Chapter Text
“He was barely standing just a moment ago, where the hell did he disappear to?” Raph grumbled as he paused his search, his worry coming out in the form of a growl.
Don exited the bedroom he had already looked over three times, seeing Raph standing next to the couch, looking frustrated. Mikey was with him, scratching the back of his head, lifting the blankets on the couch like Leo could somehow have fitted himself under them.
“We’ve looked everywhere. He isn’t here. Which means...” Don turned his head towards the door leading to the stairs and down to the shop.
The cold, dark shop wasn’t very inviting. It felt stupid to think that Leo, who had already been cold, would’ve gone down there. But then again, the shop was dark and quiet, not freezing but chilly, resembling a natural brumating place more than any of the other rooms. Leo hadn’t exactly been himself earlier, so there was no knowing what had been going through his head. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. Hadn’t probably even been thinking at all, just being led by his instinct. That wasn’t good, but Don couldn’t deny that it was interesting, for them to have an instinct that could so completely take over them. He was curious, wanted to figure out what exactly had triggered it, if they really could brumate- but the situation was effectively smothering that curiosity. Leo’s well-being was more important than finding the answers.
Trying to not waste any more time they took the search downstairs.
The shop was as cold as they remembered, and the cold-blooded turtles couldn’t help shivering. Don lifted his hand to flip on the lights, but hesitated. They wouldn’t want to bring attention to the shop now that it was supposed to be closed, so he let his hand fall down, squinting in the dim light coming from the staircase. When their eyes adjusted to the dark the turtles sighed. The upgraded shop wasn’t just a simple room; there were a few extra rooms for storage, full of unwrapped items, wrappings, boxes and other various things. The main room had many cabinets and furniture which would make hiding easy.
“I’m gonna hit him once we find him”, Raph grumbled, but the threat sounded empty. He moved the closest boxes, only to find dust from behind them. He allowed the box he had lifted to drop, and the dust filled the air, causing the turtle to cough and curse. He kicked the box in his frustration, gaining a warning look from Don.
“Stop dropping and kicking stuff, Raph”, Don scolded as he moved further into the shop. “You’re going to break something, and this is April’s stuff.”
Mikey had headed towards one of the storages, noticing a blanket on the floor. He walked over to it, and when he kneeled to grab it he noticed the edge of another blanket from behind a pile of boxes.
“I think I found him”, Mikey called, carefully moving the boxes aside, finding a pile of blankets from behind them. “He’s here!”
Don and Raph were there in an instant, just as Mikey was lifting the blankets down to reveal Leo’s sleeping form. At least the search hadn’t taken long, thanks to the blanket Leo had left behind.
“Out of all the places…” Raph mumbled as he looked at the dusty corner behind the boxes. Mikey made way for Don, and careful hands checked Leo’s pulse once again, finding that his pulse hadn’t yet had time to get much slower. Yet.
“Turtles can brumate underwater, but usually under banks and hollow stumps and rocks. Since he didn’t have any of that, I guess this was the second choice”, Don explained, sounding distant as he carefully eased Leo out from behind the boxes. Raph kneeled next to them, wordlessly offering to carry Leo. Don gave Raph’s arm a look, but decided to let Raph carry him. He did notice that Raph gritted his teeth when Leo’s weight was on him, so he knew that he would still have to keep an eye on Raph’s wound.
Once Leonardo was properly on Raphael’s arms Donatello made sure that the blankets were still tightly around him. They were glad to leave the chilly floor, but Leonardo was now asleep, and the clock was still ticking.
They took Leo to the bedroom, and once Leo was resting on a warm bed instead of a cold floor, draped under blankets, all eyes were on Don.
“So… what can we do?” Raph asked, crossing his arms.
“Yeah, how do we tell his body to stop doing something?” Mikey added, and now they all stared at Leo.
Don could only shrug. “Warmth is still the key. It should make the body realize there’s no need to brumate. But... it is warm, has been for a while. He shouldn’t have been cold enough to fall into brumation.”
“Maybe it’s a mutant thing”, Mikey said, shrugging, placing a hand on Don’s shoulder. It was clear that Don was under a lot of pressure, they kind of counted on him on things like this, but nobody was blaming Don. Except for Don himself. “Like, maybe we hibernate on a slight delay, you know?”
“Brumate”, Don corrected him. “And that doesn’t… that doesn’t make sense, if it gets warm enough, a brumating turtle should wake up.” And it was warm enough, more than enough! If what Mikey said was true, then how should they know what to do, if it’s something only their… kind would do? It’s not like they could just go to the library and pick up a book about mutant turtles. It was something they had to figure on their own. Something Don had to figure out.
“Perhaps when the body is in its normal state, healthy and rested, it could pull this off”, Don said, placing a hand on the side of Leo’s face, looking at him sadly. “But Leo has was pretty sick, he hasn’t recovered yet. His body can’t take something like this right now. His body hasn’t shown nothing but bad signs – he’s going to wear himself out at this rate.”
“Why would his body do something that’d harm him? Doesn’t our system usually try to, like, protect us and stuff?” Mikey asked, searching his memory for the things Don had told him about fevers and other things. “Like, a fever isn’t a good thing, but our body is trying to heal that way, right? So what’s the point of this?”
Don looked at Leo’s still form, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. “I really don’t know”, he said finally. “It’s not like our bodies can’t make mistakes. The sudden changes in temperature, the harsh cold… they must’ve messed something up.” Don knew that unusual weather could mess up the inner clock of animals, making them wake up from hibernation too early, causing confusion to migrating birds- it was weird to make such a comparison, but it made sense. In some way. Don frowned, once again reminded about how much he needed his lab.
“And as you said, Mikey”, Don sighed, “it is kind of difficult to tell our bodies that something they’re doing is wrong.” How could they fight or suppress an instinct? Here they were again; they had allowed Leo to slip from their watch, and now he was unconscious again. How difficult would it be to wake him up this time? How difficult would it be to keep him awake, when it had already been so hard before? Besides, waking him up had proved to be only a temporary solution. Don hesitated. Was the best option to wake him up as soon as possible, or wake him after they came up with a better solution at keeping him up? Which would help Leo save his strength – which would prevent him from slipping too far into his exhaustion?
Was it even right to try to fight the instinct, or were they just doing more harm than good?
Don drew his hand away, still looking down at Leo. Keeping him up had only drained him of the remaining strength he had, but if this turned out to be a sleep Leo never woke up from- how could Don ever forgive himself? The mere thought made him feel sick, made him grip the blankets harshly. Made him make his mind.
“Alright, Leo”, Don said, trying his best to not sound so defeated. “Time to wake up.”
“I wish it was summer”, Michelangelo mumbled, gently stroking Leonardo’s arm while holding his head on his lap. “Remember how warm the rooftops are after the sun has warmed them all day long? And then, at night, they’re starting to cool down and they’re just warm enough. It’s the best, isn’t it?”
