Brotherly Bonds

It's what we do

                 

"We need to do it."

"I'm not even sure we can do it, Raph!" Leo retorted, running his fingers through his bandana tails with an exasperated sigh. "We'd be taking a huge risk!"

"They're the Purple Dragons, Leo! We kick their butts all the time!"

"Yeah, but the Dragons are linked to the Foot and eventually the Foot are going to use the Dragons as bait to get the drop on us." The ninja leader pointed out calmly, doing his best to keep calm in the face of Raphael's impatience. Mikey and Donnie watched them warily from off to the side. They exchanged glances. This could turn into a fight, but right now it didn't look so bad, so they both stayed put. They would only step in if needs must.

Raph actually took the time to consider Leo's words, which did not go unnoticed by his brothers. The hothead calmed a little and threw up his right hand. "Okay, I get that. But we can't just stand by and let the Dragons go out on a crime spree!"

"We won't. If they go too far, then we'll step in."

Emerald green lips pulled back into a grimace and they all knew that Leo's words had unintentionally made Raph even angrier. "Go too far?! They've already gone too far, Leo and they deserve to be punished."

The eldest turtle deflated a little, trying to let Raphael see that he was being genuine. "Raph, believe me, I understand. And I agree to an extent, but we just can't take the risk. We need to lie low."

"Yeah? Well I want action!" Raph shouted.

"And you aren't going to get it." Leonardo answered coolly. "Sorry Raph, but now isn't the time. You can go topside and bust some heads if you have to, but stay away from the Purple Dragons."

Raphael growled. His fingers were clenched into tight fists. He turned on his older brother with a snarl. "I can handle them."

"I never said you couldn't." Leo's hand shot out and grabbed Raphael's shoulder, the two of them locked in an intense staring match. "Follow my orders, Raphael. For once, just listen to me!" Leo was losing his patience and he was yelling again.

The red-masked rebel hissed and yanked free of Leo's grip. "No promises." He grunted, turned about, and headed out the lair door.

Leonardo sighed and shook his head as he watched his immediate younger sibling's form disappear out the door into the sewers. Donnie and Mikey looked at him carefully. To Donnie, Leo looked tired, overworked, stressed, anxious and just done for the day. To Mikey, he looked worried, conflicted, angry, and exasperated. Leo himself was feeling exhausted, put-out, frustrated, worried and a little bit disappointed. Not just in Raphael, but in himself. If he was truly the leader this family needed, he'd be able to keep Raph in more often. He'd be able to get his hotheaded brother to open up and just be more...cooperative. Leo collapsed on the sofa with a sigh. There was no point in being worried. Raphael would be back regardless of what happened up there. The hothead always was. But that didn't mean that Leo would ever be able to stop worrying. Fretting over his brothers' safety had been rather a staple since he was named Leader. Raph was the worst of them because Raph often went up there alone. He knew that he had to let his brother go. He had learned over the years that the hothead just needed time to cool off. But Leo had never been able to get over the thought that one day, Raph's pig-headedness would get him hurt.

"Don't worry about Raph, Leo. He'll be fine." Mikey said, joining his big brother on the couch.

Leo looked up and glanced over at his youngest brother. "Yeah, I know Mikey. Can't help but worry, that's all. He's such a hothead."