Archive of Our Own

   “Ooh, and ice cream! Make sure you get the good rocky road,” Mikey chirped. “The kind with the extra marshmallows!”

   There was a definite air of hustle and bustle to the lair, today. Normally at this time of the season the turtles’ home would be a hive of activity as they hung strings of fairy lights and origami cranes, acquired a tree and decorated every available surface for the festivities to come. But there was a much more pressing matter demanding their attention this year.

   Raph paused long enough to give his brother a withering look. “We’re getting supplies, Mikey. Y’know, in case we get snowed in.”

   “All the more reason to get the good kind,” Michelangelo insisted with a winning smile. “We don’t want to get stuck down here with subpar desserts.”

   A strong arctic wind was sweeping down the continent, bringing with it the promise of heavy snowfall. Master Splinter had been especially concerned, reciting tales of a blizzard when the turtles were just kids, with 20 inches of snow falling in Central Park, and windspeeds of as much as 50 mph causing drifts of up to 8 feet tall! His sons had been far too young to venture up to the surface then. But the lasting memories of freezing nights and empty bellies as they hunkered down in their underground home were not something they’d quickly forget.

   “We’re picking up essentials,” Leo emphasised, in his best no-nonsense leader voice, as he exited Don’s lab. He was adjusting the straps of his backpack as he moved. “We’ll only be able to carry so much.”

   Mikey opened his mouth, likely to suggest that if he tagged along with them, there would be an extra person to carry more supplies (and ice cream). But Don, who was right behind Leo, beat him to the punch.

   “I need you here welding these pipes, Mikey. The recent hard frosts have done a number on our plumbing.”

   As if on cue, the pipes overhead groaned in protest. The whole family had worked hard to turn this disused pumping station into a home, but that didn’t change the fact that most of its components were decades old and unmaintained. They’d already replaced the most critically rusted and degraded pieces. But overhauling the entire system was a slow, painstaking process on a budget of scrap parts fished from the dump. When the Turtles weren’t distracted fighting an outbreak of mutant bugs and ancient tengu, that was.

   Of course, they could always turn to their human friends for help. Casey and April already gave them a hand getting groceries and other needed supplies they couldn’t access as easily for themselves. But asking for a handout didn’t sit well with any of the mutant family. The Turtles and Splinter felt bad enough as it was asking their human friends to source the odd part they couldn’t scavenge or cobble together for themselves.

   A lifetime of self-sufficiency wasn’t easily overturned.

   Mikey decided to switch tactics from charming to pitiful. “But…but ice cream!”

   Donatello was unmoved. “It’ll be cold enough in here to make our own ice cream if we don’t get this heating system shored up.”

   When Mikey’s eyes lit up, Leo quickly cut in. “No. We’re not making our own ice cream.”

   But the idea was already starting to take root in Donnie’s inquisitive mind. “Actually, some liquid nitrogen and a homemade churn could…” he muttered, out loud.

   “Essentials!” Leo stressed, again. “We’re not picking up liquid nitrogen!”

   The tap of their father’s cane on the metal walkway drew everyone’s attention over to the living room. Their aged father stood at the bottom of the stairs, trying to hide the way he was leaning more heavily on his walking stick. He was bundled up snuggly in his winter robes, but the arthritis in his joints was slowing him down markedly.

   “Are you sure you do not wish to take the truck, my sons?” Splinter worried at the knuckles of one paw as he spoke. He had an ache in his eyes that had nothing to do with the pain of his old bones. If their home had been above ground, he would have been casting anxious looks at the weather out the windows. “Even without the forecasted snow, it will still be bitterly cold on the surface…”

   “Everyone and their lap dog will be out panic buying ahead of the storm,” Raph protested gruffly, waving a dismissive hand in his usual brusque but not unkind way, “The roads will be packed!”

   Leo laid a comforting hand on the old rat’s shoulder. It bothered him that he could feel his father’s wiry bones even through the extra thick gown, but he tried not to dwell on the worry, for now. “Raph’s right, Sensei. We’ll move faster on foot. But we’ll be careful. I promise.”

   Splinter’s brow eased as he met his son’s eyes, but there was still a haunted look behind his own.

   “At least all these clothes will help to disguise you,” Don pointed out, handing both of them a ski mask and mirrored goggles. Leo pulled a face but knew better than to argue. Raph covered his snicker with a cough as he pulled on his own woollen mask.

   “Alright, fine, no ice cream. But will you at least stop by the pet store on the corner of Lloyd and Goldfine?” Mikey begged. “They’ve got these new catnip stockings in, and I need at least 3.”

   “Essentials, Mikey,” Leo called, for the third time, as he and Raph made for the exit.

   “What? Klunk’s a member of this family.” Their brother’s protests echoed down the tunnel after them. “His Christmas present is essential!”

~

   Winter had already hit New York City hard this year, with a couple of feet of snow falling in the last week alone.

   The manhole cover that Leo and Raph surfaced by was nearly frozen shut. It had taken both brothers pushing together from below to finally free it from the layer of ice coating the outer rim. One of the benefits of living in the sewers was that the constantly flowing water and warm gases from the fermenting waste tended to keep the tunnels from freezing. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but at least it stopped the temperature from getting too cold. But that could only go so far.

   Once topside, Leo and Raph had instinctively clung to the alleyways and the shadows of the back streets. Even though they were covered head to toe in warm winter clothes, it was hard not to feel exposed on the sidewalks in broad daylight. But the rooftops wouldn’t have been de-iced, and the risk of slipping or landing on a false ledge was too great at the moment. Besides, they didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.

   The city was normally used to dealing with snow and ice. Sweepers were out before the sun each morning, clearing the roads and sidewalks and piling the filthy snow up in mounds that kids loved to jump and climb on. But even the Big Apple was hunkering down in preparation for the approaching blizzard.

   Storm Veronica, as she’d been dubbed by meteorologists, was sweeping in fast from the north. She was shaping up to be a big one, thanks in part to a band of contrasting air meeting her from the south. There were already severe weather warnings in place across most of the state, even though the storm wasn’t due to hit for a few more days yet.