Their attempts at waking Leonardo up had, to say it simply, failed. Leonardo was still asleep, resting in Michelangelo’s hold while the youngest talked to him, speaking about whatever came to mind, hoping to somehow reach him with his voice and get him to wake up. The youngest brushed his finger over an angry bruise on Leo’s cheek with a sad look on his face, the mark being proof that they truly had tried their hardest to wake him. Seeing the bruise they had caused had finally forced them to stop; it was no use. Their earlier method of waking him up no longer worked; roughing him up was only causing unnecessary pain to the leader now.
Not like Leo seemed to be feeling it now, but it didn’t make it any easier to look at the mark. They gave each other bruises all the time, it was inevitable during training, but the situation was so much different now. Leo wasn’t there to defend himself or to even punch back- he just… he just wasn’t there at all.
And they had no idea how to make him come back.
“After the snow melts, we could go the farmhouse, get some real sunlight, right?” Mikey kept talking, never getting an answer.
Don sat in front of his laptop at the end of the bed, reading about turtle brumation. If something from the outside couldn’t wake Leo up, then it had to come from the inside. Leo’s body needed to realize that it had to wake up. Raph sat down next to him, reading over Don’s shoulder.
“None of this is very helpful”, Raph commented impatiently. After realizing that they truly couldn’t get Leo to wake up Mikey had been quiet, only talking nonsense to Leo, and Raph was on the edge. They were all doing their best to remain calm, but the situation wasn’t looking good, and from the corner of his eye Don could see that Raph’s hand had gripped the hilt of his sai. “This is all about normal turtles.”
“Oh? Should I google “mutant turtle hibernation”, then?” Don asked just as impatiently. The frustration of the situation wasn’t only getting to Raph.
“Sorry”, Raph said, still gritting his teeth, and Don sighed. They couldn’t start losing it now.
“No, I’m sorry. Look at this”, Don said, pointing at the screen as he read, “ Add extra light. You need to put your pet in an area where he will receive a lot of natural light. ”
Raph cringed at the word pet, but didn’t dwell on it. “So… we need lamps?” He sounded doubtful.
“Warmth should be more effective, but since it clearly isn’t, maybe we need light. It’s… it’s worth a try, at least. Anything at this point is.” The apartment had been dark most of the time. Perhaps light added with the warmth would do the trick. Don stared past the screen of the laptop. Leo’s condition was going nowhere, and lamps were his solution? He ran his hand over his face.
“Oh”, Raph breathed, as he continued reading the screen. Don lowered his hand and focused on the screen again, following Raph’s gaze to the text he was reading.
“You should also not hibernate your pet if he is sick or has health problems”, the site told them.
“Well, that’s what I needed to hear”, Don mumbled quietly. The information was obvious, but reading it in this situation was like a blow to the face.
“This just keeps getting better and better”, Raph muttered, hopping off of the bed, not wanting to accidentally read any other bad news.
“Normal lamps aren’t going to bring enough warmth to really do anything”, Don said, standing up as well. “But this’ll be about the light. I’ll go check out the shop, I think I saw some lamps down there. Can you check the other rooms? Take the night-lamps and see if there’s anything else we could use.”
Raph nodded, still clearly not having much faith in this plan, but headed out of the bedroom. Before heading to the shop Don glanced at the screen one more time, feeling the weight of the situation heavily on himself as he read the end of the page.
“If you wake up a hibernating turtle, you shouldn’t let them fall asleep again. If he uses too much energy during hibernation, he may not have enough energy to ever wake up.”
“That’s bright”, Mikey said, shielding his eyes from the light. “ Really bright.”
“That’s good”, Don said, placing his hands on his hips as he observed the lamps now surrounding the bed. There weren’t that many, a few night-lamps, and something he had found from the shop, but one of the lamps was quite bright, being much more effective than the rest of the lamps combined.
“So these should help?” Mikey asked hopefully, looking down at Leo, who was still resting on his lap. He had been quiet and still ever since they had found him from the shop, the total stillness unnerving, but at least his temperature wasn’t dropping anymore. His body wasn’t producing enough heat, but as long as someone was keeping him warm his condition wasn’t getting worse. His pulse was still steady. His vital signs weren’t dropping; he was caught between somewhere in between, not falling deeper into his slumber, but unable to wake up.
“I hope so. Wish they could produce warmth, not just light, but…” Don rubbed the back of his neck. “We don’t really have any heat lamps or anything like that.”
“But we’ve got body warmth!” Mikey said, shifting a little so that he could better wrap his arms around Leo. “Come on, Leo, feel the warmth! Look, even the sun is up!”
Mikey brought one of the lamps closer, but Leo stayed as still as before, his chest moving in a steady rhythm under the blankets.
“Isn’t there anything else we can do?” Raph asked, still as impatient as before, looking from the lamps to Don.
“I–“
The wind howled so loudly that Don’s words drowned under the noise. The lamps flickered. Once, twice, but stayed on. Another howl of the wind rattled the window, and the room went dark.
It took them a moment to realize that the lights weren’t coming back.
“Great! Absolutely fantastic!” Raph moaned, throwing his hands up. Not like anybody saw it in the dark. “It’s like everything is against us. We just gathered the damn lamps and now this happens.”
“Don’t worry, Leo, it’s just a little cloudy”, Mikey whispered down to Leo, holding him tighter.
“We should… should at least use the flashlights”, Don said, trying to hide his disappointment, nervously stumbling in the darkness. But the truth was that despair was starting to catch up with him- the last time Leo had slept it had taken just a few hours to make his breathing slow down, and how many times could Leo’s body go through these drastic changes? It wasn’t an easy task for his recovering body to keep alternating the state of his vital signs. You couldn’t keep lowering the rate of your heartbeat, and then bring it back up just to lower it again. Don had already started counting on the lights, thinking that light could really be their solution, but now that was gone. They needed the lamps or an alternative solution. Just waiting wasn’t an option.
In the flaslight’s glow Don checked Leo’s pulse. Steady, but as he had expected, getting slower. For a moment he just stared at his pale face, hoping to see his eyes flutter, or at least some kind of movement. Leo had been able to wake up on his own before, but now there was nothing.
“Hold this near him”, Don said, handing the flashlight to Mikey. “It probably won’t do much good, but… it’s better than no light at all...”
“Maybe we need a loud noise”, Mikey suggested. He inhaled deeply, and Don quickly covered his ears. “LEOOO! WAKE UP!”
Nothing. Not like Don had expected that to help, but Mikey pouted.
“Maybe if we bang some pans and pots together-“
Michelangelo shifted to get up to get the pans, but Donatello placed a hand on his shoulder.
“No, you just keep him warm”, the genius quickly instructed, not wanting their ability to hear to get destroyed. If physical contact hadn’t woken Leo up, Don doubted that any sound would.
“You’re lucky the wind is so damn loud”, Raph growled as he came back into the bedroom. “Otherwise the whole neighbourhood would’ve heard you screaming.”
