8A/N: Angry Raph is hard to write...
Obligatory disclaimer to never try any of the medical remedies in this chapter.
"Leo?!"
Raph's terrified yell brought April spinning around. She ran toward the clustered brothers, yelling over her shoulder at Shelldon -and Splinter on the other end- to hurry while the Shell Hogs automatically revved to life and raced off
"Raph, how's-"
"Something's wrong!" Raph burst out.
April dropped down beside him, eyes flicking down to Leo's foot turned in a very wrong direction, then back up. He was unconscious, shivering, and his breathing was too fast, too shallow. His lips were turning a weird teal color.
"He's in shock," April said, quickly removing her jacket. "Raph, get him out of the water. Mikey, we need something to dry Leo and cover him. Cloth, tarps, anything, okay?"
Mikey shot away. April wrapped her jacket around Leo's shoulders, then leaned back while Raph dragged Leo carefully out of the water. She grimaced at the blood oozing from his twisted leg.
"We need to get that leg straight and bandaged," April said. "Raph, you were there when Leo broke his leg before, right?"
"Y-yeah, but Mikey reset the bone last time."
Of course, he had the best attention to detail and he could be delicate when it came to moving fragile things. But…
April glanced at Mikey shakily sorting through a pile of rubbish, then shook her head. Mikey had had to help put Donnie back together only a couple days before. She wasn't making him do that again.
"Hold Leo steady," April told Raph. "I'm going to reset the bone so we can move him."
"You don't think he'll…?"
"He's unconscious now, but he's not going to stay that way for long," April said grimly. "So let's do it while his leg's hopefully a bit numb."
Raph visibly swallowed, but moved so he was sitting in front of April with his hands resting on Leo's shoulders. "Oh… okay, I've got him."
April put a hand on either side of the break, and couldn't help a slight shiver. His skin was so cold!
"April?" Raph asked.
"Just checking the break," April said without raising her head.
April compared the broken leg to the other. She grimaced upon realizing the broken leg was a full inch shorter than the other. If the bones were impacted…
No. April exhaled softly. A simple break. A simple break, she could fix. In theory. Just pull it into place.
"Okay, I'm going to straighten his leg now," April warned.
Compared to fixing Donnie's shell, resetting Leo's leg should have been easy.
It wasn't.
A low grating sound came from the leg, then Leo burst to life so sharply that April had to practically throw her whole weight across his leg to keep him from kicking. Raph reacted instantly, laying halfway across Leo to hold him down and block April from sight.
"Leo, Leo, it's okay!" Raph said. One hand jerked behind his back, frantically gesturing for April to keep working. "It's fine, we got you."
"Ra-Raph?" Leo gasped.
April straddled Leo's knees and pushed his broken leg further down. Leo yelled and thrashed weakly while Raph poured out a steady stream of assurances.
"We have you. You're safe. It's okay, we're going to get you home, bro, it's going to be fine, it's going to be just fine-"
April's eyes flicked back-and-forth. Leo's legs were the same length again, but his foot was still twisted. Just five more seconds…
Leo moaned when April touched his foot, the low sound like a stab to April's heart. Mumbling apologies Leo couldn't hear, April felt the break once more, then smoothly twisted the foot back into position.
Leo didn't make a sound; he just went slack again.
Ice ran down April's spine. "Raph?"
"Pa… passed out again. Leo, it's okay now. You did g-great. It's okay."
"What happened?" Mikey asked, suddenly at April's side. "I heard Leo yell."
"I was fixing his leg," April explained quietly.
Mikey whimpered, then dropped a ragged blanket on the ground. April looked at him in concern, but Mikey just made a "stay here" motion before walking away. April couldn't follow him, not until she had Leo's leg stabilized-
"Here." Mikey returned with a broken board. "For a splint."
"Mikey, you're amazing," April breathed.
April took the board, then accepted the brothers' bandanas. The splint was rough and a bit messy, but they'd have better options back at the lair. Hopefully.