   Normally, the Turtles were prepared for situations like this. Stores of clean bottled water and non-perishable foods were always kept on hand in the lair, alongside enough blankets to make a wholesaler jealous. After that winter when they were just children, no one wanted to risk getting stuck in their home without provisions again. But this year’s supplies had been depleted early. Not through poor planning or management, but through selflessness.

   “I wish the Professor and the others would bunker with us for the storm,” Raph sighed, pulling his jacket closer around himself.

   Leo followed his brother’s gaze out to the landfill island in the middle of the harbour. His heart ached to think of their friends enduring the bad weather out there, but they’d made their choice clear.

   “Me too, Raph. But that’s their home now. I understand why they don’t want to leave it. Besides, we’ve given them all of our emergency supplies, and as many blankets as we can spare. They should be ok until the storm blows over.”

   While the city had been busy rounding up all the homeless people on the streets and getting them into shelters ahead of the storm, there was one group that had been overlooked. Out on the landfill island in the middle of New York’s harbour lived a small community that the Turtles had come to call their friends. Led by a man known fondly as the Professor, they were one of only a few groups of humans that didn’t care what their mutant neighbours looked like.

   The Turtles had offered to get them off the island to safety for the duration of the storm, but few of them had been prepared to leave the place they’d come to call home. So instead, Leonardo and his brothers had focused on equipping their friends with all the emergency supplies they could get. It meant having to replace most of their own provisions, but the brothers insisted on seeing to their friends’ needs before their own.

    “Yeah well, I’m just glad April and Casey are out West visiting her family for the holidays.”

   Despite the chill, Leo’s heart warmed to hear the kindness in his brother’s voice. Raphael had always had a big heart, even if he tried to hide it behind a gruff mask.

   “Come on,” Leo gave him a playful nudge as Raph started to shiver. “Let’s get the stuff on our list and get back before Don and Mikey decide to turn the lair into a walk-in freezer.”

   Raph huffed at the mental image as he fell into step at his brother’s side. He knew Leo was only joking… he hoped. “If those bozos turn themselves into turtle-sicles, I ain’t helping to defrost ‘em.”

   It wasn’t too hard to find what they needed. Even with people panic buying, many of the bodegas were already well stocked for the winter ahead. The Turtles took only what they needed and could carry.

   Well, almost.

   “Is that everything?” Raph asked, as he tried to subtly pack a small tub of ice cream and a catnip stocking into his bag. Leo turned his head to hide his smile as he pretended not to notice.

   “Nearly,” he replied, ticking off the items on his list. “One more stop left. I want to swing by the pharmacy and refill the first aid kits, just to be safe.”

   “Fair enough,” his brother agreed. Raph’s voice was sounding a little thick behind his ski mask. If he was anything like Leo, he must be getting hot under all those layers.

   They trudged on. The wind was starting to pick up a bit, and the cold air bit at their lungs with every inhale, even through their woollen masks. Leo hoped Master Splinter was keeping warm. At least he had Donnie’s space heater, the thermal gloves Mikey had got him last Christmas, and the blanket Raph had knitted for him. But all those things didn’t stop Leonardo’s worry.

   He couldn’t help it. The icy weather was brutal enough for a bale of semi-coldblooded mutant reptiles. Sometimes Leo wished they could brumate through the winter like regular turtles. Getting to sleep away the worst of the snow sounded rather nice. But that would leave their aged father alone for a whole season. And as Splinter got older, his ability to tolerate the cold lessened.

   The broken leg he’d suffered during his initial victory in the Battle Nexus had never healed properly. It was only years later that Leo and his brothers learned that Splinter had fought, not once but twice, on that injury! He was lucky to be able to bear weight on it at all. But the damage had been done, and now that leg ached fiercely every time the weather was cold and wet. Splinter, of course, tried to hide the pain. But there was no concealing it from four sharp ninjas.

   Add to that their Sensei’s advancing years, and the way any illness or injury took longer for him to shake off, and his sons were understandably concerned. Worry nibbled away at Leonardo’s heart the longer he was out of the lair. He trusted his brothers, of course he did, and he knew Master Splinter was sensible and could look after himself. But he still longed to get back to his old dad. The sooner he and Raph were done with their errand, the better.

   Restocking their medical supplies turned out to be the hardest part of their list. The first pharmacy they tried had been virtually picked clean by the time they got there. The cashier at the second took a little too long staring at their modified three-fingered gloves when Raph fumbled with a bottle of aspirin. They decided to leave before she got too suspicious. The third started asking awkward questions about why they needed so many bandages and painkillers.

   At last, they got what they needed at the fourth drugstore. Leo carefully tucked the ibuprofen gel he’d bought for Master Splinter into his coat pocket. But as they exited the shop, something made Raph pull up short.

   “Hey, Leo?” he called over his shoulder, his eyes still fixed ahead. “When’s that storm supposed to hit, again?”

   Leo caught the tone of his voice immediately and looked up. “Tuesday…” he said slowly, but it came out almost more like a question.

   The air had an unnatural stillness that he just couldn’t quite put his finger on, even for New York City. It was also heavier, with a unique, almost ‘ozone-like’ scent behind the ever-present traffic fumes and fast food of a bustling metropolitan community. And the temperature had dropped significantly, now he stopped to notice it.

   But what really made the non-existent hairs on the back of his neck stand on end was the colour of the sky.

   That unnatural, greyish-green colour that he’d only seen once before, when he was 15 years old and staying at Casey’s grandmother’s farmhouse for the very first time.

   He remembered that day well. It had been the first time he’d been strong enough to leave the house since they’d arrived, and it might have been his last if his brothers hadn’t practically carried him back inside as the heavens opened.

   Raph’s eyes were also fixed on the unsettling green sky.

   “Any chance the weatherman got it wrong?”

   Leo should have noticed the warnings sooner. Master Splinter had drilled it into them to always remain aware of their surroundings. But he’d been so laser focused on their supply run, and his worry for his Sensei, that he’d missed the changing signs.

   Leo tore his eyes away from the sky and met his brother’s serious gaze.

   “Home,” he said. “Now.”