In the faint light they could see that Raph had gone to get a glass of water, and as Raph held it over Leo’s face neither Mikey nor Don said anything. The mark on Leo’s cheek was mostly Raph’s handiwork, his attempts at waking Leo up had nearly turned into punches earlier, and now he was trying to wake him up with water? The other two stayed silent, actually daring to feel hopeful. Maybe the glass of water would be their lucky break. Perhaps the solution could be something simple for once. They kept still as Raph tilted the glass- they were desperate for something to work.
The water splashed on Leo’s face, and Mikey yelped when some of the cold liquid hit him as well. Leo didn’t as much as twitch. Raph growled, his fists clenching. The frustration finally boiled over. The younger brothers saw the warning signs, how hurt masked in anger flashed in Raph’s eyes, but were too slow to stop him. Raph’s fist connected with the side of Leo’s face, much harder than any of the hits he had given Leo before. The crack of Leo’s jaw was painfully loud in the otherwise silent room. Mikey yelped again, tried to lean over Leo to shield him from Raph, but the growling turtle dug his nails into Leo’s shoulders and forcefully pulled him up from Mikey’s lap.
“Wake the fuck up or I’ll–”
“Raph!” Don pushed his arm between his older brothers, trying to get Raph to back off. “That’s enough! Geez, if you dislocated his jaw-”
Leo’s groan was barely audible, but it was there. His face was twisted in pain as he tried to open his eyes, but it didn’t seem to be enough. Raph’s hold on him quickly softened.
“Leo?” Raph called, but his eyes stayed closed. Raph turned to Don. “He’s awake, isn’t he?”
“I… I think so, but he’s just too exhausted. His body can’t even produce the warmth he needs, it’s struggling to wake up.” Don looked down at Leo, touching the side of his jaw, twisting his head to see better. His jaw seemed okay, but he’d be feeling that punch for a while. ”Or maybe it’s still trying to prevent him from waking up – damn this blackout…”
Donatello touched Raphael’s hand, and the turtle in red understood, finally easing Leonardo back down on the bed. Leo was gritting his teeth, but his expression was starting to go back to the emotionless mask they had seen too much lately, telling them that he was slipping back to complete unconsciousness. Raph touched Leo’s cheek carefully, his fingers touching the spot where a new mark was forming from his punch. Both bruises on Leo’s face were from him, the latest already looking ugly, and Mikey and Don saw the guilt on his face.
“So here’s what we do. We let him rest, let him gather his strength, and hope that the warmth will snap him out of the brumation thing, so that he’ll… sleep… normally. If we keep him warm his body doesn’t have to produce so much heat, it can spend that energy on waking up.” Don swallowed. Up until now waiting had been out of question, and now it was the best option. He really didn’t have any idea what he was doing, and the weight on his shoulders only got heavier. Especially when he realized that it was, once again, a race against time; would Leo be able to regain enough strength to stay awake before his body’s need to brumate took him too far into his unconscious state?
“Let him rest, don’t let him rest; we really can’t decide, huh?” Mikey said out loud what Don had been thinking. It stung, even though Mikey had meant it as a joke. The youngest caught how Don turned his head away, and leaned forward to grab Don’s arm, and pulled.
Don turned to look at him with a confused look, allowing Mikey to drag him closer until he realized that Mikey wanted him to lie down as well.
“Mikey- I still need to-”
“You said that body heat is better than the blankets”, Mikey said, letting go of Don only when the genius brother had been pulled next to Leo. He threw a blanket over Don, then snuggled up against Leo on his other side. Don blinked at the situation, staying still for a moment, but then he pushed the blanket away. He couldn’t. He couldn’t just do nothing-
Raph pushed him back down when he attempted to sit up, and Don gave him a betrayed look. Raphael nudged him closer to Leonardo to get some room for himself, and just like that Donatello got sandwiched between his big brothers.
“Great. Now look what your stubbornness did, Donnie, I gotta cuddle ”, Raph muttered darkly, trying to sound annoyed, but didn’t quite succeed as well as he had hoped. Don tried to sit up again, but Raph only draped his arm over him, stopping him from leaving. Don sighed in defeat, then glanced to his side where Leo rested. He would’ve wanted to at least get some ice for Leo’s face, but doubted that Leo was feeling anything right now. If he’d show signs of being in pain he’d get it. Putting ice on him would kind of go against of what they were trying to do anyway, so…
Donatello turned his head to glare at the dark lamps. He sighed again, now because he felt betrayed by everything. “We would’ve really needed those lights. I’m sure they would’ve helped...” At least he had wanted them to help.
“Maybe the power comes back soon”, Mikey said hopefully, yawning, feeling sleepy now that he was lying down. “And the sun will shine again. Maybe the rooftops will be warm, too…”
Mikey’s yawn was infectious, and his brothers couldn’t help feeling sleepy as well. Lying down wrapped in the blankets just had that effect. Don still felt anxious about not being able to continue his search on his laptop, but at least now he was able to hear Leo’s steady breaths, not needing to constantly glance over his shoulder to see his brother. And Mikey was sleepily mumbling instead of being quiet and miserable, and Raph wasn’t sulking alone about his guilt.
He wanted to fight the sleepiness that was settling over him. The bed wasn’t designed to hold four mutant turtles, but when they were squished against each other like this, they fit. The warmth was nice but it still felt wrong to just… to just wait. Don knew there wasn’t anything else he could do, but he still felt guilty when his eyelids started to feel heavy.
Sleep and the nothingness that came with it was a comfort that clung to him, but Don knew he couldn’t hold onto it for much longer. He forced himself awake, and before he even opened his eyes, he realized that the room was bright. The power had come back on while they had slept. Strange that he hadn’t woken up to that… Don yawned, hoping he hadn’t slept for too long. Checking on Leo was already on his mind, and he had to squirm to turn himself over so that he could face the eldest, moving carefully in order to not wake up the red banded brother sleeping next to him. He stretched his left arm; he had accidentally slept on top of it, and had to wait for the blood to start flowing again. When he finally had access to Leo he felt his forehead, his other hand finding Leo’s arm under the blankets.
Warm. Leo’s skin was warm. Don lowered his head, feeling a smile on his face. Finally the warmth had started sticking to the leader, and his pulse was stronger as well. He wanted to try to wake him up, but his vital signs were better, meaning he wasn’t in danger right now. Don allowed his head to fall back on the bed, and this time he felt comfortable and relieved instead of anxious and guilty.
Don kept snoozing between his brothers until Mikey woke up. The youngest mumbled something about food and headed out of the room. Don considered moving to the other side of Leo to make sure that there was warmth all around him, but was too lazy, so only snaked his arm around him, pulling himself closer. Not like there was much room between them anyways. Raph mumbled something behind him, and Don could feel him pressing closer as well, and now Don was totally sandwiched again. He huffed, but didn’t really mind.
The next time he woke up he was alone with Leo. Hushed sounds were audible from the other room, and Don wondered how he hadn’t woken up to them before. He must’ve been exhausted as well, first not waking up to the lights, now his brothers leaving. At least he had paid off some of his sleep debt.