April, Raph, and Mikey carefully dried Leo off as well as they could and covered him with a torn tarp Mikey found. Then all they could do was wait.
Splinter arrived in a concerningly short amount of time, but nobody bothered to mention the new scratches in the paint. Leaving Raph with Leo, April and Mikey ran into the back of the Tank.
Splinter had thankfully thought to stock everything they would need to move Leo, plus several blankets. The three of them grabbed a stretcher, a temporary splint for moving Leo, and a first-aid kit.
April's first priority was to clean and cover the cuts on Leo's leg. It was bad enough that he was still in shock; they didn't need to add infection to the list of things going wrong. Then she and Splinter replaced the junk splint with a proper one. Raph slid Leo onto the stretcher, then he and Mikey carried Leo to the Tank with Splinter steadying him.
April was about to follow when she spotted the disruptor in the mud. As much as she wanted to chuck the device into the river, never to be seen again, she picked up the mess of wires and collected as many of the broken pieces of the metal casing that she could find.
"April, did you see-" Raph stopped, looking at the disruptor. "Good, can't forget that this time."
Raph turned on his heel and marched away. April grimaced and hurried to follow.
"Raph, you're driving," April said, not trusting Splinter's driving just then.
In the hold of the Tank, Mikey was carefully tucking blankets around Leo. April set the disruptor aside and knelt on Leo's other side. She touched Leo's forehead. He was still cold… but he was breathing easier.
"What should we do?" Mikey asked.
"Keep him warm." April sat cross-legged. "And keep him company."
The trip back to the lair was thankfully uneventful, even if April wished Leo would wake up. She and Splinter hovered anxiously as Raph and Mikey carried Leo to their infirmary, a small and understocked room nicknamed the "office." Raph carefully put Leo onto the single gurney and went to the cabinets on one wall.
"You've got an x-ray in here somewhere, right?" April asked.
Mikey shrugged uncertainly. Raph was too busy slamming cabinets to answer. If anyone knew, it would be-
"I'll be right back," April said before running from the office.
Donnie was right where Raph had left him. He flinched when he spotted April.
"Is Leo-"
"His leg's broken and he's unconscious," April said. "Where's an x-ray?"
"In my lab. On the table- no." Donnie rubbed his forehead. "No, no, upper drawer of the cabinet in the left-hand corner. It looks like a tablet."
"Thanks. Don't move," April ordered before hurrying toward Donnie's lab.
For once, Raph probably didn't want to see Donnie yet. Plus Donnie was looking rather pale and shaky, though if it was from fright, worry, pain, or a combination of the three was anyone's guess. She'd have to send Splinter back to Donnie once she got the x-ray.
April found the x-ray -though it was in the bottom drawer- and ran back toward the office. Halfway there, she saw Donnie's back disappear inside the office.
"Wait-" April started, but it was too late.
Raph was yelling.
No, that had to be wrong. Raph never yelled.
"You should have thought of that before you went out onto the streets in the middle of the night while you were hurt!"
Leo… didn't know what Raph meant. Except his leg hurt. Was Raph yelling at him? A little unfair when Leo wasn't even awake enough to defend himself.
A low voice murmured, then Raph's cut back in, "We were dealing with it, Donnie!"
Oh.
Memories dropped back into place. The late night search. The spider-cat. Sending Donnie home.
The rescue was foggier. The fight, then grabbing the disruptor from the thrashing spider-cat's jaws. Swimming to shore. Raph had been there, panicking and yelling…
"We're a team, Donnie!"
Well, he was still yelling. It was making Leo's head hurt.
"Trust us to do what's right for the mission. But more than that-" something metallic clattered, "Try to remember that family's important to some of us."
Okay, ouch. Figuratively and literally. Leo was starting to regret waking up, because his leg may or may not have been on fire.
Leo dragged his eyes open. If Raph saw that Leo was okay, maybe he'd stop yelling at Donnie. Leo could make a joke about being on his last leg. Yeah, that'd be hilarious.
