LEO - POST MOVIE

[semilethal]

[ nobody asks where april found the van. some mild criminal activity feels irrelevant in light of the day they just had anyway, and they couldn't exactly walk all the way back to the lair.

not with leo like...this. not just leo either; raphael couldn't hardly hold his head up, hunched and clearly wearing his 'i'm the eldest and i won't complain' face as he cradles leo so carefully on their way to the van. mikey's hands and arms won't stop trembling, even when he twists them together and presses them to his plastron. donatello is sore all over and his skin and shell feel raw, like someone rubbed him down with sandpaper.

and leo's quiet. leo's too quiet.

so there they are in the cargo van, raph tucked toward the front with a leg stretched out for mikey to use as a pillow to doze upon. april and casey sit up front, throwing concerned glances over their shoulders as often as is safe while april slowly weaves the vehicle through the half-destroyed streets toward the nearest access point. splinter sits near the doors as their only other capable fighter, though he keeps his tail curled around leo's uninjured ankle.

and donatello, he's stripping off his gloves because he's going to have to touch his brother to get a better idea of his injuries, and his skin doesn't feel like his own and that'll interfere with his judgement. the fewer layers between he and his brother, the more accurate he can be. ]

Alrighty Leon. Look alive, let's...let's diagnose.

Comments

[semilethal]

Oh you will be laying down, believe me. [SEDATES THE BROTHER.

donnie taps a few keys on his wrist computer and a newly modified sheldon floats in, transforming into a floating cot (which is what donnie had been spending the last few hours on while he waited for his magnets to arrive to finish the MRI). ignoring any protests leo may or may not have, donatello rolls him onto shellcot and leads it downstairs. raphael is groggily awake, but calms down when he sees donnie approach with their wayward brother.

hopefully when next leo wakes, he'll be cuddled back up with his family sans donnie and can say goodbye to april when she announces she'll be heading topside to meet with her worried parents.]

[neonleon]

What?

[And then he's out! It's a pretty heavy sleep. He does miss April saying goodbye, Mikey sitting on the cot next to him worried, but assuring April that Leo definitely will want to see her again soon, they'll set up a movie night here in the blanket fort somehow, just wait and see!

But he stays asleep for longer than probably anyone really guessed. A massive amount of sleep debt is catching up to him, and Donnie's sedation was just the first step of kicking down that door.

He does finally wake up, about a day, day and a half, later. Groggy and sore and everything hurting much, much worse. Back in the blanket fort and not with the entire crew.]

Hhhhuh? Guys?

[semilethal]

[Raphael and Mikey aren't immediately available, but Casey is dutifully on one side of Leo, with Splinter on the other as he holds Leo's mask, carefully stitching up the rips. They'll get him a new one, but backups are important when you are a mutant freak who needs to scavenge.

At Leo's groan, Splinter glances up and Casey half-stands, resting a hand gently on Leonardo's shoulder.]

Sensei! Don't move, you have a new saline IV in your hand. You've been out for over a day.

[neonleon]

What?

[That does immediately have his consciousness grasping sharply at the rope given, trying to pull himself to fully aware and awake. Over a day?]

What did he do, ugh.

[semilethal]

Donnie? Sedated you, I think. [Casey retrieves a cup of ice chips with a spoon dug into it. Don had said that Leo might have a wicked case of drymouth when he woke up, even with the IV drip.] At least, that's what he said. He said you needed to remain unmoving until he finished the MRI, and he wasn't convinced you'd stay put under other circumstances.

[neonleon]

[He hates when Donatello's right because it means either telling Donatello he's right, or acting like he isn't while operating under the reality that he is.

As it is, Donatello would be right: he does indeed have wicked drymouth. Leo eyes that cup as he start to realize just that reality, trying to decide if it's worth asking for it or not. He can't even really complain about Donnie not trusting him because he's right about that too. Doesn't mean he won't whine about it.]

Man, he really just does not trust me. [Leo, you IMMEDIATELY started moving upon waking.] What else did he say? Where's everyone else?