Donatello sat up, sitting still just to gather himself for a moment. He would’ve liked to fall back into the blankets; the room was chilly compared to the bed, and the drowsiness was still there. If it was this hard for him to get up, he couldn’t imagine how it must’ve been for Leo when they had forced him to stay awake earlier. Hopefully that was now behind them.
After making sure that he hadn’t just imagined Leo’s pulse getting better he dared to leave him alone for a moment, and found his brothers from the kitchen. Food reminded him that it had been hours since Leo had last eaten. It did seem that Leo was only sleeping now, not falling into something that was basically turtle coma, and he needed the rest to gather his strength. But to get better he’d also have to eat. Don felt fidgety about the thought of waking him up – they all wanted to wait and see if Leo would finally wake up on his own, but how long would that take?
“Slept well?” Mikey asked, stuffing more bread into his mouth. Don pushed his worries about Leo aside for a moment, thinking about Mikey’s question; he did feel more rested, but his anxiety had been present even in his dreams. But he did feel slightly better, so he nodded.
“Has your head been bothering you anymore?” Don asked as he took a seat, and Mikey shook his head, his mouth too full to answer. Don looked at Raph. “And how’s your arm, Raph?”
Raph shrugged, moving the arm tentatively, and Don caught the slight flinch. Raph didn’t look too bothered about it, only shrugging again. “It’s getting better.”
Of course Don didn’t believe it before he saw it, ignoring Raph’s protests as he checked the wound. It hadn’t had much time to heal yet, but at least Raph hadn’t reopened it… again. Not like he had had a chance to do nothing besides rest. Had they been back at the lair, where Raph’s punching bag was, the situation could’ve been, no, it would’ve been different.
New bandages were almost covering the wound again, when a loud bang and a crash were audible from the bedroom. Raph bounced up from the chair so fast the chair fell down, but Mikey was slightly faster, getting to the bedroom first. The door was yanked open, and a wind mercilessly cold greeted them. The window of the room was fully open, and the wind was throwing snow inside. The window had knocked down a vase from the windowsill, and it lay in scattered pieces on the floor. Mikey broke through the shock first, running to the window, careful to not step on the sharp pieces on the floor, having to fight the wind to get the window shut.
Raph hadn’t given the window a second glance; his thoughts had immediately gone to what had happened the last time had seen an open window. They had left Leo buried under the blankets, but his head wasn’t visible where it should’ve been. But Leo escaping through the window like before, it just couldn’t be possible, not again-
Raph almost had a heart attack when he lifted the blankets and was met with Leo’s open, but wary eyes. He definitely hadn’t expected to see the leader awake- had kind of expected to not see him at all. Had expected him to be running outside again… Raph felt a flicker of anger at the thought, but was too relieved to see Leo awake to be angry.
“The handle is broken!” Mikey yelled, having to hold both his hands against the window or the wind would just force it open again.
“Let me grab something”, Don said, hurrying out of the room. While holding the window closed, Mikey turned his head towards the bed.
“Is Leo-?”
“He’s fine. And awake”, Raph said, still watching Leo’s face. The leader was no longer looking at him, trying to crane his neck to see Mikey and the window. Raph lowered the blankets slightly so that he could see, and then noticed Mikey’s wide grin, and how he was about to step away from the window. “Mikey, the window!”
“Right, uh, sorry! But Leo, you’re awake! Man, I wanna hug you so badly!” Mikey was clearly barely containing his excitement, wanting to come closer, but stayed by the window. Mikey’s grin was wide, and Raph felt himself grinning too. Leo moved his head back towards him, blinking slowly up at him, and Raph noticed that he still looked wary.
“Did the window startle you?” Raph asked teasingly, even though he felt a bit bad for him. He was just too relieved at the moment, and couldn’t help his grin getting wider when Leo’s frown answered his question.
“You would be startled too if you had just woken up and… then that”, Leo huffed, his voice quiet, but at least he was talking. He was back.
“You woke up on your own?” Don asked hopefully from the door, having heard him despite his almost non-existent voice. In his hands Don had some quickly gathered tools.
“Don! Hurry up! I’ve got a turtle to hug!” Mikey called from the window, but Don ignored him momentarily so that he could stop by the bed and see for himself that Leo really had his eyes open. Yes, hearing his voice wasn’t enough after all that had happened. When their eyes met, Don gave him a smile which Leo returned, even though the eldest seemed a bit confused. The relief that washed over him was almost overwhelming and Don didn’t want to look away, afraid that something would go wrong once he turned his back, but he needed to fix the window so that Mikey wouldn’t have to keep his hands on the cold glass.
Leo squirmed under the blankets, and Raph sat properly on the bed to help him sit up. Mikey was freed from the window, and just when Leo was almost up, he was tackled back down on the bed with Mikey’s arms tightly around him. Leo only groaned, too weak to hug Mikey back, only able to gently pat the arm that was squeezing him.
“Leo! Dude, you don’t know how great it is to see you awake!” Mikey drew away so that he could look down at the turtle under him, grinning widely. Leo wasn’t that grateful for the weight on top of him, but smiled at his little brother anyways.
“Mikey, go easy on him”, Don chuckled from the window, tentatively letting go of the temporary handle he had created. The fix wasn’t perfect, but the window stayed closed. Good enough for now. Don was about to turn away from it, but turned back to the window, squinting. It was dark outside and the lights behind him made it hard to see, but he had seen movement outside. Of course the wind could be throwing snow around, or the lights could be making weird reflections against the glass… Don shook his head, turning away.
Mikey had allowed Leo to sit up again, or, well, he had mostly dragged Leo back up, since Leo was still weak and moving on his own seemed to be difficult for him. The leader was leaning against Mikey, Raph still sitting on his other side, his hands crossed over his plastron, but he was smiling. Leo’s eyes were only half open, but at least they were open. Don sat down on the bed as well, relieved when he noticed that Leo had regained some of his focus. He still looked exhausted, but not like he was going to fall asleep without a warning.
Leonardo shifted, not wanting to lean on Mikey so heavily, but he didn’t seem to have the strength to move himself. He frowned, and then his expression turned a bit panicked, causing Don and Raph to automatically lean closer.
“M-my legs”, Leo gasped, his voice still quiet, barely audible. “I can’t move-”
Don hurried to place his hand over Leo’s knee in a calming manner. “Your body has just tired itself out”, he gently explained. “It has most likely used all your energy for the preparation to brumate. You just need to rest and get that energy back. Your legs are okay. Here, feel this?”
Don gave Leo’s knee a light squeeze to let him know that he had feeling in his legs. Leo closed his eyes, allowing the information he had received to sink in. Then he looked back up, raising a brow. “Brumation?”
Don couldn’t help laughing a little. “Yeah. I’ll explain it to you once you’re actually awake enough to listen. But now, you must be starving. I’ll be back in a sec.” So Don said, but he wasn’t moving anywhere, finding it hard to look away from Leo. He was just so glad to see him awake, so glad that he wouldn’t have to fight the thing trying to take him away-
“Donnie”, Leo called softly, trying to reach for him, and Don realized his eyes had glistened over. Quickly he blinked his eyes and took Leo’s weakly outstretched hand, giving it a small squeeze.