   They didn’t linger on the sidewalk. Both turtles broke into as fast of a run as they could safely manage in the icy conditions. Once they were in the shelter of the underground again, they could take their time getting home. But first they had to get back below the street. The nearest manhole cover was over a block away. Minutes for an athletic mutant ninja, even if they were weighed down by heavy supplies and bulky clothing.

   But they didn’t have minutes.

   One moment the air was empty. Then a lazy white blob drifted down from above. It was quickly followed by a second, then a third, then ten more.  In a blink the air was a blur of snowflakes and ice crystals as the overburdened clouds burst. With them came the wind, roaring in like a freight train and whipping up the falling snow along with what already lay on the pavements into a fierce ground blizzard. Within seconds the streets were white. The roads they knew like the backs of their hands were completely obscured by swirling, raging snow that swarmed and stung like a cloud of furious agitated bees.

   Leo reached the intersection first, throwing himself to his knees at about the point where the manhole should be. Raph was seconds behind him. Together they scrabbled through the blinding snow for the feel of the ridged metal beneath their gloved fingers. It was Raph who found it. But there was a big problem.

   “It’s iced up!” he barked, slipping as he tried to stand to get more purchase. Leo oriented himself by his brother and grabbed for the other side of the manhole.

   “It’s frozen shut!” The manhole wouldn’t shift, and this time they weren’t under it to push against it. “We can’t open it!”

   Raph reached into his jacket and pulled out a sai – most likely to stab at the ice or wedge under the metal to use as a lever - but he nearly fumbled it in the strong winds. The blizzard was growing by the second. They were out of time to open the hatch.

   Leo grabbed his brother’s arm. “We have to get out of the storm!”

   Raphael didn’t fight him. He grasped his brother in return. Refusing to let go lest they lose each other in the snow, they clung to each other, anchoring themselves against the hurling winds. Leo chose a direction and moved in it. At least they were surrounded by buildings. Whichever way they went, they were bound to hit a solid structure sooner rather than later.

   “This way!” he called, hoping desperately that he wasn’t leading them straight down the middle of the road. Master Splinter’s wish that they take the Battle Shell echoed through his mind like a hollow bell. If they’d listened to him, they would at least have some shelter right now, even if it wasn’t safe to drive in these conditions.

   Leo cast the thought aside. It wouldn’t help them now. The most important thing at the moment was to get out of the wind and snow. They could figure out how to get back to the lair once they were someplace safe.

   Visibility was practically zero. The winds buffeted them from all sides, eager to bowl them over and bury them beneath the flurry. The freezing cold bit right through their layers of clothing. Already Leo could feel his fingers going numb. Raph caught his foot on something and almost stumbled, nearly bringing them both down. Leo redoubled his grip on his brother and hauled them through the whiteout.

   His leg bumped into something solid. He couldn’t see what it was, but he could feel along the edge. It curved downwards in a deliberate swoop. His foot bounced off the rubbery material beneath it. Leo’s mind filled in the blanks. It was a tyre in a wheelarch.

   They’d reached a parked car, so at least they knew they were moving in the right direction. The thought occurred to him to break a window and climb inside. It was shelter, of a sort. But it would be very cramped, and the broken glass would let the freezing wind and snow into the vehicle with them. Not sustainable if this whiteout lasted more than a few minutes.

   His heart protested as Leo abandoned the available bolthole. Part of him knew they might be condemning themselves to an icy death by not utilising the first shelter they came across. But a parked car meant the side of the street, and that meant buildings. If they could get inside an apartment foyer or a shop, they would have space and cover to hunker down and wait out the worst of the storm. The brick-built structures were right there. They just had to reach them.

   Raph’s feet nearly slipped out from under him as Leo pulled him round behind the parked car. He was leaning heavily on his brother. Had he wrenched his ankle when he tripped? They couldn’t stop to assess right now. They’d just have to wrap it once they got under shelter. Leo tried to shoulder as much of his brother’s weight as he could. Surprisingly, Raph let him.

   With one hand behind him on the icy metal of the car, Leo got his bearings in the blinding white blizzard. The buildings should be straight ahead. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to rely on his other senses beyond sight to get through a hairy situation. At least Master Splinter had trained them for this, though their Sensei probably didn’t have whiteout conditions in mind during those lessons. Still, a ninja was nothing if not adaptable.

   Leo pushed off from the car, his body braced against the snow and wind as he virtually dragged his brother across the sidewalk. The going was painfully slow. His grip slid on the ice underfoot. Raph’s bulk weighed him down on one side. The wind slammed into them both like a charging bull. At least his eyes weren’t stinging behind his goggles from the cold. Leo silently apologised for doubting Donnie on that one.

   The texture of flat brick met his gloved fingers, and Leo almost sobbed in relief. They’d made it! Now they just had to find a way to get inside. Running his hand along the surface of the building, Leo edged round until a new surface met his touch. He felt along it. Yes! It was a window ledge. It looked like breaking and entering was back on the agenda.

   “Raph! Give me your sai!”

   There was no response. Leo jostled his brother, a little roughly given the circumstances and urgency, and he thought he heard Raph grunt. He didn’t have time to dwell on that as the handle of his brother’s weapon was awkwardly nudged into his arm. Leo grasped the hilt tight so that he didn’t drop it and lose it in the snow.

   “Cover your eyes!” he called and prayed that he wasn’t about to give a nasty surprise to some poor family huddling inside the building. Flipping the sai around in his grip, Leo brought the blunt end of the handle up to around where he hoped the glass was, and using all his strength, brought it crashing down on the pane. The resulting sharp crack was almost drowned out by the howling storm.

   It took Leo several more swings before the crack broke all the way through and the glass shattered. He pushed in as much as he could with his brother’s weapon, but in the blinding snow he couldn’t see for sure. He’d just have to hope he got the worst of the sharp edges, and that their clothes would protect them from the broken glass.

   “Up you go, Raph!” Again, no protest from his brother as Leo used his shoulders to boost Raphael up through the window. Something sharper than the wind and the broken glass punched into Leo’s gut, but he could worry about that later. As soon as Raph was in, he grabbed the ledge and hauled himself inside too.

   The room they found themselves in was dark and narrow. A countertop lined the side wall, with a sink in the middle and cupboards underneath. Clearly a kitchen, though there were no homey touches or food on the worktops to indicate that anyone lived there. Leo really hoped they’d stumbled across an empty apartment.

