Work Text:
Title: Waiting for Rescue
Day: Whumpuary Day 4: Betrayal/Broken Bones/Field Medicine
Word Count: 2098
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: T
Characters: Leonardo
Warning: Injuries
Summary: Leo thought that they had a truce with Karai’s Foot. He was wrong, and now he was hiding after her betrayal, waiting for his brothers to find him, and trying not to think about the bones he knew were broken.
Notes: Set sometime after the Turtles Forever movie, so there are references to the Back to the Sewers season and the Turtles Forever movie.
Waiting for Rescue
Raph was definitely going to call him stupid for this, Leo thought. And this time, Leo wasn’t going to argue about it. He pushed himself further inside his makeshift hiding place, putting all of his training to use to keep from making any noise. It was difficult at best. He definitely had broken bones. There was no way he could deny that, not with the way his body was feeling. His left shoulder felt like fire when he tried to move it. Breathing hurt. He was pretty sure that his leg wasn’t supposed to be that shade of brownish-purple.
He was definitely going to need help.
Leo heard movement outside of his hiding place, and he stilled, keeping his breaths as unnoticeable as possible. He didn’t want to risk being found. He couldn’t risk being found. It didn’t matter who it was. It could just be an animal. It could just be a regular person. It could just be a cop. Or it could be an enemy.
It could be her.
He couldn’t risk it. He was too vulnerable right now. If it was an enemy, he was in no shape to fight. Given the area that he was in, it could easily be the Purple Dragons outside of his hiding spot. It could easily be the Foot too. It was Karai who had done this to him, betraying the tenuous truce that had been set up. That could easily make it the Foot who were looking for him.
Leo wasn’t keen on the idea of letting the Foot take a go at him again. Once of nearly being beaten to death by them was plenty.
The movement outside of his hiding spot faded away, but Leo didn’t dare make a noise or a movement yet. The enemy could simply be waiting for him to make a move, to do something. Leo wasn’t stupid either, though. He knew that he needed help. If he sat here with his injuries for too long, they could be life-threatening. How many times had both Master Splinter and Don lectured them that broken bones weren’t an injury to just brush off? They could be far more complicated than just a simple snap.
Slowly, carefully, doing his best not to make any noise, Leo reached for his shell cell. After everything that they had been through, Don had taken them and retrofitted them with an emergency button. It made no sounds, gave off no lights, but it alerted the other phones that it had been pushed, who had pushed it, and gave the location. Leo thought it was a good idea, although he never expected to be the one to push it.
Now all he could do was wait.
Waiting was hard.
His brothers no doubt got the signal. Don’s technology rarely failed. They were probably already on their way. They would have alerted Master Splinter, of course. He’d be standing by at home, waiting to give medical aid. They’d probably alert Casey and April. They might be joining them, or maybe one of them was a getaway driver, if they needed that. April, if Casey was joining in to fight. Casey, if April was helping Splinter.
They’d be gearing up for a fight either way, though. Leo didn’t go down easy, and they all knew it. He’d come a long way since he was fifteen and thrown through a window. They’d know that he had to be pretty badly hurt or trapped to use the emergency button. They’d be anticipating a fight.
He hoped they were anticipating a fight.
Leo had no idea what they could expect. After everything with the Demon Shredder, and then all of the alternate reality confusion that went down, the unspoken truce between Karai’s Foot—as she had taken care of Kahn’s offshoot of it—and theirs had seemed to hold. Karai at least seemed to understand that her father was a bit insane. Trying to wipe everything, including himself, out of existence just to kill Leo and his family was definitely pushing into insanity territory.
But the truce hadn’t held. When she had seen him on the rooftop, Leo had expected her to turn away and just ignore him, perhaps give him a slight acknowledgement, but that was at the most. When instead she had turned towards him, he had wondered if something was wrong. He hadn’t expected her to just outright attack him.
He should have expected the betrayal from her.
Raph would have expected it. Mikey would have felt if something was off. Don would have kept his distance. Not him, no, he let her get close, didn’t see anything was wrong, and didn’t expect there to be.
And look where it had gotten him.
Now he was sitting here, in the back part of an alley near a dumpster, with boxes and such piled around him, trying not to bleed too much, wondering if he should try to splint his broken bones, and hoping that his brothers weren’t walking into a trap.
He really hoped they weren’t walking into a trap.
It would be far too easy for this to be a trap. Find one of them alone, attack and injure that one. Make a show of perusing. Let them call for help. Then the enemy could just sit back and wait for the others to show up. They had to know that all of the brothers would show up for the other one. They’d proven that time and time again.
Of course, if it was a trap, they’d have to have a big group standing by. Leo and his brothers were no pushovers. They’d taken on large groups of enemies before and come out on the better end. Ambushing one of them was hard enough. Ambushing all of them, especially at once, that was even harder. The trap would have to be especially well laid, with plenty of forces on standby and a willingness to sacrifice some men.
Leo knew that his brothers would be on high alert. They’d be expecting an attack. They’d start narrowing in on his location, maybe jumping over rooftops, maybe taking the Turtle Hauler. Ten to one, Donnie would have someone taking the Turtle Hauler, just in case Leo was that badly injured.