“Glad to see you awake, Leo”, Don managed, letting go and finally getting up from the bed. “Does soup sound okay?”
“I’m too sleepy to hear an explanation, but I can eat?” Leo smiled tiredly at his brother, but didn’t deny that he was hungry. Even though eating didn’t really feel like a pleasant idea at the moment; his jaw ached, and when he spoke the ache only got worse. Now that he thought about it, the whole side of his face was aching, and he couldn’t help wincing when he managed to lift his hand up to touch his jaw.
“Get some ice as well”, Raph called after Don, his voice oddly emotionless. Leo glanced at him, and just one look at his brother’s face told him everything. The slapping he recalled receiving earlier he could understand, but punching him? Leo wanted to complain, but realized that he hadn’t even awoken to being punched. At least he couldn’t remember that he had. His brothers must’ve been pretty desperate to wake him… or maybe Raph had enjoyed punching him. Leo looked at his brother again; Raph certainly didn’t look happy about it. He had placed his brothers in quite a situation, forcing them to punch him, and even then he hadn’t woken up. Raph felt guilty, Mikey’s hand wrapped around him held him still too tightly, and the look Don had had on his face just now…
Leo moved his head, squinting at the lights surrounding them. Mikey noticed, and pushed the closest lamp away so that Leo could properly hold his eyes open without being blinded by the light.
“Why all the lamps?” Leo asked tiredly, sighing while leaning his head against Mikey’s shoulder again. He was too tired to wrestle with his thoughts about how he had allowed himself to get like this, leaving himself to be such a burden on his brothers, so he focused on asking simple questions.
“Don’s idea”, Raph said, watching the eldest with his arms still crossed. “Ya were pretty hard to wake up. Had to get creative.”
There was no blame in Raph’s voice, but Leo couldn’t help sighing again. “It was nice to wake up to them”, he mumbled. “For a moment I thought it was sunlight.”
Mikey and Raph smiled at each other. That had been the idea.
“And then the window opened”, Leo continued. “Scared the hell out of me.”
Raph and Mikey glanced at each other. Leo was still a bit loopy, never swearing otherwise.
“Scared us too”, Mikey said, glancing towards the window. The wind was still howling outside, the new handle shaking a little. “Bad window. Or, wind. And winter. And-”
Don came back with the promised soup, and even though Leo didn’t like being babied, he couldn’t say much when the youngest helped him hold his spoon. Being too weak to even properly hold a spoon really clawed at his pride, but at least Raph and Don left them alone, letting Leo save some of the remains of his dignity. Raph was cleaning the broken vase from the floor while Don was making sure that the window wouldn’t open again. After they were done they left, though Leo could tell they were a bit hesitant about that.
Leo’s movements were sluggish at first, but Mikey was ever so patient with him. Opening his mouth hurt, but his hunger demanded him to ignore the pain. Leo was slowly regaining control over his body, and was eventually able to hold the spoon on his own. Didn’t mean that Mikey left his side, didn’t mean that Leo was ready to get up on his own yet. He knew that even without trying, and couldn’t help frowning at his condition. At least his strength was starting to return to him, even if it was a slow process.
After sleeping for so long he wanted to get up, wanted to know if anything had happened while he had been out, but even if his mind wasn’t as tired as before, his body was. He didn’t resist when Mikey eased him back down, but gave his brother a useless look when blankets were draped over him.
“I didn’t know it was possible for someone to sleep this much”, Leo muttered. It hurt to speak, but he had already lost his body to his exhaustion, he wouldn’t lose his voice to the pain.
“Hibernation, dude”, Mikey answered, then scratched his chin. “Or… bru… bruma… whatever it was. Would be kinda cool to sleep the winter away, wouldn’t have to stand this cold. But then I’d miss all the snow, snow is nice… Hey, I asked Don about warm snow earlier, didn’t I? Can’t remember what he said about it…”
“I think he ignored that one”, Leo chuckled. “Warm snow means a puddle of water, Mikey.”
“Yeah. Laame.” Mikey adjusted the pillows behind Leo’s head, adding one extra to support the ice pack he carefully pressed against Leo’s cheek. Leo braced himself for the cold, but still flinched a little when it touched his tender skin. “Sorry about your face. Raph was really worried, we all were, and you know he gets angry when he feels helpless, and I didn’t think he’d punch that hard, I didn’t think he’d punch you at all, it just happened so fast, I-”
“Mikey”, Leo cut his rambling off, giving his brother a reassuring smile. “It’s alright. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Well, you’re up now”, Mikey smiled back, chuckling a little as he added, “though it looks like you won’t be for long. Do you need me to get you anything?”
Leo hummed, closing his eyes since they were already starting to do that on their own. “No, I’m already asleep”, he mumbled.
Michelangelo grinned at him, giving his shoulder a brief squeeze. He was about to leave, but his hand stayed on Leo’s shoulder, and his grin faltered.
“Leo?”
Leonardo opened only one eye, glancing up at him. Michelangelo bit his lip.
“Promise you’ll wake up soon?”
Leo blinked up at him, but smiled, reaching for the hand that still rested on his shoulder. “I promise. And you’re going to regret wishing it, because I’m going to make all of us work for all the training we’ve missed.”
Mikey could only chuckle. “I think it’s going to take a while before you’ll be able to even lift your sword, bro. No offense!”
Leo only hummed, his eyes closed again. “Sooner than you’ll think”, he mumbled sleepily, and finally Mikey dared to leave him to sleep. He closed the door behind him carefully, even though Leo was probably already asleep.
When Mikey entered the living room he found his brothers standing by one of the windows.
“I thought it was just my imagination”, Don was telling Raph. “But I haven’t been able to shake this feeling…”
The lights were turned off, but Mikey could tell they were leaning on the window frame, both glancing through the glass. Since it was just as dark in the apartment as it was outside, it was easy to see the falling snow, the outline of nearby rooftops, a few lights in the distance. No cars were audible, only the harsh wind blew across the street.
Until something caught their eye, and both turtles standing by the window were immediately alert.
“The Foot”, Raph was first to whisper, his hand automatically going for his sai. Mikey had been curiously getting closer, and rushed the rest of the way to the window.
“What? How’d they know that we’re here?” Mikey asked as he pressed his face against the window to see, only to be pulled back by Don.
“I don’t think they do”, Don said, watching as one of the ninja climbed on the neighbour roof, out of sight. “It doesn’t look like they’re headed here.”
“Well, I bet my ass they’re not just out for a walk”, Raph growled, turning away from the window. Don looked after him, watching how Raph grabbed his jacket, then hurried away from the window as well.
“Raph! What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” Raph grunted at him, already buttoning up the jacket. “I’m going to see what they’re up to.”
“Raph”, Don began, trying to sound reasonable. “We can’t.”
