Brotherly Bonds

Gonna Be Alright

He looked at Leo's tired face, noted the labored breathing, the watery eyes, and adding in the fever...

This was a promise he'd keep. No matter what. Yeah sure, he and Fearless didn't always see eye to eye, but what brothers did? Just because Leo annoyed him didn't mean he didn't love the guy. Ugh. Now he was getting sappy.

Raph shook it off and nodded confidently.

"I promise, big brother. I'll be here when you wake up."

Leo appeared less than convinced.

"Fine, but I plan to ensure compliance." Leo stretched out across Raph's lap and made himself comfortable. "Just to spite you for fighting with me."

The hothead chuckled and snatched the remote, much to his older brother's chagrin.

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Raph awoke four hours later. Almost three o'clock in the morning. Leo was shaking like a leaf and his forehead was still burning up. Raph decided that it would be best to get the Fearless leader to bed. He shook the blue-masked turtle gently.

"Leo," he whispered. There was no response. Worry rose up inside of him. "Leo?" he asked, shaking his brother a little harder. There was still no response.

Raphael scooped his older brother up into his arms easily.

Sure, Leo was no feather, but he wasn't that much heavier than Donnie or Mikey, and Raph was the strongest of the four of them.

He headed straight for Leo's room and carefully placed Leo in the bed, bringing the covers up around him. He then dashed to the kitchen and got a bowl of cold water and a washcloth.

For the rest of the morning he tended his brother's feverish brow. Mikey and Donnie returned at four, with medical supplies in tow. Don immediately berated himself for not realizing that the symptoms of the disease would set in as soon as they did. Raph took a step back and let Don do his thing, but his eyes were fixed on Leo, and his mind was turned to the past.

When he was little, he'd contracted a bad case of pneumonia. And in their younger years his immune system had seemed the weakest out of all his brothers. He'd spent many feverish nights on the bed in his room—most of them with his big brother holding his hand, telling him over and over again that he was strong and that he'd be alright.

Soon Donatello was gone. Raph and Leo were alone. Raph lay his arms at his brother's bedside and took one of Leo's hands in his.

"Leo...it's me. You're gonna be alright, you understand? You're strong. Strongest I've ever known. You're gonna be alright." Raph whispered, squeezing Leo's hand tightly.

He spent a day and a half at Leo's side before the fever finally broke. When it did, Raph just smiled and asked unresponsive Leo what the heck had taken so long. Leo was delirious most of the day, his body taking time to recover from the strain of the disease.

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Leo's eyes fluttered open at one o'clock in the morning and found Raph drooling on the edge of his bed.

"Raph."

Raph just snored softly on.

"Raph."

More quiet snores.

"Raph!" Leo's arm reached out and shoved the hothead away from the bed.

Raph, who was sitting on a stool, toppled backwards and landed on the ground with a loud thud. He woke up to a shout of his name and the feeling that he was falling. The impact with the ground told him it wasn't a dream.