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"I'm sorry."
Raph's voice drifted into the medbay. Sandro was peacefully reading one of Leo's favorite comics, one the leader had just given to him while proclaiming "he didn't enjoy it that much anymore". The common snapper was wrapped in a few bandages, but his injuries weren't… too severe.
Compared to Leo, who had a few broken ribs and gashes from being slammed to the ground by the Krang, Sandro was relatively unharmed, having only returned with some healing bruises and maybe one worrisome injury. Raph felt a little jealous, to be frank. He lost an eye, his shell got chipped and his shoulder was gonna get scarred beyond belief. Mikey had horrible burns all over his arms from crossing dimensions to save Sandro. Donnie's softshell had gotten infected recently from the gross tentacles of the Technodrome wounding and digging into him.
At the very least, Sandro wasn't dead like they feared he was, floating around alone without his brothers being able to apologize and tell him they loved him. Raph had been petrified that Sandro was dead without knowing that he loved him for who he was, not who he was pretending to be, and he knew Donnie and Mikey had felt very much the same way.
And Leo… God, poor Leo had been broken the entire month Sandro was locked away there. He never said exactly what happened, but what was heard over the comms was enough. Leo had blamed himself for what he thought was Sandro's death. The big brother who looked up to him so much that he tried to be him could've been dead because of the stupid self-sacrificial nature this family held almost as close as their familial love itself.
Speaking of the devil, Sandro looked up at Raph, his eyes a bit red and bloodshot from probable exhaustion and whatever the hell was in the Prison Dimension, but he still seemed like himself, whatever himself was meant to be. "For what?" He asked cheerfully, a cheeky little smile slipping onto his face. "You don't have anything to be sorry about!"
"No," Raph sighed, focusing on the sensation of his lungs releasing oxygen. "No, I… I got a lotta things to be sorry about." The snapping turtle fidgeted with his fingers. "So, uh… sit tight, it's a long list."
"Raph-"
"Please, please lemmie do this."
Sandro hesitated, looking up at Raph. The cheerful light had faded to something a little more grim. "Okay," he murmured in a soft, quiet tone. "Okay, just… just, Raph, whatever it is know that I-"
Raph took Sandro's hand, sitting beside his bed. "I've been a real jerk to ya, Sandy," Raph interrupted before his brother could finish. "I didn't… we never thought that treatin' you like this would bother you so much. I guess I've just been jealous about how close you've always been to Leo." He paused to take a few deep breaths. "I always thought I was mad at'cha because you didn't take being a big brother seriously, but… I think we just big brother in different ways."
"Raph, it's-"
"I'm not done," Sandro's face pouted a little as he was once again interrupted. "I… Sandy, when you were gone, I thought I lost you." Sandro's eyes widened a little, gaze flickering in concern, but he let Raph continue. "We all did, bro. I thought that when Mikey opened that portal, you'd be dead. You'd be floating around dead, or crushed, or beaten, or just hanging on, or somethin' not good. I thought that you would've died without knowing that you are one of us. But- but you're here, you're okay and we're so glad to see you safe."
Raph paused to cup Sandro's cheek, and his brother churred a little at the affection, his tail wagging, but he still kept his focus on Raph. "I love you, bro, we all do. And… and I'm really, really sorry that it took you being locked away in there for a month for me to come forward and say that. I'm sorry that you got to the point where you felt so left out that you had to make yourself turn into someone else."
Sandro blinked a few times, jaw falling a little. "How did you…?"
"Mikey," Raph laughed a bit, a proud little smile making his way onto his features. "You know how he is with the emotional stuff… he can see through all of us like we're glass, can't he?"
Raph watched in some silent glee as Sandro cracked his own smile back, wiping his eyes free of tears that had yet to fall. "Yeah… I didn't really think of that, did I?"
Raph offered him a small smile, scooting closer to him and opening his arms to his brother. Before he even had the option to ask, Sandro wrapped his bandaged arms around him, and Raph pulled him close. "Remember, Sandy, you'll always be loved, no matter what. You can always come to us… I promise, we'll find a way to help you feel like you fit in more."
Sandro felt more tears well in his eyes, but this time, he let them drift down his cheeks. "Okay. Okay..." Another churr made it's way out of his throat.
