Quick tidbit I came up with today. Hope you enjoy.

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"Raphael I'm warning you—"

"Oh, I'm so scared! Come on! Come at me bro! Oh wait, I forgot, you don't have the guts!" Raph was surprised when Leo didn't come charging at him.

"I don't get it Raph. I just don't get it." Leo muttered, shaking his head side to side. His eyes glazed over.

If Raph didn't know any better, he'd think that his older brother was about to fall over standing up. He wanted to go topside. Run from this fight like he did many of the others, but—

He looked at Leo. Leo looked sick. He didn't want to make Leo think he was going soft, but he couldn't leave with Leo being so...un-Leo-ish.

"Leo?"

"Just go, Raph. Run away like you always do." Leo said softly, dropping down on the couch and turning his back on his younger brother.

"I don't wanna."

Leo's head turned slightly in his direction. His older brother's watery blue eyes glanced disinterestedly up at him. "I don't want to fight you anymore, Raphael. Just go."

"No." Raph gave that a moment to sink in before adding, "I don't really want to fight you either."

"Funny. You usually find a way of doing it."

"So do you."

"Uhuh. Yeah." Leo coughed, seemingly getting worse by the minute.

Raph frowned and put a hand on Leo's forehead. "Shell, you're hotter than Mikey's flaming hot pizzas. You sick?"

"Exotic flu or something. Low survival rate apparently, but Don has high hopes. Most cases are nowhere near healthy as we are."

"Your life is in danger?"

Leo shrugged. "Don doesn't think so."

Raphael immediately felt guilt and rage churning in his stomach.

"And you didn't tell me?"

Leo scoffed, bitterly, and looked away.

"You'd have just laughed," he grumbled. Two hands landed on his shoulders and he looked up at his younger brother's serious face.

"Not at this." Raph growled. He looked Leo in the eyes. "Don's sure you'll be okay?"

"Nothing's for sure. He thinks so."

"Where is the brainiac? I wanna talk to him."

"Gone. He and Mikey went to the junkyard. Probably be gone all night."

Raph hopped down next to his brother on the couch. For two minutes they stared at the commercials on television and said nothing. Raph looked over and saw Leo struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Sleep, Leo." He said.

Leo's head shook from side to side. "Nuh. Don and Mikey still out." He huffed, "And you'll probably sneak out while I'm sleeping."

"With you like this? No freaking way. I'm staying right here."

"Promise?"

Raphael blinked. When was the last time he'd kept a promise to his brothers? Must have been a while...

He'd promised Leo he'd be careful on a night out with Casey. He'd come home with two bullet wounds and a concussion. Raphael was very good at breaking promises, especially the ones he made to Leo. But this time...

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

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

Raph shook it off and nodded confidently.

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

Leo appeared less than convinced.

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

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

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

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

Raphael scooped his older brother up into his arms easily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Raph."

Raph just snored softly on.

"Raph."

More quiet snores.

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

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

"Leo?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. When he saw an irritated Leo looking back at him he smiled and leapt up. "Leo!"

"Raph, how long have you been in here?"

Sheepishness swept over the hothead. He settled for a brief, "Long enough. How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty."

"Want me to get you some water?"

Leo blinked. If you wanted something from Raph you usually had to ask him for it. He almost never offered. Leo nodded.

"Yeah. That would be great," he said.

Raph stood up and stretched his back, grimacing a little.

One of Leo's eye-ridges rose. "Back bothering you?" He asked.

Raph rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. Been kinda hunched over for a while." For a few moments they stared at each other. "I'll—um—get Don. He'll probably wanna take a look at you."

Leo nodded assent.

Minutes later, Leo had his glass of water and Donatello was bombarding him with questions about how he felt and rambling on and on about how Leo's survival had aided his understanding of disease statistics. Leo was getting tired. He didn't want to tell Donnie to leave, but he couldn't take much more of this.

"Ey brainiac, you're exhausting him. Go on and get back to your hyper-glycolic experiment or whatever."

"Hypoglycemic. I'm testing the dosages of a new insulin supplement I've created."

"Yeah, go finish your nerd stuff. Let Leo sleep."

Don frowned. "What, now you're his doorman?"

Raph bristled and opened his mouth to reply, but Leo stopped him.

"Raph, why don't you just go?"

"What?" Raph asked, feeling shocked, and a little bit hurt, "but he's annoying you and you should rest—"

"Don's the one who should be telling me to rest. Besides, he and I have a few more things to discuss, so if you'd please just go find something else to do?!"

Raph stormed out of the room, but the second he was outside the door, his shoulders fell. From inside he heard Don's smooth voice say:

"Leo, you know Raph's just trying to help."

He left before he could hear anymore. No need to stick around and hear Leo growling that there was no need for his help. He went into his room and locked the door behind him.