   “Raph?”

   The wind and snow were still whistling in through the broken window. They’d have to board it up or go into a different room, if there was truly no one else here. Scouting out their bolthole would be a smart move. But Leo couldn’t think about that right now. He couldn’t think about anything else now that he had a chance to really look at his brother.

   Something was not right.

   Raph wasn’t clambering to his feet already. He wasn’t complaining about the rough landing, or the harsh push to get him up here. He wasn’t making some quip about how his sai were better suited to picking locks, not smashing windows.

   He was just lying on his side where he’d fallen, snow already starting to coat him as it blew in through the broken glass. He was making no effort to brush it off. His chest heaved, and now Leo could hear a disturbing wheeze through the fabric of his ski mask.

   “Raph!” Leo hurried to his brother’s side, sweeping shards of glass and snow out of his way as he moved. Had Raphael hurt himself in the fall? Had he been impaled on broken glass?! There wasn’t any visible blood, but with all the layers they were wearing, it might not show up yet…

   Mindful that his brother might be injured, Leo carefully pulled the goggles and ski mask off Raph’s head. Immediately his crackly breath was louder. There was also a sheen of sweat on his brow, and Leo was surprised at how warm Raph’s skin felt even through his gloves.

   “Raph? Are you hurt?”

   Raphael shook his head slowly and weakly shoved his brother’s hovering hands away. “I’m… fine…,” he gasped, stubbornly pushing himself up beneath the still open window. Shards of glass underneath him crackled as he shifted his weight. Sitting upright punched a dry, hacking cough from his lungs.

   He was clearly not fine. Moving even that much seemed to wear him out, and he was still breathing far too heavily for Leonardo’s liking. What’s more, now that he was upright, his brother could see the way Raphael was shivering violently. The knot in his stomach tightened.

   Prioritise. Reassess the situation. Something was wrong with his brother, but the freezing wind wasn’t helping. Raph needed to get out of this draft, then Leo could get a good look at him and figure out the problem. Moving him wasn’t a great idea if he was injured, but there was nothing readily accessible to block the window with. As long as the door wasn’t locked, they could find another room to settle in.

   Of course, opening the door also meant risking running into whomever might live here. But the kitchen seemed barren, and no one had come to investigate the very loud noise of their front window being smashed and two heavy bodies tumbling inside. It was a good bet that the apartment was empty, at least for the time being. Leo weighed up the risks and decided it was worth chancing it.

   “Can you walk?” he asked, crouching at his brother’s side and putting Raph’s arm over his shoulders. Ideally, Leo would have left his brother here while he scouted out the rest of the apartment. But the idea of leaving Raph on his own, especially when he didn’t know what was wrong with him, chilled Leonardo far more than the wind and the snow.

    Raphael answered by starting to push to his feet. Standing upright was an ordeal, with Leo ending up having to take most of his sibling’s weight. Just like he had outside. It also prompted more coughing.

   “Come on. Let’s find somewhere to rest.”

   Mercifully, the door was unlocked. The kitchen led out into a larger area that was probably a living room. It was completely empty. Not a shred of furniture occupied the space, but the floor seemed clean, and the wallpaper wasn’t peeling. Further evidence that this apartment wasn’t currently occupied. Perhaps it was up for sale. Whatever the case, Leo was grateful. It looked like Turtle Luck had finally taken pity on them.

   Or maybe not. Raphael wobbled in a concerning way as he tried to stand. Leo quickly shut the draft in the kitchen and guided his brother across the floor to the opposite wall. It would have been nice to have a sofa to lay him down on, or even a few cushions, but at least they had an enclosed space to shelter from the storm.

   Setting Raph down was more a case of a controlled fall than a gentle descent. Leo didn’t waste any time unzipping his brother’s jacket and rolling up his layers to check for injuries.

   “Cut it out, bro…” Raph wheezed, swatting again at his brother’s anxious hands. “…’m not hurt…”

   It would be more convincing if he wasn’t cut off by a hiss as he tried to sit back up. Leonardo cast his sharp eyes over his brother, coming to rest on the ankle that Raphael was gingerly lowering back down to the floor. Most likely a sprain then. Hopefully not a broken bone.

   At least there was no blood or external injuries to be found. A couple of tears in Raph’s clothes, probably from the broken glass of the window, but it looked like the fabric had taken the worst of the sharp edges. Leo might have to seriously reconsider the merits of wearing clothing…

   He moved down to his brother’s ankle and gently felt along the joint. Raphael bit back another hiss, but the sharp intake of cold air made him cough again.

   Leonardo should be relieved. Aside from a twisted ankle, it looked like his brother was relatively unhurt. But the tight dread in the pit of his stomach wasn’t easing. And now that there were no other distractions, it had been joined by a gnawing itch at the back of his mind.

   Raphael’s voice had been gruffer and thicker than usual today. Leo had thought it was just muffled by the woollen mask over his mouth, but perhaps not.

   He’d been shivering, but surely that was just because he was out in the cold air… Though, Leo had been quite warm enough in all his layers of clothing, now that he thought about it. Almost too warm, in fact.

   Raph had nearly fumbled and dropped that bottle of painkillers, and then his sai. Was it just how cumbersome his gloves were? Leo was normally mildly jealous of his brother’s dexterity…

   And then there was the stumbling. A twisted ankle, sure. But which came first? Did Raphael stumble because he sprained his ankle, or did he sprain his ankle because he stumbled?

   He was shivering, but his skin was hot to the touch. Raph was still heavily winded, even though Leo had his breath back already. Every inhale crackled; every exhale wheezed.

   But the biggest alarm bell for Leonardo was how uncharacteristically meek and quiet his firecracker of a brother was currently being. No pushback. No sharp quips. Barely any resistance or protests that he could look after himself. The usually fierce fires in Raphael’s belly were unnaturally dim, today.

   It was with fresh eyes – and a swelling nausea - that Leo recalled what had happened back at the lair when Don had given him the garish ski googles. Raph hadn’t been trying to disguise his snicker as a cough: he’d been trying to disguise his cough as a snicker!

