to stop right now. "April, Case', could you wait outside? Leo's in the other room, so he won't see ya, an' I need to talk to Master Splinter alone."

Both of them hesitated, then nodded and left, quietly closing the door behind themselves. Raphael and Splinter stared at each other for several seconds over the candle flames, and then Splinter picked up one of his long matches and lit it, preparing to light the candles between himself and his son. As his hand neared the first wick, however, Raphael pressed two fingers to the flame, putting it out. The heat singed his skin but nowhere near as much as sliding down the elevator cable had.

"Raphael?"

"I'm not as strong my brother," Raph said softly, as if speaking to himself. "I've only been doing this for half a year and already it's getting to be too much. How he put up with you for sixteen years is beyond me. I swear to God, if this keeps up, I'm gonna run away too, and I'll take him with me."

He looked up at his father, who sat in disbelief. "What am I supposed to say? Sorry we blew up Saki's headquarters? Yeah, we got out in one piece, got Leo back and never got seen, but we didn't do it perfectly so we fail the test?"

"I am indeed relieved that you are all well," Splinter said, "but it never should have gotten so far out of hand. After the initial fight--"

"Leo was going nuts and we were facing twenty elites. Of course the foot clan caused us problems. That's why they're called the enemy!"

"Raphael, if this has become overwhelming for you--"

"What? You'll give it to Donatello? Or do you honestly think Mike can handle being responsible for everyone?" Raph leaned forward as if he could simply will the understanding into his father. "Master, I know you only mean the best for us, but this assignment is killing me. And it's killing Leo."

"But the burden of responsibility is no longer his," Splinter said. "Does he still try to carry it?"

"Of course," Raph said. "I'm supposed to be in charge, but he worries about us like nothing's changed. When he went into the tower, he told me he was taking it back just for tonight. And he still thinks he's a failure."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he ran from responsibility. Not that it was too much, just that he ran." Raph popped a joint in his neck and tried not to flex his hands. The burns were starting to sting. "I've been thinking about what he said before, back when we got him out of the game. About him not being able to cut."

"He began to see himself as a living weapon," Splinter said. "As if protecting you was his only reason for living."

"Yeah, and that's a bad thing, I'm not arguing that." Raph took a deep breath and coughed again. It would be awhile before he got rid of all the smoke in his lungs. "But it was something else he said. He thought for sure that we'd hate him, that he'd failed us. I never really understood why he thought that until I took responsibility for them."

Splinter held silent a moment. "Something I have done has caused this?"

"Not just you. It's not just the pressure of taking care of everyone, it's having to do it perfectly to please you." Raph laughed bitterly. "No wonder he hated me. I must've been a constant thorn in his side."

He shook his head. He could make amends later. "Look...Leo's never gonna give it up. He's grown up bossing us around, and that won't ever change. It might even be a good thing. That's...his place in the family and it hurts him not doing it, you can see it every day."

"True," Splinter nodded. "His look follows you every time you enter my room."

"He wants it back," Raph said. "When he lost control tonight, he even slipped back into that roll, even if he was a little 'off.' He protected us to the end." When he wasn't completely insane, he thought, but he didn't say it. "But you have to make it easier on him. He can't be perfect, and expecting perfection from him will just make him run away again."

"But a mistake could cost your lives," Splinter said.

"An' we know that," Raph said. "He practices even harder than you expect him to because he's got that weight on him. I'm just sayin' don't add any more pressure onto him. He puts enough on himself as it is."

Splinter sighed and looked askance. "To think that my love for you is what turned into the greatest burden...we must do this carefully, slowly ease my demands on him."

"Slowly--?"

"Yes, or else he will think it is pity on our part. Would that do any good?"

Raph shook his head. "No. No, he'd just take it as another failure. Slowly how?"

"Mainly in my tone and attitude," Splinter said, "though I wonder how I will be able to change the attitudes of an old rat."

"You ain't that old," Raph said.

Splinter raised an eyebrow but didn't respond. Kids. "And we will begin now. I think a vacation might in order for you four, and I know Leonardo must recuperate after his injuries, as must you."

"These?" Raph said, looking at his hands. "Don't hurt much. They're not nearly as bad as Leo got."

"...I think this might be the best example you've given me," Splinter said quietly. "Leonardo had a habit of putting off treatment until he had spoken to me. It cannot be coincidence that you do the same." Raphael opened his mouth to speak, but Splinter waved him down. "No, go take care of yourself. One conversation alone will not alter much, and you must tend to your injuries. We can speak later."

Dismissed, Raphael bowed once and stood, heading through the lair back to the sick room. He found Mike rummaging through the storage containers in the back and Leonardo sitting up in bed, curled in the corner against the wall and the cabinet behind his bed, a blanket over his lower body while Donatello hung an IV bag from the cabinet behind him. Raphael followed the tube from the bag down to the back of Leo's hand. "What is it?" he asked.

"Shh," Don whispered. "He's asleep." He adjusted the IV once more to make sure it wouldn't slip free, then looked at his brother. "Blood. Your blood, actually. It's the best way I could think of to reintroduce our genetics to him. I've got some from all of us, so we should be able to stagger when I get more from each of us. Now aren't you glad I keep plenty on hand?"

"You're just a needle-happy, overgrown leech," Raph grumbled at his brother. He sat down on the bed nearest the door and held his hands up. "If you're done with him, mind taking care of these?"

"Once Mike finds the rest of the bandages," Don said. "I think I lost a whole box back there."

"Just as cluttered as your lab, big surprise," Raph said. He motioned towards their brother. "You sure that's gonna do any good?"

"He needs it anyway," Don said. "Shredder died, but he still got a good number of hits in. His arm, his side, his hand..."

"His eyes."

Donatello nodded. "It's probably best if we keep him blind for awhile. It'll let them heal, and besides, he doesn't need his eyes right now."

That wasn't the reason Raphael had wanted him blind, but he didn't say so. Even if Leonardo didn't use his eyes except in darkness, bright light was enough to cripple him in a fight. Raph would rather keep him at a disadvantage until he was sure Leo was back to normal.

"Found 'em!" Mike whispered loudly as he stood up, coming over with a handful of rolls of gauze. He sat down next to Raphael and dumped the bandages on the bed, unwrapping one package and starting on his own hands. "What'd Splinter say?"

"We...talked. We're gonna get something like a vacation for awhile. All of us could use a break, I guess." He breathed out and started coughing again. When his breathing came back under control, he closed his eyes for a moment and held still. A few seconds later he noticed his two younger brothers staring at him. "What?"

"You're hurt," Don said. "And tired. Why didn't you say anything?"

From his tone, it was obvious he meant more than just the fight. For a moment he wanted to argue, but then Raphael just sighed and shook his head. "Some leader I turned out to be. I take over for six months and already I'm worn down."

"It's been a rough six months," Mike said. He finished bandaging his hands and turned slightly, grabbing Raphael's wrist and starting on his right hand. "C'mon, it was never this bad before. You just came in at a rough time."

"Right...I think I'll be happy if I can get him to take back his job, though."

Donatello grinned. "If that happens, does that mean you'll stop picking fights with him?"

Raphael glanced at Leonardo. His elder brother looked smaller than usual, curled up as he was, and intensely vulnerable, not only because he was blind and wounded. Normally his brother had a guarded expression, even in sleep, but now he looked even younger than Mike. Either Leo was deep inside his animalistic mind or he trusted them completely. Probably both. Raph grinned.

"Nah. Someone's gotta keep him from getting too stuck-up."

TBC...