“ I can. I’m not gonna just sit on my butt when I know that they’re so close”, Raph growled, pushing Don out of the way. “Besides, they know we’re always there when something happens in this part of the city. They’ll go on a rampage if they realize that a little snow is stopping us!”
“A little snow?” Don asked, shaking his head when he walked after his brother. “It’s not just the snow. Leo is not even close to being able to fight-”
“Nobody said Leo was coming.”
“Raph… we don’t know how many-”
“I don’t care. It’s the Foot, I can take them. I gotta take them. This is our part of the city!”
“And your arm is still healing! You can’t take them one-handed!”
Raph growled because Don was partially right. His arm was still hurting, and he wasn’t looking forward to taking any new hits to it, or even using it to punch anything. Or anyone. But there was no way he was letting this slip; if there was Foot, they took care of that. That’s how it was. Even if his arm ached, even if he couldn’t properly use it, he still looked forward to busting some heads. Everything that had happened lately had been building up his frustration, and being stuck inside the small apartment hadn’t helped any.
“I’ll just see what they’re up to”, Raph lied.
“Right”, Mikey called from the window, finally stepping away from it as well. “We all know how that’s going to end.”
Raph smirked at that. It wasn’t like he had expected his brothers to buy his words. “So tell Don to get over it. I’m going.”
Don could only shake his head, then held his hand up as a sign for Raph to wait. “Alright, but I’m coming with you.”
“Me too”, Mikey said firmly, causing Don to stop and look towards the bedroom.
“...You know Leo’s going to have a fit if he wakes up and we’re not here”, he said quietly.
“Then we’ll make this quick. He won’t know we were gone. You saw him, he’s not gonna wake up in a while. Right?” Raph turned to look at Mikey, who hesitantly nodded. Leo had fallen asleep pretty quickly. “C’mon then, let’s go before we lose their tracks!”
Tracking the group of ninja would’ve been impossible without their tracks still printed in the snow. New snow was coming down hard and fast, so it wouldn’t be that long until the tracks would disappear forever, forcing the mutants to be fast. None of the turtles had very fond memories of snow and their latest trips outside, but they had rested, their clothes were dry and warm, and the mission had them focused. Despite their gear the wind was still making things difficult for them, trying to get through the protective layers of clothing, and the ground was slippery under their feet. Definitely not an environment they were used to, but they had been taught to adjust to change.
The Foot ninja weren’t moving as a single group. They moved in pairs, but all of them were headed towards the same, unknown destination. They hadn’t seen any humans near April’s apartment in a while, but here, in the open, they could see that some had decided to face the storm and wandered down on the streets. The rooftops were especially slippery, but they had no choice but to stay up, out of people’s sight.
“Why couldn’t they wait until the storm’s over?” Mikey wailed, not bothering to lower his voice, since the wind drowned it anyways.
“The storm’s perfect for a bunch of ninja”, Don answered. “Does all the work for them. They don’t need to do much to be hidden.” Except not fall over on the ice coating the edges of the rooftops.
They were getting closer to the river, and the ninja in front of them were starting to slow their speed. The pairs had ran on different rooftops, but now they were gathering together, until they stopped on the same roof. They stood near the edge, looking down at something.
If the turtles wanted to see what the ninja were looking at, they had to get close from the side, meaning that they had to switch rooftops. And meaning that they had to be extra stealthy; they were no longer behind the Foot ninja, meaning that it’d be easier for them to spot them if they weren’t careful.
After some stumbling on the icy surface, climbing on the slippery ladders and cursing the wind blowing towards them they were finally at a spot where they were able to see. One of the Elite stood on the street below, the building next to him shielding him from the worst of the wind. He was facing a man wearing a long, dark coat, and between them on the snow was a suitcase. Some kind of a trade?
But the Elite and the man, whose features were difficult to see from the position they were in, didn’t seem to have reached an agreement. The wind was too loud and blowing from the wrong direction for them to be able to make out what they were talking about, but the man sounded agitated even over the howls of the wind.
“Wanna bet how much money there is in that suitcase?” Mikey whispered, but never got an answer when a gunshot rang through the street. The Elite had easily jumped out of the way of gunfire, but the man wasn’t finished, shooting again. Don pushed both his siblings flat on the rooftop they were on; even though the gun wasn’t aimed up and at them, the gun was still pointed towards their direction.
“Urk! Shit, Don, thanks for the mouthful of snow!” Raph groaned, spitting out snow.
“C’mon, before the Elite gets him!” Don urged, already drawing out his bō-staff and grabbing the edge of the roof to haul himself over it.
“Why are we helping some shady guy who’s doing business with the Foot?” Mikey groaned out, following suit.
“We’re not going to watch the Elite butcher him”, Don answered, letting go of the edge. The snow softened their fall, and by the time they were on the ground the man with the gun had retreated into the shop next to them, the suitcase with him. The Elite rushed after him, but before he reached the door Don’s bō struck him hard on the side of his left knee. The Elite made no sound, but Don could see the surprise in his eyes when he turned to look at him. It quickly disappeared when Don swung his weapon again, the Elite dodging only barely, having to retreat more when Raph came at him with his sai.
There was no sound, but Don sensed that the Foot ninja on the roof had dropped down, quickly surrounding them. He needed to help Raph with the Elite, but couldn’t leave Mikey to face the rest alone. He turned around, only to see Mikey by the doorway, a bullet missing him just barely.
“Dude, don’t shoot! We’re here to help you!”
“Mikey! Get away from the doorway!” Don yelled, not wanting Mikey by the door when the human still had his gun, but Mikey had already disappeared inside, three ninja following after him. A sword coming at him from the side took his attention, and while Don defended himself with his bō he turned his head to see Raph. He was holding off the Elite, but two ninja were behind him. Raph was using both his hands to keep the Elite’s spear from sinking into him, he couldn’t defend his back-
Donatello kicked down the ninja on him, spinning his bō and making another fall, and in a flash two shuriken flew from his hand. They sank into the backs of the ninja behind Raph, while Raph managed to knock the spear out of the Elite’s hands. The Elite jumped back to retrieve it, and that gave Raph time to get rid of two more ninja that had gotten closer from his left.
“Thanks, Don”, Raph called, but couldn’t turn around to look at Don, having to keep an eye on the Elite. “Where’s Mikey?”
“He went inside! We have to follow!” Don answered hastily, jumping next to Raph, swirling his bō down low, and when the Elite dodged, Raph attacked. His sai tore through the Elite’s winter gear, blood gushing to the white ground, and his other sai connected with the side of the Elite’s head. He went down, and the turtles didn’t stay to see if he came back up; more ninja had rushed inside the building, and they followed.
The first thing they saw was blood, too much of it, completely covering the carpet on the floor. Dread washed over them until they saw the ninja lying on the side; there was a hole in his chest where blood was still lazily flowing. The sounds of a fight were coming from somewhere above them, and they wasted no more time staring at the body, rushing past it into the stairs and up to the second floor.