   And somehow, his usually attentive, observant, watchful leader had missed it all!

   “Raphael.” Leo’s voice was tight and carefully neutral as he pulled his own scarf off and used it to wrap his brother’s ankle. “Are you sick?”

   No response. Just the distant wail of the storm through the kitchen window.

   The silence said it all.

   Leonardo put his head in his hand and sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me??”

   He could practically hear his brother’s temper pop and crackle as it flared back to life. “I c’n handle it…” Raph bristled. It was hard to tell if his voice was extra gravelly because he’d just been coughing, or if it was because he was baring his teeth and glaring daggers into the far wall. Probably both.

   The obstinate reply only stoked Leo’s own flames as he whirled on his brother. “Like shell you can! You’re barely able to talk, let alone stand up! What, did you think you’re too tough for the winter, or something? Pneumonia is no joke, Raphael! You’ve probably turned a little head cold into a serious illness, running around in the snow like this!”

   “And who else would’ve… come with ya’, huh?” Despite the rattle in his voice, Raph’s own anger blazed in return. “Don’s got to oversee repairs… Mikey’s… the best welder outta the four of us… and there’s no way… any of us was letting Splinter …come topside!”

   He immediately paid for the effort of that outburst with a deep, wet cough that went on and on. Leo was at his side in a blink, helping his brother to sit up as Raph spluttered and gasped. He trembled with every wrenching bark.

   How had it gotten this bad so quickly? How had Leo missed all the warning signs? Or was Raphael’s sickness like the storm raging outside: deceptively quiet until the right trigger kicked it into full gear?

   How long had he been feeling under the weather? How long had he kept it from the rest of his family? How long would he have kept hiding it?

   Knowing Raphael, he probably wouldn’t have said a word.

   Mikey always got clingy when he was sick, milking his woes for all the coddling his family could dish out. Donnie tried to power through, but his sneezes were so explosive it was a wonder he hadn’t found a way to use them to clear collapsed tunnels already. And while Leo would rather keep any illness to himself, the migraines that often accompanied his bouts of sickness were a dead giveaway to his family.

   But Raph had always been good at hiding it when he was under the weather. Perhaps he had a stronger immune system than his siblings. Or perhaps he was just better at covering up the signs. Leo suspected it had something to do with not wanting to appear weak or vulnerable in front of his family, though of course Raphael would never admit as much.

   “I could have managed on my own,” Leo protested, once his brother’s coughs died down again.

   “Yeah, and where… would that’ve got ya’?” To his credit, Raph didn’t cringe or avert his eyes. He met Leo’s stare head on, even if the dewy sweat on his brow and the heaviness of his breaths undermined his stubborn front, somewhat.  “Alone…in this storm…that’s where.”

   The competitive fire within Leonardo growled back. He hated it whenever anyone implied that he couldn’t look after himself. Yet another trait he shared with his hotblooded brother. But he purposefully damped it back down. The pot calling the kettle black wasn’t going to clear the whiteout conditions or get them home again.

   “Save your strength,” he instructed instead, helping to prop Raph up against the cold wall. “We’ll just have to ride out this blizzard until it’s safe to move again.”

   Leo helped his brother to shed his backpack, tucking it behind Raph’s shell for support, then swung his own off his shoulder. Within the front pocket he found his Shell Cell. They’d made sure it was fully charged before they ventured out. But they hadn’t accounted for the storm.

   “No signal,” he reported. It wasn’t a huge surprise in this weather. Even Donnie’s impressive network that somehow operated underground – the genius had explained it once, but most of it had gone right over Leo’s head – wasn’t built to function in these conditions.

   “Not much… they could do… anyway…” Raph huffed. At least his breath sounded a little less laboured with his backpack propping him up. “Can’t move… until the wind… dies down.”

   “Rest,” Leo repeated.

   Raph didn’t have the strength to argue.

~

   Any hopes that the blizzard would be over quickly were dashed as the snowstorm continued to rage unabated. Leo got Raph as comfortable as he could, then took the chance to check the rest of the cold apartment, always keeping an ear out for his brother as he went. There wasn’t much else to find: a bathroom with an empty medicine cabinet, a small, equally empty bedroom, and a walk-in closet the size of a postage stamp. The place had been gutted, the electric and heating disconnected, and the water shut off.

   Raph’s hacking cough followed his brother through the bare rooms. Each bout seemed to be louder, more wrenching, and last longer. Leo decided he’d explored enough and returned to his sibling in the main room. They had a better chance of staying warm in a smaller space like the bedroom. But one look at his brother had Leo abandoning the idea of moving him.

   Raphael looked awful. His normally emerald-green scales were pallid and washed out. And a layer of flop sweat coated his pale brow, even though he shivered like a rattling engine. It was a safe bet that he was aching all over. Running around in a snowstorm and tumbling headfirst through a window couldn’t have helped.

   Frustration and concern quarrelled in Leonardo’s gut, kicking and squirming like adolescent siblings forced to share the same bed. He kept going back and forth between fretting over Raphael’s condition and wanting to snap at his brother for being so stupid. It wasn’t a new feeling. The constant flip flop of emotion was doing little to ease the tension in his chest, or in the room.

   “What were you thinking, Raph?” He knew he was nagging, and he hated it. But he just couldn’t swallow the words back down.

   Raphael tried to huff, but it turned into another cough. “You’d a done the same…”

   “And that somehow makes this ok??”

   His brother turned and gave him a Look. Leo knew that Look. It was the same Look he often turned on his brothers – most often Raph and Mikey, but Donnie earned the odd Look now and again, too. It was the ‘Are you kidding me right now?’ Look. The ‘Don’t try my patience’ Look. The ‘Really?’ Look.

   It felt a bit strange to be on the receiving end of the Look.

   Not that Raph was able to maintain it for long. A violent shudder broke his line of sight, and he couldn’t help curling deeper into his coat. Leo used the back of his hand to gently feel Raph’s forehead.

   “You’re burning up,” he murmured, reaching over to grab his backpack and rummage around within. He knew what was in there – he’d ticked everything off methodically as he got them – but he had to look. Alas, it was just as he expected. “Ugh. Why didn’t we think to get any fever tablets? We went to four different pharmacies!”