Mikey was standing directly beside Leo, biting his lip while he stared to the side. Leo followed his gaze to Donnie standing beside the doorway, hunching into his shell and clutching the broken disruptor. Raph loomed over him, practically bristling with anger. April, standing a healthy distance away from Donnie and Raph with Splinter, was the first to notice Leo.
"Leo." Eyebrows creased in concern, April went to Leo's other side. "How do you feel?"
"Like I'm on my last leg." Leo turned his head toward Mikey. "What's the verdict, doc?"
Mikey whimpered.
"Uh…" Leo pushed himself onto his elbows, ow, "What're you guys not telling me?"
April pushed him back down. "Nothing, but maybe don't talk like you're dying? Okay?"
"Okay, okay." Leo flapped his hands in the air, then winced. April immediately went and opened one of the cabinets. "I got tackled by a spider-cat the size of a truck. How do you think I feel?"
"I dunno." Raph was suddenly at Leo' side, an uncertain grin on his face. "You sound normal to me."
Leo groaned dramatically. "No, Raph, don't tease me." Seeing everyone's expressions fill with worry, Leo hurried on, "Just shower me with compliments and promises to love and hold me forever."
April snorted and held out a pill. "Leo."
"I'll do it!" Raph actually sounded weirdly close to tears. "Where do you want to go, Leo?"
Leo swallowed the painkiller, then made a face. "Actually, bed sounds good. Raph, we need a real bed in the office, okay? I'm going to roll off this thing."
"Once we finish checking," April interrupted. "Then we'll get a proper cast on that leg."
"We've got one!" Mikey burst out, then ran to the supply closet in the corner. "From when Leo broke his leg last time!"
"...casts aren't reusable, Mikey," April said.
"This one is!" Mikey said, digging in the closet. "Because regular casts can't get wet, Donnie had to figure something else out, anyway."
"Huh. Thought it looked strange when you broke your leg last time," April commented to Leo.
"Yeah." Leo rolled his head to the side. "Good ol' Donnie."
But the doorway was empty. Donnie had already left.
"Raph."
"Hm?"
"You gotta talk to him."
"Leo's sleeping."
April gave him an unimpressed look that Raph pretended to not see. It was true, anyway. Raph had a sleeping Leo on his lap and he didn't want to disturb him.
"Leo's going to be out for hours," April said.
Raph shrugged slightly. Even with the painkillers, Leo had been uncomfortable and twitchy. He'd been up half the night, anyway, so April had finally suggested a tranquilizer.
Raph had been sitting in the living room with Leo on his lap since his little brother had finally dozed off. Mikey sat across the room, rereading the same Jupiter Jim comic for the last two hours. Splinter may or may not have been paying attention, but he was watching one of his shows so it was hard to tell. The only person missing was Donnie.
Raph scowled and adjusted Leo a tiny bit. He didn't like being angry at his brother, but Donnie had gone too far. Leo could have died for Donnie's broken piece of tech.
"You two live together," April persisted. "You're going to have to talk to him eventually."
"Not really. Donnie can disappear when he wants to."
"You mean lock himself in his lab and feel guilty about Leo being hurt? Alone? With no one to talk to? You're going to leave your baby brother to that all alone?"
"Donnie isn't a baby," Raph said gruffly. "He knows he can talk to me."
Except for when he didn't. Which was always. Donnie had always been kind of bad at saying anything when he was upset. He'd just fake it and fake it until he cracked. And with the way things were going, that would happen in the middle of a future mission.
"Donnie does feel bad," Mikey contributed quietly.
"If he felt so bad, why isn't he here?" Raph grumbled.
"Raph, that's a little unfair, considering you told him to go away," April scolded.
Raph hunched his shoulders, but it was a fair point. Donnie didn't always like being given orders outside of missions, but he typically listened. On the rare occasions that Raph got mad, Donnie made it a point to follow any orders given him to the letter. Raph was surprised Donnie had even gotten up in the first place.
"...fine. Just let me put Leo in bed," Raph said, rising.