Which… might be a good idea, actually.
But however they narrowed in on his location, they’d be on the lookout for trouble. If they were in the Turtle Hauler, Don would have it scanning for enemies. As they got closer to Leo’s location, they’d travel on foot, making it easier to blend in and easier to move if needed. They would all be scanning the shadows, looking for trouble. Raph would be guarding Don’s back while he tracked Leo’s signal. Mikey would be keeping a broader eye out.
Provided they didn’t run into any trouble, they’d find his location, and silently look for signs of a trap. If there weren’t any, then they’d clear his hiding place away. Leo would see Don’s face first, looking worried and concerned. Don would call something back to Mikey, who would now be closest to Don, ready to help or to fight, depending on what the situation called for.
Mikey would relay that to Raph, who would probably back towards them, still keeping an eye on the area around them. If there didn’t seem to be any danger present, then Don would call for the Turtle Hauler and whoever was driving it would come around. Don would do what field medicine he could and then, when the Turtle Hauler got close enough, Raph would pick him up, with Don standing guard over Raph and Leo, Mikey keeping the wider eye out. He’d be loaded up and Don and maybe April would start going over his injuries to see what they needed to do.
And if it was a trap, then it would work very similarly, except that there would be fighting while Don called for the Turtle Hauler, and Raph and Mikey would be guarding his back while he tried to look over Leo and determine what field medicine could wait. Then Mikey and Don would be fighting while Raph hauled him to the Turtle Hauler. As soon as everyone was on board, or at least holding onto the Turtle Hauler somehow, it would peel out of there as quickly as possible.
Yes, Leo was sure that’s what would happen.
All he had to do was wait. He just had to wait, and his brothers would come for him. They’d follow the signal and he had to trust that they’d be able to handle themselves. They’d be able to face down whatever it was that happened, whatever they encountered. Even if it was a trap, even if Leo was the bait, he just had to trust that his brothers would be able to handle it.
And he would tell himself that over and over again.
Because he believed it.
He did.
He believed it.
They could handle it.
Leo wasn’t sure how many times he repeated that to himself, how many times he had to try to put off his worry. However, he did know when he heard sounds outside of his hiding area. He knew when he could hear his hiding spot being deconstructed. And he knew that he had to be ready, just in case it wasn’t his brothers. He didn’t have room to use his swords, but he had throwing stars, and those could do quite a bit of damage.
He readied them.
“Leo?”
Relief flooded him. Don. That was Don’s voice. He was here and he was taking his hiding place apart.
“Here,” Leo said, or, well, tried to say. He’d been so focused on being quiet that he hadn’t realized how dry his throat had gotten. He coughed a little and tried again. “I’m here, Don.” That, at least, sounded a little less worrisome.
Don pulled away the last piece that was hiding him and, just as he had predicted, Don was looking at him with worry and concern.
“Geeze, Leo. What happened? Hey, Mikey, give me that first aid bag.”
“Right-o, Donnie.”
Just like he had thought, Mikey was nearby, ready to help. Still, he had a question to answer, so Leo cleared his throat again and spoke.
“Karai did this. And her Foot.”
“Karai?” Donnie said, surprised, even as he started in on his field medicine on Leo’s wounds.
“I thought we had a truce!” Mikey said. Leo could hear him spinning on his heel. “Raph! Karai’s the one who attacked Leo!”
Leo couldn’t completely make out Raph’s words, but he heard the underlying anger and emotion behind them, as well as his brother’s steps moving closer, closing in the ranks.
“You can tell us about it back at the lair,” Don said. “April and Master Splinter are waiting there. Casey’s bring the Turtle Hauler around.”
Just like he had thought. Leo nodded. “Sounds good, Don.”
“Just let me get you patched up.”
Leo did his best not to make too much noise as Don splinted his leg and immobilized his shoulder. He wrapped Leo’s ribs and also, somehow, managed to find other places that hurt now that hadn’t hurt before. By the time Don was finished, Leo was breathing hard, and was very glad Don had exchanged the throwing stars he was holding for leather wraps that he could squeeze instead.
“Alright, Leo, I think that’s everything, or at least enough to be able to move you,” Don said. “Raph!”
There was movement, and Don left his sight for a moment. Just like he predicted, Raph very gently, although still painfully, picked Leo up. Don was still nearby, and Mikey was keeping an eye out. The Turtle Hauler was idling nearby, and they quickly made their way to it, Don hurrying ahead to open a door for Raph and Leo. Raph quickly laid Leo down, he and Don switched places, there was a moment of talking, and then Leo could feel the Hauler start up. Don was by his side, Raph heading to the front to talk to Casey, and Mikey looking at some of the readings on the equipment Don had the Hauler loaded with.
“…It’s a bit nasty, Leo, but I think you’ll heal up just fine, once we’re better able to assess you,” Don said. He gave him a small smile. “Sorry it took so long to get to you.”
Leo shook his head, although only minutely. “I always knew you would come,” he rasped out. “You guys always do.”
And that, Leo knew, would never change.