   “…Left pocket…”

   Leo raised a brow as he looked over at his brother. Raph was deliberately not making eye contact again, but he pushed his hip out slightly to indicate his coat pocket. Wordlessly, Leo dug into his brother’s jacket, and sure enough, pulled out a bottle of fever-reducing medicine. Further proof that Raph knew he was sick and had intended to ride out his suffering in secret. Leo didn’t know whether to sigh in exasperation or snap his head off.

   He forced himself to focus on the task at hand, instead. At least they had the medication to help his brother’s condition.

   “Small sips,” he warned, bringing a bottle of water to his brother’s beak with a couple of the tablets. Raph shivered harshly as the cold liquid went down his throat. Leo wished he had a way to warm the water, but even if there had been a kettle here, no heating meant no gas for the stove, either. “I know it sucks, but you have to stay hydrated.”

   They got about a third of the bottle into him before Raph pushed it away. It was better than nothing. But he continued to cough and tremble and wheeze. It was hard to tell if his fever was coming down without a thermometer, but he was still shivering like the last leaf left on a branch in a gale.

   A new fear prickled within Leo’s chest.

   “Hold still,” he ordered, putting the water bottle down and peeling back his brother’s sweater. Raph protested as cold air rushed in to sting his feverish skin, but his efforts to push Leo away were weakened by the toll the sickness was taking on his body.

   Leo reached his brother’s undershirt and had his fears confirmed. “You’re soaked in sweat. We have to get these wet clothes off you.”

   “I’m fine…” Raphael growled, weakly.

   Leo’s eyes narrowed as his ire began to rise again. If only they had a way to utilise their own hot heads to keep themselves warm! “Knock it off, Raph. You can’t sit there in wet clothes. You’ll only end up getting sicker. We have to keep you warm and dry.”

   “…With what?”

   They had no blankets with them: there were enough back at the lair that they’d focused on getting food and water instead. The apartment was empty: not even a dishcloth remained. They couldn’t light a fire, or turn on the heating, or boil a glass of water. All they had for warmth was the clothes on their backs. At least Raph was still clear-headed enough to realise that. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

   Unfortunately, it also meant he knew just where Leonardo was going with this line of thought.

   “Not. Happenin’!”

   “It’s all we’ve got, Raph.” Leo didn’t hesitate. He was already unbuttoning his thick winter coat to pull his sweater off over his head.

   “You need it!” Raphael tried to push him away as Leo removed his own cotton undershirt and balled it up to use as a towel. But the sickness was draining his strength fast, and he had no hope of avoiding Leo’s care.

   “You need it more.” There was that familiar, no-nonsense leader voice again. Leo was not going to be argued with.

   Neither of them said a word as Raph was dried and redressed in his brother’s pastel blue sweater, with his own jacket back on top. It was only when Leo moved to drape his own coat over his brother’s legs that Raph kicked up another fight.

   “Don’t you…dare, Leo!”

   Even sick with fever and what was most likely a chest infection, Raphael still managed to reignite the fires behind his eyes that would have burned his brother to a crisp on any other day. His glare said it all: if Leonardo thought he was going to give up his last layer of clothing to his brother and sit around bare chested in a freezing cold apartment, he had another think coming. On this, Raph would not be moved.

   For all his own stubbornness, Leo recognised a fight he was not going to win. Instead, he decided to compromise.

   “Now what’re…you doin’?”

   “Keeping you warm,” came the simply reply. Leo pulled his coat back on and huddled up as close to his sibling as he could get, putting his arms around Raph and pulling him in tight. Skin to skin would probably allow for the most heat exchange, but Leo didn’t want to expose his poorly brother to the cold air again. This would have to do. Raph was uncomfortably warm, even in the unheated apartment, but he didn’t push Leo away.

   “You’re… an idiot…”

   Leo didn’t rise to the bait as Raph’s grumbles turned into fresh coughing. 

~

   The hours stretched on. They kept track of the time via the digital clock on Leo’s Shell Cell. Every half hour he tried to call home, but the signal wouldn’t go through. At least he didn’t have to worry about using up the battery, since they had Raph’s cell in reserve.

   They could still hear the wind howling through the broken kitchen window. Every 15 minutes or so, Leo urged his brother to drink more water. Raph’s chest still rose and fell heavily, but he seemed to have a bit of his breath back, at least. Cuddling up in a two-turtle pile was keeping the brothers somewhat warm, though Leo didn’t like the way Raph had started to shiver even more. Now that he’d stopped moving, the cold was creeping back into his own body, too.

   Not for the first time, Leo dearly wished he could tuck his brother up safe in bed and let him get the rest he so badly needed to recover. But there was no bed here, not even a blanket to wrap around him, and they weren’t exactly safe to let their guards’ down. Anyone could stumble upon their shelter, and it wasn’t like they had many options for escape.

   Still, if that did happen, Leonardo was prepared. He’d left his swords at the lair – they were too large to hide underneath his clothing, and this had been only meant to be a simple supply run, anyway – but he never liked to be completely unarmed. A short tanto knife was tucked into his waistband. Raph’s sai proved he felt the same way. At least Master Splinter had trained them how to fight with all weapons, so Leo could use those too, if needs be.

   Whatever happened, Leo would protect his brother to his last breath.  

   “…You’re an idiot.”

   Raph’s grumble caught his attention. It was almost like he’d read Leo’s mind. Had he said any of that out loud?

   …No. His brother just knew him like the back of his own hand.

   Leo chose a noncommittal reply. “So you keep telling me.”

  Raph’s huff turned into another wet splutter. It took a moment before he could get enough breath to speak again.

   “Wouldn’t have to… if you’d just stop bein’ so stupid…”

   That earned him a raised brow. “I’m not the one that went out sick in a snowstorm.”

   It was the kind of serve that Raphael would normally return without batting an eye. This back and forth was as habitual as breathing for the brothers in red and blue. It was what they did. It was who they were.

   Raph and Mikey traded insults – not to hurt each other, but as a way of bonding and showing they cared. Leo had a similar dynamic with Mikey, though his tended to revolve around nagging the troublemaker, who in turn seemed to revel in pushing his leader’s buttons. It was companionable and fond. They both knew there was no malice behind it.