"Good job." April hopped to her feet with a grin. "And, actually, I have a better idea."
A few minutes later, Raph stood alone outside Donnie's lab. He started to open the door, then changed his mind and knocked instead.
A minute passed, then two. Raph turned halfway away from the door, then it suddenly slid open.
A purple, waist-high robot stared up at Raph, then turned and clumsily toddled to a corner. Raph stared after it, confused, then reminded himself of why he'd come.
Donnie sat across the lab, goggles over his eyes. He set aside a toggle, then turned back to his desk.
"We have to talk, Donnie," Raph said.
Donnie hummed acknowledgement. Raph grumbled and crossed the lab to see what Donnie was working on.
It was the disruptor, unsurprisingly. It was a mess of wires strewn across the desk now, though, and Raph angrily wondered if the device had been worth it at all.
"I'm making progress," Donnie said into the silence. "The mystic energy is missing, but I'm beginning to understand how the disruptor worked."
Raph grunted. "That's good. But, Donnie-"
"With some experimentation," Donnie interrupted, "I may be able to make disruptors for the four of us. Should make it a bit harder for some yokai to track us."
"Donnie-"
"Meat Sweats, for instance. I suspect he has some ability to detect mystic energy. If we can prevent that-"
"I don't care about your devices!" Raph snapped.
Donnie silently picked up a screwdriver and tightened a screw. Raph held back a growl and turned away.
"Never mind," Raph said. "It doesn't matter anymore."
"Doesn't it?" Donnie asked quietly.
"Just play with your toy, Donnie, and forget I came in."
Raph was nearly to the door when something clattered against the floor. He turned halfway, raising an eye ridge when he saw Donnie on his feet, leaning heavily on his desk. The screwdriver lay at his feet.
"I…" Donnie hesitated, then forged on, "I got carried away with the disruptor and not trusting you three and not trusting Leo's portal and I know you guys matter more than any of my devices, I do, Raph, I swear I do! I-I'm sorry, okay?"
Raph couldn't respond. Mostly because Donnie had just apologized.
"I just…" Donnie sucked in a ragged breath, "I was so focused on the mission… Leo's always been okay, and I know that's no excuse, but I never thought… I didn't mean… I'm sorry, Raph, just don't send me away from Leo again because I want to help. I know I messed up, just let me fix it, Raph, please!"
Raph's shoulders slumped. He never could stay mad at his brothers. He walked toward Donnie.
"O…okay, Donnie, okay. Just sit down, it's okay."
"It is not!"
Donnie shook his head, then shoved up his goggles. His eyes were bloodshot and shadowed, with tear stains where the bottom of his goggles had been.
"How can I…" Donnie gestured uselessly. "Leo's leg is broken and I can't… I can't fix this, Raph, I can't."
"No." Raph took Donnie's and maneuvered him back into his chair. "No, you can't fix Leo's leg. Only time will. But what you can do is learn from experience. That's what you do, after all."
Donnie stared blankly at him.
"You made a mistake. We all make mistakes, Donnie. But you recognized your mistake, so you can learn from it."
Donnie nodded slowly. Raph looked down at Donnie's lowered head and slumped shoulders, and shook his head.
"I don't know what to do with you three sometimes," Raph said fondly.
"Mikey's been staying out of trouble," Donnie mumbled.
"I know, and it's getting suspicious." Raph crouched and tilted Donnie's chin up so he could look him in the eye. "And don't think for a second that Leo's angry at you."
"How do you know?" Donnie asked meekly.
"Because Leo can't stay mad at anyone."
"It's my fault he's hurt," Donnie persisted. "If I'd gone through the portal when he said-"
Raph put a finger to Donnie's lips, silencing him. "You can't change how you acted. But you can…" Raph moved his finger away and waited.
"...learn from my mistakes," Donnie finished.
"See, you've figured it out already. I knew you were the smart one," Raph said.
Donnie narrowed his eyes, but couldn't seem to decide how to react. He lifted a hand toward the disruptor, causing Raph to realize Donnie was shaking.
