Chapter Text
“You know,” Donnie said as he placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder, “I gotta admit, sometimes I can be a little hard on you and act like you’re not as smart as me.” He smiled as he walked past them, heading for the door.
Mikey grinned as he shrugged. “No worries bruh.”
Donatello continued, talking over his shoulder as he kept walking. “But now, I finally understand how you feel all the time.”
“Thanks Donnie.” Mikey was looking pretty proud of himself, until he worked out exactly what his brother had meant. “Wait a sec…” He growled before leaping for his older brother. “DONNIE!”
Leo chuckled to himself as he watched his two youngest siblings rolling around on the floor. It was nothing violent, especially when compared to his and Raph’s normal fights. Speaking of which, the emerald turtle was leaning back against the table in Donnie’s lab, shaking his head in amusement as he watched the two.
Looking around at his family, Leonardo was glad that they were all safe despite what had happened earlier that day. Still, he couldn’t help but feel he had failed them in some way. They’d barely even started the fight with Snakeweed before he’d succumbed to the effects of the gas, leaving his brothers to fend for themselves. While Leo realised there was probably nothing he could have done, it didn’t ease the guilt gnawing away at him.
At some point, Leo’s thoughts must have shown on his face as the next thing he knew April was standing next to him, frowning. “Everything okay, Leo?” She asked, drawing Raphael’s attention.
Leo quickly nodded his head, realising he’d been frowning himself. “Yeah, everything’s fine April. Just thinking about a few-“ Leo was cut off suddenly as he found himself in a coughing fit, unconsciously gripping April’s shoulder for support. One of her hands rested on his carapace, the other on his plastron trying to support his weight while her frown had only deepened.
By the time his coughing had stopped, Leo was gasping for breath. Only to make things worse, he’d drawn both Donnie and Mikey’s attention now. Great… Just great. He thought to himself, straightening when he realised that during his coughing fit he’d doubled over.
Before any of his brothers could say anything, Leonardo had removed his hand from April’s shoulder and stepped away from her. “I’m fine.” He almost snapped, just as Donatello had been about to speak. “It’s just a cough or something, it’ll pass.” Leo then moved past his brothers, “I’ll be in the dojo if you need me.” He said over his shoulder before closing Donnie’s lab door behind him.
Raph watched the door for a few seconds before Donnie’s voice drew his attention away from it. “That’s strange…”
He frowned at his younger brother. “What do you mean Don?”
Sighing, Donatello rolling his eyes. “I’ve told you this before. Due to our DNA structure from the mutation, it’s not possible for us to catch most diseases and illnesses.”
“So you’re saying something else is up with fearless? That he’s either lying to us or just doesn’t know what’s going on?”
“Pretty much, however this is either some other version of the cold virus that has mutated to infect us, or something much more serious.” Donnie said the last part as he walked over to his desk, sitting down in front of his computer. “And before you ask Raph, no I don’t know what it is. There are lots of things that start with coughing.”
Raphael shrugged. “Well let us know when you find something, I’m gonna see exactly what Leo is up to. You coming Mikey?”
So far, the youngest of the turtles had been silent, standing by April as they both watched Donnie and Raph talk. Now that Raph had walked over to the door, Mikey shook his head. “You go ahead dude, I got other plans.” He then suddenly took a smoke bomb from his belt, throwing it onto the ground before any of them could do anything. Like always, once the smoke had cleared, he was gone.
Donnie growled. “MIKEY! I told you not to waste them!” He shouted after his younger brother.
Raph chuckled as he left April to deal with Donnie while he made his way over to the dojo. Inside, he could hear Leonardo’s katana slicing through air. Raph leant against the doorway of the dojo as he watched his elder brother for a few minutes. Finally, Leo sheathed his katana. “What is it Raph?” Leo asked, sounding surprisingly calm despite what mood Raphael had thought his older sibling would be in.
“Nothing really, just came to see what you were doing. You know, sparring air isn’t even half as fun as sparring someone else.” There was a hint of a challenge in Raph’s voice, and from the look on Leo’s face, he’d noticed.
“You’re on Raph.” Leo smiled, already moving to his normal position to start a spar.
This was going to be fun.