Something collided hard with Donatello, sending the turtle backwards right into Raphael, who had been running just behind him. His pair of sai clattered to the floor, but he managed to grab Don’s shell and steady himself so that they didn’t both fall flat on their shells.
“What took you so long? One of them took the suitcase and jumped through the window!” Mikey, who had been the one colliding with Don after a ninja had kicked him, pushed himself away from Don and rushed back to the center of the room. The rest of the Foot ninja were throwing themselves out of the window as well, and Mikey would’ve followed had Don not hurried after him and grabbed his arm.
“Slow down, Mikey! You’re bleeding!”
And he was, his leg was covered in red, but he shook Don off. “Yeah, but the suitcase!”
“Who cares-”
“It’s not money”, Mikey cut off Raph, jumping on the windowsill. “Now come on!”
The youngest disappeared, and with a shake of his head Don followed. The drop from the window wasn’t long, and Mikey was already up and ready to follow the escaping ninja. Just as Don’s feet hit the snow there was a gunshot, coming from the apartment they had just left. Both brothers halted, looking up at the window to see Raph, but there was nobody by the window.
“Raph!” Panic filled them, Mikey had thought that the human with the gun had been knocked out- Don grabbed the ladder on the wall, yanked it down and started climbing to get back to the apartment, his heart beating wildly against his chest. He knew they shouldn’t have ever left, they hadn’t had time to plan, they hadn’t thought this through, had blindly thrown themselves into this situation, and now-
A growling form appeared to the windowsill, spinning a gun in his hands. “That guy doesn’t know how to aim.”
Don breathed out in relief, then dropped down from the ladder, just as Raph landed down next to him. He wanted to stop and make sure his brother was really alright, but they were in the middle of a chase.
“If it’s not money in the suitcase, then what is it?” Don asked as they took off running, once again following the footprints in the snow.
“The gun-guy mentioned something about a weapon”, Mikey said.
“You sure your leg is okay, Mike?” Raph asked. The heavy snowfall was making it hard to see in the dark street, but the red on Mikey’s clothing was clearly visible.
“Yeah, just a scratch. Accidentally smeared the blood, ‘s why it looks so nasty. Did you know that clothes get really messy really easily?” Mikey shrugged at the mild pain in his leg, not like his brothers saw it, but he felt fine. Well, he did not like running in the heavy snow while the cold wind bit so hard, but that only made him run faster. He would definitely stay inside for the rest of the winter. “Imagine how big the Foot’s laundry bill is. But, hey, they’re showing off their fashion sense again. Those winter jackets they have look pretty nice. They even have those nice fluffy collars! Wonder if they make them in orange?”
The Foot ninja had been dressed in their usual black, and their winter gear wasn’t that much different from what they wore usually. But obviously they would freeze to death were they to roam the streets in their normal clothing.
“I dunno, Mike”, Raph said, grinning; he had spotted one of the ninja. “Ya gotta ask the next time we see Karai.”
Raphael’s sai flew past his brothers, sinking into the back of the ninja’s leg. He went down, causing his group to glance behind them and stop, finally facing the turtles. They were almost to the bridge crossing the river, and they were too much in the open here. The street was deserted, but it didn’t mean that somebody couldn’t pass through here.
The bridge had been closed due to the harsh wind, but the Foot ninja were still backing away towards it, seeming to be intent on crossing it. That was more than fine. Since the bridge was closed off it had no lights on it, meaning that they wouldn’t worry about being spotted there.
This wouldn’t take long; there were only a handful of Foot ninja between them and the ninja holding the suitcase. They seemed to realize that as well; they had already taken their stances, seeming ready to fight, but now they were suddenly retreating again, heading towards the bridge. Raph growled, bending down to tear his sai from the fallen ninja’s calf, and then the chase was on again.
The bridge had been closed for a reason. The wind picked up immediately, only growing in strength when they neared the bridge’s middle. And right there, on the middle of the bridge, the ninja turned around again, now drawing their weapons. From under the bridge crawled more ninja, and the turtles realized the trap too late. Not like it mattered to Raph; more butt to kick!
But the place could’ve definitely been different. At least the wind bothered the Foot just as much as the turtles, if not even more. The turtles were much bulkier, able to keep their balance better. But the cold wind would affect and wear down the cold-blooded creatures faster, so better get this over and done with.
Raph rushed forward, easily taking down the two closest ninja. The sounds of the fight drowned into the wind too easily, and Raph had to constantly glance over his shoulder to see how his brothers were doing, if they needed help. He trusted that they could take care of themselves, but usually he was able to hear what was going on around him, and it’d be easier to tell if one of his brothers needed his help. Well, at least he was able to hear the satisfying cracks of skulls as he took down his enemies, enjoying the rush of adrenaline. It pushed the cold away nicely.
“Ack! The suitcase-dude is trying to run away again!” Mikey yelped over the wind. Raph grabbed his opponent’s wrist and twisted, kicking his side while still holding the hand, letting go when he heard his shoulder crack. He whirled around, spotting the fleeing ninja. Don and Mikey were unable to dash after him, struggling with their own battles, so Raph took action.
“I’m on it!” he announced, then realized that the ninja was heading back to where they had originally come from. Why had they led them to the bridge, then? Had the ninja that had waited for them under the bridge come from the other side of the river? Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. Raph lifted his sai, taking aim-
A heavy weight pushed against his shell, sending him down in the snow. Quickly he rolled to the side, barely dodging the edge of an axe as it slammed into the bridge, right where he had just been. Raph hopped back onto his feet, having to dodge a swipe from a familiar spear. He jumped away, putting some distance between himself and the two suddenly appeared Elite’s.
The ninja carrying the suitcase had stopped, now standing behind the two higher rank ninja. His face was hidden behind a black mask, but from the glint of his eyes Raph could tell that he was grinning. He was so confident that the Elite’s had saved his ass that he wasn’t even running anymore, daring to mock Raph like this.
“One suitcase and two of you”, Raph huffed, looking at the two Elite. “Gotta be something important in there, then.”
The Elite lunged, strikes from both the axe and spear coming at him at incredible speed. Raph danced away from the deadly strikes, sending strikes of his own, managing to hold his ground. But not much else; he was mainly defending, buying time, unable to do real damage of his own since it was two versus one. He wanted to look towards his brothers to see what was taking them so long, but once again he couldn’t take his eyes off of his opponents, their attacks coming at him too fast. Well, he had left Don and Mikey with a huge group of ninja, leaving them seriously outnumbered… But they had taken down that amount of ninja before. Of course the setting was different now, and succeeding once didn’t mean that it’d be the same every time- suddenly Raph regretted leading his brothers here, where the odds were so clearly against them. The winter had already showed them that everything was against them, and that they shouldn’t push their luck. But that’s what he always did, pushed and kept pushing until something broke.
The Elite had just joined the fight, while Raph had fought longer and had been running all over the place. He’d tire before them, and could already feel the fatigue in his muscles when he fended off one of the strikes. The wound in his arm had screamed at him earlier, and now it felt like his whole limb was burning, ready to give up on him. He couldn’t afford that, he had to get back to his brothers, so he had to do something.
