#Raphael got thrown in the trashcan while writing this

[agalactichalo]

Brothers in Arms and Odds (TMNT 2012)

@tmnt-write-fight Attack For @bambiraptorx

A big thank you @awildaspenappeared for helping me write this!

Author Note

Totally not listening to brothers in arms while writing this.

I will probably move this to A03 When I can make an account

Summary

Splinter’s death had left the four brother's relationships strained with tensions high and simply surviving with a false sense of routine and pretending to cope with their Father’s passing. Due to the lack of proper training, self care and especially sleep, a simple fight of the remains of The Foot had them retreating defeated and injured. Tensions snapped and two brothers have to work through their differences and insecurities to move on and start to heal.

OR TLDR: Raph gets his ass beat and he and Leo have a bitch fight before making up.

Word count: 2,560

♡━━━━━♡

A few weeks have passed since Splinter’s death, and no one within the Hamato household is coping well with it. Each of them is dealing with the loss in their own way. Every moment drags on, an endless cycle of distraction and mindless routine.

Michelangelo sleeps most of the time, choosing to avoid the harsh reality of Splinter's absence. This time, there’s no futuristic robot to reverse what’s happened—no way to bring Splinter back. It’s a truth Mikey isn’t ready to face. In his dreams, at least, everything remains as it was, and he’s willing to stay in that world for as long as possible.

Raphael throws himself into his training, his hits growing fiercer with every session. The training dummy doesn’t stand a chance under the relentless barrage of attacks. It’s Chompy, his pet, that occasionally breaks his cycle of aggression. The tenderness with which Raph feeds his alien turtle contrasts sharply with his damaged knuckles and shaky hands, consequences of pushing himself too hard.

Donatello hides away in his lab, avoiding sleep entirely. Every attempt to rest ends in nightmares, haunting him with visions of their father’s death. His near-death experience looms over him too, a constant reminder of how close they came to losing not one, but two family members. So, he focuses obsessively on his ever growing list of to-dos and projects: rebuilding Metalhead, upgrading the Shellraiser, anything he can think of to keep his mind occupied.

Leonardo tries to hold it all together, determined to live up to Splinter’s last command: to be the new sensei. It’s an overwhelming responsibility, but he refuses to let his father down, or his brothers. The weight of leadership is heavier now, after everything they’ve endured, and though the burden grows each day, Leo keeps pushing forward.

The only time the brothers talk anymore is during patrols, and even then, their coordination is lacking. The once effortless flow between them feels now disrupted. Mikey has lost his usual spark, Raph seems more reckless, willing to dive into fights without a second thought, and Donnie appears unfocused, his dislike for his staff more evident than ever. As for Leo, all he can do is watch, trying to lead while feeling like his brothers are slipping further into their own dark cycles.

One night as they race across the rooftops, recent sightings of the Foot Clan in the area bring them to a familiar abandoned warehouse. Smoke billows from the building, and the urgency propels them forward. But when they skid to a stop, Mikey’s momentum sends him over the edge. Leo’s heart leaps into his throat, but he catches Mikey by the lip of his shell in a swift, practiced motion. He put Mikey back on the roof.

Leo breathes in and out, counting under his breath, “One, two, and three,” steadying his nerves. His eyes scan the scene below. Among the Foot soldiers, he spots Tiger Claw and Baxter Stockman—two familiar foes.

He exhales slowly, his mind clearing as he formulates a plan. With a calm, steady voice, he delegates. “Alright, Raph, you’re on Foot duty. Just... don’t break the soldiers like you do the bots. Donnie, I need you to hack into Stockman’s tablet, disarm the Mousers, and gather any intel. Mikey, distract Stockboy, annoy him as much as you can. I’ll take care of Tiger Claw. Understood?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before he kicked off of the roof and flipped as he crashed into the scene very loudly. “Takeshi!” Leonardo yelled. There was no mistaking the mirth in the tiger’s eyes and Leo wasn’t about to give him any more advantages so he rushed forwards, drawing his blades.

The beat of his heart thudded in his tympanum, deafening the clash of Leonardo’s twin katanas locked on Tigerclaw’s machete. Leo felt like he had to take on the biggest threat alone and honestly, Barry Stackmen was not even close to the hardest villain they had to fight. He felt confident to let the other’s handle him without his constant surveillance. He could trust his team.