[semilethal]

[LMAO YEAH CASEY SAW THAT. He is also now beginning to wonder if his Leonardo ended up just taking on the traits of his brothers after their passing. He doesn't remember much about Donatello as he'd passed when Casey was still young, and even less about Raphael, but this Leo almost seems like an unfinished puzzle for which the missing pieces are the personalities of his family.

Casey just suppresses his smile and holds out the cup for Leo to take before standing up fully to adjust the cot so Leo can sit up a bit more comfortably without moving his torso much.

Splinter, having since returned to his sewing while the two boys talked, answers for Casey instead even as he uses his tail to help steady Leo's hand holding the spoon when it begins to shake from strain.] Red and Orange are meeting with April, as well as checking to see if the pizza shop you boys like is open. Purple has not left his laboratory.

[neonleon]

[Not left his laboratory... He must have at some point to hook him up with a fresh bag. Or maybe had someone else do it. Donnie's in a weird place right now, a little harder to read than he has any right to be.

Leonardo looks down at his own trembling hand, like it's betraying him. It's a spoon of ice chips, it shouldn't be difficult (nevermind the tension he feels in his hand just trying to hold the spoon, the exhaustion of moving it to lift, the fresh surge of a sharp pain in his back as he's moved to sit up and how his weight shifting with gravity is doing something weird to his back and shell).

He does manage to get a few ice chips though. Just thinking things over.]

Hopefully it is. I'd fight in the Battle Nexus again if I could get some of that pizza right now.

[semilethal]

[and that's about when the sheldon-cot pipes up with his typical surfer voice because apparently he has been SENTIENT THIS WHOLE TIME] Absolutely not, bro! You're under STRICT bedrest orders!

[neonleon]

[GLARING from his spot on the cot.]

I didn't say I was going to. It's sarcasm, expression. Joking.

[semilethal]

Never know the difference with you, bro.

[and with that, the Shell-cot begins just- ok, abruptly raising up and (gently) strapping two belts over leo to keep him from jostling as it- takes off? flies towards donnie's lab. guess it's checkup time! hope he's done talking to his family!!!]

[neonleon]

Because you're a compu-what what what-

[Leonardo instinctively wants to struggle against restraints (oozy and gooey and crawling and trying to get into his skin-) while he still holds that cup of ice chips. Casey and Splinter watch him float away without even trying to save him! Traitors.

But once to Donnie's lab? Medbay? Honestly the lights and his exhaustion are making it hard to tell where he's gone really. He just sighs, resigned to this. He told Donnie he wouldn't fight so.]

[semilethal]

[and lo, he did not! will the miracles never cease. please never cease.

donnie slots his goggles the long, arduous journey up his forehead and out of the way when the shell-cot flies in with leonardo safely secured.] Oh good, you're awake. I finished the MRI, and April's bringing down the contrast I ordered. Once the others get back with her I want to get you looked at right away.

Did you sleep well? [taps his wrist computer and the belts securing leo unlatch and slither back away under the cot.]

[neonleon]

Pretty sure sedation doesn't count as sleeping.

[But he feels immediately better not being strapped down. Feels like he can breathe easier.

Munches another ice chip staring at Don.]

[semilethal]

Good, good... [NOT EVEN LISTENING

gets up and starts fiddling with something along a large thick ring attached to a flat bed, with tracks that proceed through the center of the ring. the ring begins to turn in measured paces as donnie taps several settings on a display.] Sheldon, take his vitals.

You got it, D. [the cot whirrs, and a few wires emerge and attach pads to the inside of leo's elbow, his forehead, and a small plastic clip gently onto a finger.]

[neonleon]

Uh.

[That is REALLY NOT entirely okay?? His finger wiggles at the clip instinctively as he looks to see where those pads got attached. They've never had to ever do any serious first aid in here. Usually scrapes, bruises. Occasionally burns when he or Mikey burned themselves in the kitchen somehow. But never anything serious like this. He saw enough of this sort of stuff on his tv shows but ...very different having it in real life.

The ring is more ominous though. He's watching it turn slowly.]