A strike from the spear sent him backwards, his shell hitting the railing of the bridge. That’s right – he should take advantage of the environment. He could’ve already moved aside to get into a better position, but he stayed still, waited for the spear to get close- He dodged, and now that the Elite was close, he kicked at his feet. With his enemy off-balance Raph grabbed the spear with both hands, roughly pulling it towards himself. As he had expected, the Elite didn’t let go of his weapon, and Raph was able to throw the tall human over himself down into the icy river. Some ice had formed on top of the lazily flowing river, but Raph never heard it break, the wind too loud in his ears.
That left him with the other Elite, as well as the ninja with the suitcase. He still wasn’t running, but seemed to be considering it now that there was only one Elite left. No way, Raph refused to run after him anymore. He’d take them both down, here and now.
He charged, and suddenly someone cried out in pain. He almost looked around to see who it was before he realized that the sound had come from his own mouth- something had sunken into his already wounded arm, and one glance showed him two shurikens sticking to his skin. They had been thrown from close, and they were buried deep in his flesh, the pain rendering his arm useless.
He almost didn’t notice the axe in time, but managed to roll away, dropping down into a crouch, almost without a head. The pain and exhaustion were catching up to him, and he could only roll away again, and again, until his shell connected with the railing once more. The same trick wouldn’t work twice, and Raph panicked, feeling the railing behind him, using it to pull himself up, but he wouldn’t be fast enough-
From the corner of his eye he saw movement, this time noticing the shurikens. He ducked, only then realizing that they hadn’t been aimed at him. They sank neatly into the Elite’s hand, much like the ones in Raph’s. Heh, some justice, even though Raph still didn’t know who had thrown the shurikens that were still buried in his arm. He didn’t even know who had thrown these, and turned his head, expecting Don or Mikey to be the one that had prevented the axe from sinking into him- definitely not Leo, yet there he stood, his hand still outstretched from the throw.
Raph broke from his surprise, leaning back on the railing and using it to hold his weight as he lifted both legs up, sending a strong kick straight to the Elite’s stomach. He was sent to the other side of the bridge, almost toppling over the railing, but managed to regain his balance.
“What the- Leo, how- how are you here?” Raph stumbled towards his brother, who was fully geared and wearing his winter clothing, but seemed to be struggling with just standing. Raph didn’t even have the time to offer his better arm for support; Leo was already reaching for him, grabbing his arm with both hands to hold himself up. Raph winced as Leo’s hold weighted him down, but managed to hold his brother up.
“I-I told you”, Leo said, his teeth clacking together, his voice almost drowning into the wind. “I have a sixth sense for stupid decisions.”
“Yeah, and it probably replaced your common sense”, Raph growled. “Ya should be in bed! How the hell did you manage to get here?”
Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut, swaying a little when the wind blew over them. “Knew you’d leave. J-just like before…”
“Leo, you idiot-”
“Don and Mikey- where-?”
“Over there”, Raph grumbled, finally able to look at their direction, but the snow was falling so hard that he couldn’t see them. “Fighting.”
The arm Leo was holding was roughly yanked down, bringing Raph down with it. He yelped in surprise, realizing that the Elite had swung his axe, missing only because Leo had pulled him down. Leo’s hands left his arm, and he drew his katana just in time to block the next attack. At least he tried; the heavy axe connected with the blade, and it was immediately sent away from Leo’s weak hand, the sword flying over the railing of the bridge, disappearing down into the river below. Leo held his ground, grabbing his remaining sword with both hands, but Raph knew it’d be useless. Leo had no strength to use his weapon, he was barely standing on his own, and now the Elite knew that.
Raph pushed his brother away, stepping between him and the Elite. His other hand hung uselessly against his side, but the other held his sai up stubbornly. He might be rendered one-handed, but he was still stronger than Leo. The thought was amusing, but the situation wasn’t. The axe was coming down, and Raph caught it with his sai, his legs immediately sliding on the icy surface of the bridge. He gathered his strength, pushing the axe aside, jumping back. Had he been able to use his other hand he would’ve reached for Leo to pull him aside with himself, but he was still frustratingly one-handed.
At least Leo realized to back away, knowing his own strength, or in this case, the lack of it. Not like it helped much; the ninja that was carrying the suitcase had strapped it to his back and had decided to join the fight. He had jumped right in front of Leo, his sword lifted above his head. Raph doubted that Leo could hold his own even against the lower-rank ninja, but as soon as he moved to get to them, the Elite was there, swinging that damn axe of his. The pain radiating from his arm had made him weaker, slower, but a brother in need made him push through the pain, made him angry, and anger made him rush forward and swing his sai. The Elite dodged, but Raph kept pushing, forcing him to back away.
The clash of two swords stole his attention. While Raph drove the Elite towards the railing, the Foot ninja drove Leo. Even in the dark it was clear how Leo shook, how he strained to defend himself, and way too easily the ninja was able to disarm him. Leo’s remaining sword fell into the snow, and the turtle’s movements were too sluggish; he had been driven against the railing, and everyone watching knew that Leo wouldn’t be able to dodge the next blow.
Raph didn’t need to tell his body to move; his legs sent him forward, and before the sword could sink into Leo a sai connected with the side of the ninja’s head, resulting a sickening crack. He was unconscious, maybe even more, before hitting the snow.
Leo yelled, Raph registering his warning too late. A strong kick to his side pushed him against the railing, no, over it, his sai fell from his grip when he tried to reach something to grab. His finger touched the railing, but the ice had made it impossibly slippery. He had no hope of holding on. He saw Leo lean over the railing, reaching for him, but he was already falling. The bridge, Leo and the Elite looming behind his brother disappeared into the heavy snow, Leo’s second yell following him down until the wind silenced it. For an agonizingly long moment the wind was everything Raph could hear and feel, it was so strong, striking at him from every direction, whistling loudly in his ears. He hadn’t heard the ice break when the first Elite fell, but now he could hear and feel it very clearly. The harsh sensation of his shell breaking the ice was nothing compared to the cold that surrounded him- immediately the icy water pushed through his clothing, bubbles of air escaping him from the shock of it all.
Someone was dragging him down, the Elite he had kicked down before? No, impossible, he would’ve drowned by now had he not managed to get out of the water. It was hard to think clearly, he had never felt cold like this before, cold like thousands of knives digging into his skin, paralyzing him. No- he had to move, to swim, had to get back up. But something was still preventing him from getting back to the surface, and Raph realized that his soaked clothes had turned heavy and were the reason his kicks felt so useless. He had always hated clothes, they only got in the way when fighting, and now they wouldn’t only get in the way, they would also drown him. He kicked harder, tried to swim up- but where was up? It was too dark here, too cold. He was still being pulled down, down, further down, and he wondered if he’d ever reach the bottom. He didn’t want to reach it, knowing that there was nothing but death there, but whereas bubbles escaped his mouth and floated towards the surface, he kept sinking.