It wasn't any wonder, once Raph thought about it. Donnie had been up most -if not all- night long. Donnie did that on a regular basis… but he wasn't usually dealing with guilt and a broken shell.
"When was the last time you took painkillers?" Raph asked.
"Five… hours ago?"
"I don't think so," Raph said. "Wait here."
Raph started to leave the lab, only to find a bottle of water and painkillers sitting beside the doorway. He snorted, suspecting April had left them. He turned back to find Donnie messing with the disruptor again.
"Nope," Raph said, pulling Donnie's chair away from his desk. "No more working on that. You're going to take some painkillers, then I'm taking you to bed, alright?"
"I can walk," Donnie said, not stubbornly, at least, but sheepishly.
"You shouldn't be," Raph said. "We've never broken our shells before now, so we're not taking any chances."
Donnie lifted his left shoulder in a slight shrug. But he didn't protest any further. He took the painkillers, then Raph carefully lifted him. To keep from putting pressure on Donnie's shell, Raph had to sit Donnie on his arm facing him. Donnie dropped his arms over Raph's shoulder, fingers gripping the spikes on Raph's carapace.
"You alright?" Raph checked.
Donnie hummed noncommittally. He didn't have to answer, anyway. Raph barely made it outside the lab when Donnie's forehead rested on Raph's shoulder. He began to shake again.
Raph silently changed course. It had been a few years since Donnie had let himself be held, but he was still easy to carry. Once Donnie had relaxed, Raph would put him to bed.
Leo woke up feeling numb and disoriented. Why did one leg feel tight? Was he on the floor? And the ceiling wasn't right.
After a few minutes of confusion, Leo looked down.
Right, broken leg. He was on the floor, sort of. He was also in the blanket nest they'd built for Donnie. At least it was being used by someone.
And the ceiling was wrong because Leo was in Donnie's room. Had Raph not wanted to move the nest or something? And how'd he get Donnie to agree to letting Leo sleep in his room?
"You going to stare at your cast all day?"
Leo pulled his gaze from his cast, wondering how long he'd stared at the woven blue plastic. He blinked at Donnie, still drowsy.
Donnie watched Leo back, not seeming fully awake, either. He was on his stomach with a blanket tossed loosely over him.
"Why'm I in your room?" Leo asked.
"April didn't want to move the nest."
"Gotcha." Leo stared at the ceiling. "Where's everyone else?"
"Not sure. I just woke up."
"Lazy." Leo felt around for a pillow and chucked it at Donnie. "At least do it right."
"Hm." Donnie put the pillow under his head. "What would I do without you?"
"Besides enjoy the silence?"
Donnie didn't respond for a minute. Then, "I'd rather listen to your jokes."
"You hesitated, bro."
"I won't next time."
Leo tilted his head. "Are we still talking about my jokes?"
"No. Next time you tell me to get into your portal, I'll get into the portal, no questions asked."
"Really?"
Donnie nodded. "I promise."
Leo grinned at him.
"I'm going to regret that promise, aren't I?" Donnie asked.
"Ma-aybe slightly," Leo teased. "Just land on your feet next time."
"Hm."
Donnie tapped his fingers against his mattress, then held up two fingers. Leo stared at him.
"Two portals."
"Really?" Leo sat up excitedly. "You'll go through my next two portals without any argument?"
Donnie grunted. "Trying to start some new habits."
Leo flopped back down, grinning so hard he felt his face might split. "I should break my leg more often."
"Raph would rather you didn't," Donnie said.
"Just Raph?" Leo asked.
"I'd rather you didn't, too."
"Thanks, Dee."
"No big deal… and thank you."
Leo looked at Donnie's serious face.
"Thanks for following me."
Leo grinned again. "Anytime."
Three days later…
"How are you not dead?" April asked.
"How do we not have crutches anywhere in the lair?" Leo returned. "Really, it's fine, I just have to- urf!"