That was the case until Raph decided the robots weren’t enough of a challenge, his sais spinning in his hands before he steadied them. The middle child running after Tigerclaw, his movements rather unfocused and emotion driven as if this were just another training dummy. Leonardo found himself clutching to his katana’s tighter, he felt worry and annoyance bubble up inside him, “Raph! What are you doing!” He exclaimed in annoyance, turning into anger that seeped venom into his words. “You could’ve gotten hurt or in my way! You-”

Raph would grit his teeth, barely dodging an ice bullet from the enemy. “Yeah? Let you baby us and get hurt? What are you trying to do here Leo? Sacrifice yourself again? Join Spl-” “Raph! Leo! Enough dudes!” Michelangelo interrupts in exasperation. He was tired of their stupid, petty drama that pulled him out of The Zone, trademarked by Dr. Naminstein. He then proceeded to shriek as a Mouser barrelled into the back of his legs that he hadn’t been paying attention to.

Raphael and Leonardo whipped their heads round to the unyielding screech. “Mikey!” They yelled in unison, fear settling deep into them. This unfortunately left them distracted to the original threat facing them. Leo watched helplessly as a flash of red crossed his vision and he saw Raphael landing on the ground. Evidently after being hit with one of Tigerclaw’s lazer’s, a second shot following when his brother tried to get back to his feet.

Leo couldn’t afford to hesitate yet he found his feet glued to the concrete. A Mouser then attempted to bite his arm which shook him back to reality. He saw Mikey and Donnie together, easily fighting off the scientist but the original objective long abandoned.

Raphael was hurt and still climbing to his feet so Leo did the only thing that made sense. He slid in between his brother and Tigerclaw and as loudly as his hoarse voice could go and yelled. “Retreat!”

The safety of the smoke bomb flooded his vision as it exploded on the ground. He hoisted Raph over his shoulders and slunk into the shadows, fleeing back to the rooftops to cooperate. He shoved the fear that they would be followed down until he saw Donnie and Mikey hop over the ledge and join him. Instant relief almost had him forgetting the next plan of action.

With a nod he started sprinting off, ignoring Raphael’s protests and weak hits and demands to be put down. Usually he would’ve quipped back or at least argued with Leo but his silence was deemed serious enough to Raph that he stopped shortly thereafter. Mikey and Donnie were also quiet, even with Mikey’s occasional quips which were more sparse and weaker than usual. All this to say that the journey back had Leo’s body on autopilot and his mind running on overdrive about his failure. He had failed Splinter, his promise to keep his brothers safe, to be a leader and like a sensei and father to them, to be the front line. He had failed- was failing his brothers, his world, his purpose by being inadequate and was he so untrained and indigent that he got so easily distracted in a simple fight to get his brothers hurt was he so useless that- The familiar creak of the turnstiles after they were knocked rang in his ears and brought his mind back to the present. Leonardo let himself take presence in the now. He dumped Raph on the sofa in a more gentle manner, that was more of habit than response considering how hurt his brother was. Leo finally broke his silence. “What were you thinking? Why did you think getting in the way was a good idea you moron.” He then turned to Donnie and had a drastic change to a clear cut and icy tone instead of the fire that had erupted seconds before. “Can you grab the first aid kit for me?”

Raphael’s veins were hotter than lava and his nerves were all fried as he held his anger in. He wanted to scream at his brother, the mental bomb ticking away until Mikey left the room, “what was I thinking?” He laughed bitterly, “What was I thinking? You wanna know what I was thinking? Or do you want to stay on your self righteous high horse and keep pretending everything is fine!”

“Self righteous high horse-?” Leonardo would begin with disinfecting the shots on Raph’s wrist and thigh with a wipe. Luckily it looked mostly surface level for now. “Really? I’m trying to make sure everyone is okay Raph!”

“You’re trying to make sure everyone is okay? What about yourself?!”

“I’m fine Raph, and none of this is about me. I need to make sure you all are okay.” Raph kept pulling away when he had pressed too hard and Leo kept harshly dragging the limbs back in place. “Stay still!”

“None of us are fine Leo, you pretending you are is frustrating!!”

“At least I am trying to help everyone feel better!”

“No, you're trying to replace Splinter!-” there was a moment of silence before Raph would get up, not bothering to wait for Leo to be finished helping him anymore. “It’s like I said before! You were always his favorite and it's no wonder. Now you are even trying to be him!” He snapped before grabbing his sais in his uninjured hand and leaving. Heading out towards the sewers.