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Don watched Raph's carapace as his hotheaded brother stomped away. When the door closed, he frowned at Leo. "Leo, you know Raph's just trying to help."

Leo sighed. "I know, Don, but he's just stirring up a fight."

"He means well, and I was stirring one up as much as he was. We've been under a lot of stress with you down for the count."

"No action from Shredder or any of the others?"

"Not sure. We haven't been topside since the last patrol you went on with us."

Leo's eye-ridges rose. "Not even Raph?"

"Especially not Raph. He's been with you since you got sick. It was all Mikey and I could do to keep him fed and hydrated."

Leo was astounded. "He stayed by my side?"

"Unwaveringly." Don tossed a thoughtful glance at the door. "All things considered, you should have let him down a little easier. He was really worried about you."

"How long before I can get back to training?"

Don sighed. "You should really wait a full week if you can. It'll give your systems some time to recover and to apologize to Raph."

"Yeah." Leo agreed. He sat up a little. "Think I can do it now?"

Don put a hand on Leo's shoulder and held him down.

"Wait a couple of days till you're strong enough to get back on your feet. Then talk to Raph."

Leo nodded.

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The next day, after Leo had eaten a light breakfast, Don came in to check on him again and ask how he was feeling. They were having a cheerful conversation when a timid knock came at the door and they looked up to see Mikey standing in the doorway. Leo smiled.

"Hey Mikey."

"Hey guys." Behind the soft smile was a slightly worried frown.

"Everything alright?" Leo asked.

Mikey shook his head and Donnie leaned forward a little.

"What's wrong?" asked Don.

"It's Raph."

Leo and Donnie looked at each other.

"He's been in his room since early this morning. I've tried bringing him food, but he says he isn't hungry. His door's locked." Mikey said sadly.

Leo frowned and sat up in bed. "I'll go talk to him."

Don grabbed Leo by the forearm. "You really shouldn't be up yet. You need to rest."

"I'll rest once Raph's eaten." Leo stated, daring his younger brother to try and stop him.

Donnie yielded.

Leo had Mikey help him make it to the door of Raph's room.

Mikey spoke first. "Raphie, let us in."

"No. You and Don get lost."

"I'm not Don, and I can't stay standing much longer, so it would be very convenient if you could open the door."

The door flew open and Leo felt himself being lifted out of Mikey's grip and whisked onto Raph's bed. Has lifting us always been this easy for Raph? He wondered.

"What the shell are you doing out of bed?" Raph asked, roughly.

"Beating some sense into you. You need food to survive, you idiot."

"I'm not hungry." Raph grumbled, pouting.

Leo shook his head. "Don't care. Mikey, get some food for Raph, will you please?"

Mikey nodded and ran off.

"I won't eat it."

Leo crossed his arms. "You'll eat it if I sit here and watch you until you do."

"You're in no condition to—"

"Exactly. So either you eat, or you'll be responsible for me passing out and possibly further injuring myself."

"Do you have a death wish, Fearless?"

"No, but I want my little brothers to take proper care of themselves."

Raph growled, which made Leo jump. He wasn't expecting a hostile reaction. Though with Raph, perhaps he should have.

"So you can help me, but I try to do one little thing to help you and I get my head bitten off. Geez, Leo, if you don't want me around just say so. You don't have to pretend you wanna be nice to me."

"I was weary of fights, Raph. I just wanted to shut it down before it got started. It had nothing to do with you."

"Sure it didn't," Raph's sarcasm was prominent as ever. Then a dark edge filled his voice. "You thought I wouldn't even care to know that my own brother was sick—that he could die. You thought I would just leave you behind in that state and let you worry about me." He turned his back on Leo. "I know what I am. But I know that whatever I am, I'll never be that big of a monster."

"Raph...come here."

Raphael slowly obliged and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Leo tossed his arms around his shoulders. Raph flinched.

"You aren't a monster, Raph, and I will never, ever, ever look at you that way. I guess it's just because we fight all the time, I forget—"

"—that I'm not heartless?"

Leo frowned. "That's not—"

"It's fine. I understand."

Leo could tell by Raph's tone that it definitely wasn't 'fine'. He squeezed Raph tighter, as tightly as he could.

"I'm so glad you stayed with me, Raphie. I needed it." He lay his head on Raph's shoulder. "Thanks for keeping your promise, Raph."

"You're welcome, Leo." Raph whispered, one of his arms finally coming up to return the embrace.

Leo smiled into the hug. "Forgiven?"

"Yeah, all forgiven."

Mikey returned with the food. Raph gave it a doleful look and pouted at Leo. The eldest gave him a stern face in reply. He sighed and began to chew on an apple. Leo smiled and began a light conversation with the hothead. Yeah, Raph could be a pain sometimes, but he was one of the three best little brothers Leo could ask for. And Leo wouldn't change him for anything in the whole wide world.

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How was it?