Distracted, Leo hadn't realized he'd run out of ramp to hold onto. He overbalanced and fell flat on his stomach, briefly knocking the breath out of himself. He rolled onto his back and glared at the ceiling while his leg throbbed.
"This would be easier if you'd give me my odachi," Leo said.
"Sure, so you can dump yourself from the ceiling. We only have one cast, Leo. Try to not break both legs at once."
Leo pouted at April, then used the ramp to stand again. He couldn't put weight on his broken leg because the cast didn't give enough support to keep from his weight pushing down on his broken bones. But Leo didn't like to sit still for long, and getting carried around by Raph got old fast.
Mikey rushed around the other end of the ramp. "Did you fall again?"
"We don't have enough things around the lair to use for support," Leo grumbled. "Mikey, I need to borrow your shoulder."
"Sure." Mikey easily slid under Leo's arm. "Where to?"
"Living room," Leo grunted. "I need a break."
"And to sit down before Raph catches you standing again, anyway," Mikey added as he helped Leo limp along.
"Wait, did Raph catch you earlier?" April asked. "How long were you walking around before I found you?"
"It was yesterday, and you don't want to know," Leo said. "Raph's been trying to get into Donnie's lab all day."
"Yeah, it's weird that he's locked up in there," Mikey said.
"Normally, I'd disagree, but I think Donnie's worse than Leo when it comes to resting," April said.
"Donnie is worse," Leo and Mikey said in unison.
April raised an eyebrow at them.
"Having night-vision goggles means he can get away with a lot at night." Leo grimaced and jerked up his broken leg. "Easy, Mikey, I need to slow down…"
"Leo!"
Leo flinched. He slowly turned his head to where Raph was marching down from Donnie's lab. He smiled sheepishly.
"Would you believe that I just got up a few minutes ago?"
"No, because I saw the whole thing."
Leo hunched his shoulders, surprised that Raph hadn't said anything when he fell.
"I was just headed back to the couch?" Leo offered.
"I know. I've got him now, Mikey."
Leo yelped as Raph scooped him up. "Woah, hey, I can walk!"
"Badly," Raph said cheerfully. "Now stop squirming before I drop you."
"Wait, where are we going?" Leo asked as they passed the doorway to the living room.
"Donnie wants to show you something," Raph said.
"Me? Should I be worried?" Leo asked.
Raph paused. "No… I don't think so."
"You don't think so?"
They reached Donnie's lab before Raph could defend himself. Donnie was waiting for them, wearing his repaired battle shell with a harness modified to hold onto his plastron. He was using the mechanical arms like crutches again.
"...I need a battle shell," Leo thought.
"Great, thanks, Raph, put him over there," Donnie said.
Leo took one look in the direction Donnie pointed and immediately began struggling to get down.
"Woah! Leo, what's-"
"I said I'm not going under Donnie's printer thing, and I meant it!" Leo squawked.
Donnie shook his head, his claws clattering as he passed Raph. "The machine won't be doing the assembly, calm down."
Leo stopped struggling to squint suspiciously. "Assembling what? And where?"
"Are you talking about the disruptor things?" Raph asked.
"Nope, still working on those," Donnie said, flapping a hand at six circular plates on a different table. "C'mon, Raph, hurry it up. I want to see if this works."
"I don't want to be your lab rat!" Leo protested.
"Donnie, don't you know it's mean to kill your brothers?" April asked, entering with Mikey.
"I'm not killing Leo," Donnie said dismissively. "Sit still, Leo. I need to scan you."
"For what?" Leo asked, trying to climb off the table while Donnie scanned his lower body.
"Measurements."
"Now I know you're being vague on purpose," Leo said.
"It's called a surprise," Donnie said.
"Surprise good or surprise bad?"
"Surprise good." Donnie looked up from his scanner to grin at Leo. "Very good."
Leo stopped protesting. Donnie was so excited that Leo couldn't help but be curious. Didn't stop him from leaning as far back as possible when Donnie returned with a metal contraption.
"Sit up," Donnie scolded. "This won't hurt a bit, I promise."