   Even Don, the softest spoken and mildest mannered of the quartet, got in a quip or two here and there. And he wasn’t immune from being the occasional butt of his brothers’ jokes, either.

   Raphael and Leonardo’s bickering was more like sparring. Just like iron sharpens iron, they repeatedly tested each other’s metal, keeping each other in top condition. Whether the competition came in the form of weapons or words, they both pushed back because they were confident that the other could rise to the challenge.

   So, when Raph responded sincerely instead of with his usual flippant comeback, it made Leo sit up a little more.

   “…Couldn’t let you go out alone…”

   Hadn’t they been over this already? “Mikey could have-”

   “Yeah,” Raph cut him off, piercing gaze turned to stare right into his brother’s soul, “But you wouldn’t have asked him.”

   The knowing look in his brother’s sickly eyes pulled Leo up short.

   “We both know… you’d have gone out… on your own,” Raph said, between laboured breaths. “Probably… gotten yourself… frozen to death, too…”

   There was no arguing with his logic, because Leo knew Raph would have done the same thing if their positions had been reversed. Just like Leo would have also hidden his sickness to accompany his brother, anyway. They were cut from the same cloth, as much as neither liked to admit it.

   Squabbling over this would do them no good now. Though maybe, if – no, when – they got home, they’d have to have a serious talk about this self-sacrificial spirit they both showed an unsettling tendency towards.

   That could come later.

   “You’re right,” Leo acquiesced, tucking himself in a little closer to share his body heat with Raphael, “I am an idiot. But at least I’ve got a brother to watch my shell.”

   Raph’s next cough sounded a little more like a fond scoff. “…Always, bro.”

~

   It was a trilling sound that jolted Leo awake.

   He hadn’t been fully asleep, not really. It was more accurate to say that he’d dozed off. But the guilt still flared as he realised that he’d nodded off instead of keeping an eye on his sickly brother.

   The last thing he remembered was Raph drifting off into a fitful slumber. Leo had panicked initially. What if Raph went into brumation or slipped into a coma?! But one look at his brother’s exhausted face had Leo reluctant to rouse him. Raph needed the rest. He wasn’t going to recover if he didn’t. And at least asleep he was getting a break from the aches and pains of his sickness.

   Still, Leo had meant to keep a vigil over his poorly brother, not doze off as well! He sprang up, leaning over to check Raph’s pulse and temperature. Still just sleeping, albeit soundly. His vitals seemed no better than before, but at least he hadn’t deteriorated.

   With his immediate concerns eased, Leo finally tuned in to the persistent shrill coming from the floor at his side. He glanced over blearily.

   It was his Shell Cell.

   …

   … His Shell Cell was ringing!

   He snatched it up and answered the call. “Don…!”

   “Leo? Oh, thank shell! Are you hurt? Is Raph ok? When we realised the storm had come early, and we couldn’t reach your phones, we-”

   “It’s ok, Don,” Leo cut off his brother’s increasingly frantic ramblings. It was so, so good to hear Donnie’s voice again, and he had to fight the urge to throw back his own questions about how his family back home were faring. But now wasn’t the time. “Raph’s here. We found shelter. But he’s sick. Really sick. I think he might have a chest infection.”

   “What?? How did he…?” Donatello’s family could count on one tridactyl hand how many times the brainy turtle had sworn. He proceeded to double it. “He was hiding a cold, wasn’t he? Ugh…!”

   Leo agreed with the sentiment. Now that his beating heart was easing back to its regular pace, he realised that he couldn’t hear the wind howling in the other room anymore. “Don. Has the storm passed?”

   “Hmm? Oh, uh, no, not yet. But the wind and snow have died down considerably. It looks like we’re in a period of calm before the next round starts.”

   “…How long have we got?”

   His brother knew what he was asking. “Long enough to come get you. While we were stuck underground, Mikey and I overhauled the Battle Shell and fitted it up with snow chains. This bad boy could cross the Arctic Circle, now.” Come to think of it, was that the rumble of a diesel engine in the background of the phone call?

   Leo wasn’t happy about the idea of his other brothers venturing out in this weather, especially if the storm was going to kick back up again. But he had to get Raph home. At least if Don and Mikey got caught out in the blizzard, they’d be safe inside the Battle Shell.

   “Alright. But be careful. And bring enough supplies to keep you two going if you get stuck.”

   Don’s laugh would have been light-hearted, but Leo could hear the strain behind it. How must his family have been feeling, unable to contact them in the storm? “Don’t worry, Master Splinter’s already given us the same message about ten times over. Where are you hunkered down?”

   Leo knew there was no point arguing. His brothers would come on foot if they couldn’t get the Battle Shell through the snow. He sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “East and Twelfth. We found an empty apartment to shelter in.”

   “We’ll be there in 10. Hang tight.”

   For the first time since this whole mess had begun, Leo let his shoulders relax. Just a little.

~

   Raphael woke to blessed warmth.

   His eyes were all gummed up, his everything ached, and his throat felt like he’d been gargling sandpaper. But there was a heavenly cool cloth on his forehead, and as he shifted he could feel layers of cozy blankets wrapped around him. A toasty lump near his foot protested the movement with a sleepy ‘mew’.

   It was an effort to open his eyes, but he was nothing if not stubborn.

   “Hey, bro. Welcome back.”

   The soft murmur drew his attention to his side. Mikey was sat next to Raph’s bed, a gentle smile curling up the corners of his eyes.

   “Shh,” he warned, before Raph could say anything, and nodded across to the other side of the bed.

   Raphael’s gaze followed him. Draped with his head and one arm on the mattress was Leonardo, sound asleep. He also had a thick, fleecy blanket tucked around his shoulders, and his fingers were curled around Raph’s free hand.

   “I only came in to tell him to go to bed,” Mikey whispered, and now his hushed tone made sense, “This is the first I’ve seen him sleep since we got you home.”

   “How long was I out?” Raph croaked. The sound made Leo stir, but thankfully he didn’t wake up.

   “About 10 hours. You must have needed it. The good news is your fever’s broken. The bad news is Don threatened to chain you to the bed if you get up for anything other than the bathroom.”