"Thank you, Raph."
|______________________________________________________________________________|
By the time Sandro was allowed up and out of bed (he wasn't even that hurt to begin with!, he made his way over to Donnie's traincar. He didn't know how his little brother was doing - Leo had tried to keep everything hush-hush from Sandy, and even if it frustrated him, he didn't want to push the red-eared slider, especially in the state he was in now.
And especially in the state Donnie was in.
The teen was sprawled out on his bed, face forming a grimace in his sleep. His satin blankets had been kicked onto the floor, something that tore at Sandro's heart, bit by bit. His soft shell was wrapped tightly in bandages. Sandro's poor brother was sweating and sick and shaking and God, maybe those big brother instincts were kicking in.
He was obviously sick. Sick plus injured probably meant no good, but… Leo was the medic, not Sandro. Maybe he wasn't so much like him after all.
The snapper moved over to Donnie's bedside, ensuring that his footsteps were swift and quiet. His hands held onto Donnie's blanket, carefully covering him back up with it. His hand reached for and caressed his brother's cheek before he gently held up his head a little, readjusting his pillow before letting his head rest on it once more.
"There…" Sandro murmured. He swore that Donnie had let out a sigh, hopefully of relief. Sandro let out a sigh of his own, pulling up a chair to sit beside Donnie, reaching for his hand. Donnie didn't recoil or react, so he assumed he was either too deep into unconsciousness or didn't mind the touch.
Sandro sighed again before he continued in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry, Donnie… for a lot of stuff. I'm not the big brother I should've been. I've been rude and annoying and… and I destroy all your hard work, e-even if I don't mean to." He took a deep breath, lightly squeezing Donnie's hand. "I love you, Dontron. I know you kind of hate me and you hate the mushy stuff, but I love you.. I love you, and Mikey, and Papa, and Raph, and April, and.." He trailed off, forcing out a sad, pathetic little laugh. "You all know I love Leo, too."
There was another sigh, before Sandro heard a voice. He knew it was Donatello despite how croaky and weak he sounded. "I don't.. hate you." Sandro felt a soft smile of relief slip onto his face.
"Donathan, you're-"
"Save it." Although weak, Donnie's voice was firm, enough to make Sandro wonder if he was about to yell at him.
"I didn't chew on anything in your lab, I promise…" Sandro's voice lowered, looking like a sad puppy that had just been kicked.
Donnie's expression softened a little. "No- no, Sands, you're not in trouble," He promised. Sandro relaxed a little bit. "But.. wh..why do you think I would hate you?"
Sandro shrugged with a frown. "You just… always get mad at me. I'm really sorry for chewing on your tech, It's not anything bad towards you, I just can't really control it."
The shell lifted an unmarkered eyebrow. "How could you not control it?" Donnie asked, a hint of irritation mixed with curiosity in his tone.
"My mouth always hurts, and… and chewing makes it feel better."
Donnie blinked a few times, as if surprised. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've made you something!"
Sandro deflated a little, but still held onto Donnie's hand. He was glad that his little bro was okay with touch right now, because it was distracting him from the sudden, powerful urge to chew. "I… I didn't want to bother you." He admitted quietly, trying to avoid Donnie's gaze. "I know you get mad at me when I chew on your stuff, so I thought you wouldn't… want to do that. Especially after everything I destroyed and ruined."
"Sandy…" Donnie let out a wheezy sigh. "I know I cannot change our past shortcomings… neither of us can. But I think we can both begin communicating better with one another," Donnie flashed a smile. "And to start, I can start work on headgear for you, like I have with Raph."
Sandro couldn't bring himself to smile back, his expression morphing into even more of a concerned frown. "But you're sick, Donathan…"
"Well, yes, but actually no." Donnie let out another wheezy sigh - Sandro didn't know if it was just him breathing at this point, due to the sheer amount of times he'd done it. "Nardo said my wound is infected," Sandro felt tears well in his eyes. "... I'll be fine, Sandro. Leo is caring for me and he said I'm improving."
Sandro let out his own sigh of relief. It was fine. It was all good. Donnie wasn't going to die or anything before they had a chance to fix their relationship. Nope. Nuh uh. Not happening. That's good. "Okay… just promise not to work on anything for me until you're better?"
"I… will try."