"I'm holding you to that," Leo said, straightening warily.
Donnie sat on the floor. Leo leaned forward to watch him attach something like a metal sole to the bottom of his foot. Little clasps attached the sole to his feet and toes, clipping to a metal cuff that wrapped around his ankle under the cast. Donnie then rose to his knees and put a leather belt around Leo's waist.
"Raph, I'm going to need you to hold Leo on his feet for a few minutes," Donnie said. "I need the broken leg out as straight as you two can keep it."
"I give up. What are you doing?" Leo asked.
Donnie put his goggles down. "Making adjustments. Hold still."
Donnie took a bundle of what looked like random rods and gears from the pile and straightened them. He attached them to the belt so they dangled around Leo's leg until Donnie added another strap on Leo's thigh. The rods went through the strap, then down to Leo's knee. A circular device was attached to either side of Leo's knee, then tightened until it was snug against Leo's knee. Tiny clasps on the underside grabbed onto the cast. The last of the pile was more rods that ran from the device on Leo's knee to the ankle cuff.
"You're turning me into a cyborg. Got it," Leo said.
"No, that would require replacing your leg with robotics, which I'm not doing," Donnie said. "Okay, Leo, try moving your leg."
Leo did hesitantly. The harness thing moved with Leo's entire leg, bending with his knee and ankle.
"Good. Now put some weight on your foot."
Leo touched the metal sole to the floor with a light click. He leaned forward, sliding his arm from Raph's to put weight on his broken leg.
"So?" Donnie fiddled with his goggles. "How does it feel?"
"Good, I… it feels normal, Donnie!"
Leo stepped forward. The harness smoothly shifted along with the step, taking Leo's weight so he didn't feel a thing in his leg beyond the metal attachments.
"This is… Raph, you can let me go, just look!"
Leo laughed happily as he took another two steps. His next step was too fast for the harness and he stumbled, but the contraption snapped forward with his leg, catching Leo's weight before he could fall.
"You'll have to go slow at first," Donnie cautioned, pacing alongside Leo. "But the Walk-a-holic will learn your stance and how you walk so that it works like a leg itself."
Leo couldn't resist. "Walk-a-holic?"
"Seemed fitting," Donnie sniffed, "Seeing as how you can't stay laying down for one day."
"You know what?" Leo asked as, windmilling his arms, he continued walking. "I don't care. You could call it the Boot for all I care, look at this! Look, Raph! Raph? Raph, please don't-"
Leo tripped over his own good foot, but Raph caught him and hugged him close. Leo sighed as well as he could with his cheek pressed against Raph's plastron, then reached up and patted Raph's cheek.
"Raph? Mother Hen? Can't breathe here."
Raph's hug tightened and he said through his tears, "That's not going to work this time."
"Aw, come on, no, I'm serious, Raph-"
"You're laughing again!" April exclaimed.
Leo blew a raspberry at her, then pried his head up enough so he could look up at Raph. With a grin, Leo reached up and flicked Raph's nose.
"Hey. You forgot Donnie."
Donnie's eyes shot wide open as Raph reached out. "No, no, no- Raph!"
Donnie was halfway onto his desk when Donnie grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the hug.
"Hey, ow! Raph!"
"Oh, wait and I'll-"
"Group hug!" Mikey squealed.
Leo quickly grabbed April's wrist and pulled her into the hug just as Raph reflexively released Donnie. April and Mikey nudged Donnie back into the group hug, loosely linking hands behind his back so he couldn't leave again.
Donnie sighed heavily, probably just in obligatory protest, then gave up and leaned against Leo's side.
Leo squirmed tighter against Donnie's side. "Thanks, Dee."
"Anytime."
A/N: I suck at endings-
Anyway, that's it for my ramble. Ended up longer than expected... oh, well. :D Also, the little robot's name is Shelly; headcanon here that Donnie was going to make a robot companion for Shelldon. For whatever reason, though, he changes his mind and "Shelly" becomes Shelldon's battle armor we see in the finale.
Griffin, out!