   It was only then that Raphael realised he wasn’t in his own room. The warm yellow bricks, shoji doors and tranquil pool were not features of his bedroom in the pumping station turned lair. Neither was the futon he was laid on. One of his first steps of setting up his new room had been to sew another hammock to sleep in. Leo had even helped him source the material to make it.

   No, this wasn’t Raph’s room. These chambers belonged to Master Splinter. It had been years since he’d crawled into his father’s bed as a child. Come to think of it, that was the last time he’d felt this sick, too.

   “Guess I must ’a given you guys quite a scare, huh…” It was more of a statement than a question.

   Mikey met Raph’s eyes. “You both did. Not being able to contact you while you were out in the storm was bad enough. I think Don’s already got plans to overhaul the Shell Cells’ signal. After he sends an angry email to the Met Office for incorrectly forecasting when the blizzard would hit.”

   It was said in a jokey tone, but they both knew Donnie wasn’t above such measures. Raph almost pitied the poor employee who received that email.

   “Master Splinter’s got a pot of soup on the go, if you’re hungry. He even let Klunk in here to be your cuddle buddy, and you know how he feels about the smell of cats on his bedding.”

  The feline in question gave a sleepy chirp at hearing his name. Mikey rested a hand on his cat’s head and gently fondled the soft orange ears. Klunk’s purrs sounded like the soft rumble of a well-oiled bike. But Mikey’s smile fell, and the humour slipped out of his voice as he continued. “When we finally got through to Leo, and he said you were sick… Yeah, you scared us, dude.”

   The guilt settled heavily on Raphael’s shoulders. He hadn’t intended to worry any of his family. “I’m sorry, Mikey. I thought …I …I wasn’t thinking.”

   “…Wouldn’t be the first time.”

   The thick mumble drew both brothers over to the pile of turtle beside the bed. Leo looked rough as he lifted his head and rubbed at his bleary eyes. The heavy worry didn’t rub away, but there wasn’t any bite to his voice. He just looked exhausted.

   “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Mikey grinned. Only he could get away with saying stuff like that, and he knew it.

   Leo levelled him with the Look. It wasn’t quite as effective when he was still half asleep.

   “Please,” he said, with a yawn and a stretch that made his neck click loudly, “If I’m any Disney princess, I’d be Mulan.”

   Mikey gave a proper laugh. “As if. You just like her because she’s got a sword. We all know you’re more like Belle, bro. Nose in a book at every opportunity.”

   It was a well-worn debate. Mikey had assigned them all Disney Princesses years ago, and every time a new movie came out, he re-evaluated the list. Don was Ariel, on account of his fascination with gadgets and gizmos galore. Raph wasn’t sure how he felt about being assigned Jasmine, but at least she was brave and stood her ground for her rights. And Mikey was currently enamoured with Rapunzel. The brothers agreed he had the same wide-eyed enthusiasm and ability to get up to mischief.

   He suddenly put on a deliberately mock gruff voice. “’How can you read those? There’s no pictures!’”

   Leo sighed through his nose but there was a faint smile on his beak. “’Well, some people use their imagination,’” he dutifully completed the movie quote.

   They could all recite the films off by heart.

   There was something so safe and wholesome about the interaction that Raph couldn’t help huffing in amusement. Unfortunately, his mirth quickly devolved into coughs.

   Mikey and Leo promptly abandoned their recital to help him sit up. It was much easier to get breath into his lungs like this than lying down, but every muscle in his body ached fiercely. Going five rounds in the arena with Monza Ram and his Triceraton All Stars wouldn’t have left him this sore.

   At last Raph’s coughing subsided. Mikey patted him gently on the shell, then shared a look over the bed with Leo. “I’ll go get you some water, bro.” He stood in one fluid motion and turned for the exit tunnel. But, ever the little gremlin, Mikey couldn’t resist stopping at the exit, turning back, and saying with a cheeky wink “Or ice cream.”

   Raph might have tossed his pillow after the troublemaker, if Mikey didn’t dash off, cackling his little head off. It was only once he’d had left the room that Raph noticed the full glass by the head of his futon.

   He didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what was coming next.

   “Not now, Leo,” he grumbled, staring sullenly at the blankets over his torso. When his brother didn’t reply, the familiar burn of his own temper began to reignite in his chest. But when it came out, that anger was turned firmly on himself. “I don’t need to hear how I messed up today, ok? I know it was stupid to go out in the snow while I’m sick. I know I was a liability. I endangered not only myself, but our bros, too. You don’t have to lecture me about what an idiot I was.”

   A gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder, bursting his bubble of indignant heat. When Raph glanced up, he saw only understanding eyes looking back down at him.

   “I wasn’t going to say any of that,” Leo’s tone was soft and kind, “What I was going to say was; I’m sorry I insisted on going to all those pharmacies. If I hadn’t, we would have gotten back underground before the storm broke.”

  Typical. Leo had every right to chew out his brother for being so reckless, yet his first thought had been how he’d failed the mission.

   “Cut it out, bro,” Raph was still feeling a bit on edge, so his dismissal came out a bit more forceful than was perhaps needed. One look at his brother’s face told him Leo wasn’t offended. “We got everything we needed. And a little snow ain’t gonna slow me down!”

   Leo smiled and rolled his eyes affectionately. “I’m glad your immune system is as tough as your head.”

   Raphael couldn’t help the surprised bark of laughter that punched from his lungs. It felt good, freeing, even if it did elicit another wave of choking. As his coughs died away, so too did the tension in his shoulders. The whole time, his brother’s hand was rubbing soothing circles into his carapace.

   “You’re an idiot,” Leo said, fondly and without a hint of malice.

  Raph snorted softly. There was no way he was getting away without a lecture later on, if not from Leo, then at least from Master Splinter. From Don too, by the sounds of it. But he’d take all the lectures and name calling and coddling his family had to dish out. It was all worth it, just to be back safe and warm in their arms.

   Home.

  He still had to pay the price for his subterfuge, of course. This sickness had settled in firmly, and he knew he was in for days of feeling absolutely wretched. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Yeah, yeah.”

   Love you, too.