And you're sure this thing won't give me like. Superpower radiation or anything?

[semilethal]

Yeah, pretty sure. I had to brush up on the process last night and it's usually fine. I mean, it was the audio book version since I had to be hands free to finish installing the magnets but I was listening.

[after a moment the wires and clip retract and sheldon rattles off a list of numbers that donnie nods to.]

[neonleon]

[He is not nerd enough for those numbers to mean anything to him. He's just watching the ring and lights around him with a kind of weight pooling in his gut.

He's still fairly sure he has a concussion but the slow realization that Donnie felt the need to build this thing and use it ... probably means there are worse things wrong than just cracks in his plastron and a few cuts and bruises.]

Sssooo.... What are you expecting to find?

[semilethal]

I have no idea, Leo. [flips through some more options. he really only got the crash course on how to use the straight-from-the-box bootleg software for this thing...] X-rays are limited. This will provide a more comprehensive look at what's going on inside your shell.

[not to mention that as they fall into deeper and deeper shit, per the latest trends, having equipment like this will come in handy. he'll have to write up a user manual for dummies for this thing, just in case.] Any more blurred vision since waking up? Shortness of breath, dizzy spells, abrupt nausea?

[neonleon]

[He wants to joke here, feels like he should but Don's question stops him. His brother's gotten good at that in the last.... how many hours? He isn't sure. Since they all got back.

Leonardo had his mouth open to make some smartass remark but thinks about that question for a second. He promised, and as much of a goofster as he can be, he's serious about promises to his brothers.]

Vision's still a little blurred. Not much of the other stuff [Leo.], but my back is... [Be serious. Don't downplay this.] it feels pretty serious.

[semilethal]

[pauses for just a second.

then spins around, coming back over to the hovering cot.] Serious how? Describe how it feels.

[neonleon]

[He's a little caught off guard by the sudden intensity but-]

I dunno. Never felt like this before? Like... [Think, Leo, think through the groggy haze. He shifts a little before his jaw clenches and he remembers to breathe.] Uncomfortable like this, but... Earlier, sitting up hurt. Like my shell wasn't sitting right.

[And now that he's saying it out loud, putting words to the feeling, it's a creeping anxiety under his skin. He's never felt anything like that before.]

[semilethal]

[donnie chews on his lip for a second, glaring down at leo's shell as if he could see through it if he just stared hard enough. he should've studied more physiology. he should've been more careful with leo yesterday, and the day before. should've focused more on stabilizing him and keeping him immobile, shouldn't have let him walk around. rookie mistakes.]

Stay there, [donnie orders, taps his wrist computer. the shell-cot moves a bit, as if creating a cradle to allow leo to rest fully without putting as much pressure and weight on his shell, almost like a hammock instead of just a flat bed.] Don't move at all. All right? I'll be right back. [and then, without much more explanation, donnie disappears.]

...he was up all night, [sheldon offers, the wires snaking out again and gently re-attaching to leo's forehead and inner elbow. the clip searches for his fingertip again as well.] Don't worry Leo. Donnie'll fix you.

[neonleon]

Wha- Hey.

[He cranes his head to watch his brother leave, even as the bed is moving and he feels himself being shifted into a new position. It's- honestly a little easier? But still feels the weight moving weirdly between his back and shell. And a suspicion of what's happened starts to solidify in his exhaustion addled brain, something he doesn't want to put words to. It's never happened before, something Leo didn't know could happen, as his breath and heart start picking up quicker.

How many hits had it been? How many time had he gotten slammed and tossed around, bouncing like a ragdoll?

Casey, please!

It was supposed to have been quick, was supposed to have been like ripping a bandaid off. So why are the effects still lingering?

He slumps a bit watching the door.]

...I know he will.

[semilethal]

Hey, bro! Would you like to discuss your experience? [a little mechanical hand holding a notepad and a pencil (lmao) also pop out from underneath the cot, ready to scribble] Donnie installed a new 'empathy' patch and downloaded some shrink books into me! Said he didn't have time. Tell me how you feel, dude.