Leonardo got up, and made an attempt to go after Raph, however a hand on his shell would stop him, “Let him go bro. He will only get more mad if you try and talk to him now.” Mikey would say softly to his brother.

Minutes would turn into hours as time ticked on, Rapheal having not returned home yet. Leonardo left passing around the commons, eyeing the clock every now and again as he passed it. Eventually he decided enough was enough, it was time to check on his brother, what if he got hurt more? What if Tigerclaw got him? What if he officially quit unlike the 27 other times he has?

Anxiety tearing away at the eldest’s thoughts, till eventually it led him out the lair when he couldn’t just sit back and worry anymore. Running through sewers then moving his focus onto the city, jumping rooftop to rooftop, cold air burning his lungs but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. That was until he noticed a figure sitting in front of him, the door to the rooftop left dented and damaged from having been hit assumingly by his brother.

There was silence, but Raph made a motion to move a sai out of the spot next to him, showing the other he knew the other was there. Allowing him a chance to sit by him, not knowing what to expect out of this action. Though it is one that took Leonardo off guard, he expected to be sent away or need to plea his case as to why he should stay.

Leonardo joined Raph sitting at the ledge of the rooftop, as they both looked out into the dark city.The eldest would finally say, feeling a sinking pain in his chest at the reaction. "Yeah, and how's that working out for you?” Raph’s voice was harsher than he meant, the younger of the two soon moving to get up, however felt a hand on his shoulder keeping him from leaving.

Leo sputtered in protest. “What do you mean, ‘Working out for me? You’re my brother!” Leo sighed and let the fury leave his body. “Look, Raph you can’t keep putting yourself in danger like that. It-I-I can’t keep you safe if you just rush in like that. That’s all I want.”

“You are such an-” “Raphael.” “A hypocrite.” “What? Raph.” “Just listen, Fearless. It’s not your fudging job to protect me. I’m a big turtle and I don’t need you acting like my dad. I had one of them and that was enough for me. I need my brother. I need you to trust me. I ain’t gonna sugar-coat it, Princess. I did get hurt because of you.” Raphael peeled his gaze from the first crackles of dawn on the horizon and landed on his brother’s icy blue eyes filled with fear. Raph could assume he thought his fears were confirmed. He continued, in lieu of his brother’s painful expression and taut shoulders. “That was because you decided to fight me instead of working with me to take down Tiger-face. You decided being a hero and the sole fighter was more important and you didn’t trust me to help. I had already taken out all the stupid, mindless foot soldiers and I  came to help your dumb-” A loud blare of a car horn interrupted Raph and broke his flow. It shut off almost immediately and Raph let out a sigh. “Leo. Can you see what I’m trynna say? I-I don’t need you to bear the weight of everything and throw yourself into everything with the bare bones of a plan based on stupid emotions.” Raph could feel the little emotion he let surface start to make him cringe so he lightly punched Leo’s arm for good measure which caused a bubble of laughter. “Alright, alright.” Leo smiles softly and turns his gaze to the rising embers of the morning. “It's just that It has always been my job to look after you three. Splinter… being gone just made me realise I have no one else to help anymore but… you guys aren’t little kids anymore. I should trust you guys more, I just…”

Leo looked at his hands in his lap and fiddled them together, knowingly avoiding his brother’s frown. He couldn’t look at such a harsh gaze right now knowing he was not only the cause but why it was unwavering. He let the swirling storm of thoughts in his head condense further. He didn’t need to unload that mental baggage right now. Instead he’d do something productive for Raphael, and all his little brothers. It would just also benefit himself too.

“I’m going to try and trust you more. All of you. It won’t be easy but-” “If anyone can do it, it's you, Mr Practice-makes-perfect.” As Raphael spoke he hooked an elbow around his elder brother’s neck, dragged his ugly head down and noogied the scales light heartedly.

“Get off! Raph!” Raph softened at the giggles that bubbled up. Sounds unheard since long before their Sensei’s passing. Raph let his victim go and stood up. He offered a hand with a mirthful grin. “Let’s go home, Leo-nerd-o.” Leo wasn’t born yesterday and betted the hand that would inevitably lead to a headlock or sharp yank or worse and stood up. “Last one home has to get Donnie to eat a full meal!” Leo called a second after he had already started running and lept from the rooftop. Things weren’t perfect. But they would be okay. This was probably the first talk of many- with all of his brothers. Things would never be the same but that was alright. Leo had his brothers.

Maybe one day he wouldn’t put his own life worth under those he cared for but that wasn’t likely.