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Quiet Support

Summary: Sometimes you don't need someone to talk to. Sometimes you just need someone to be there

The noise of the elevator doors swishing open sound loud in Raph's ears as he limps into the lair in the middle of the night. He hadn't been planning on staying out for so long. In fact he had promised Leo to be back by one in the morning. It was now going on two thirty and he was just now getting in.

At this point, all Raph wanted to do was forget the night he'd just had and fall into his hammock until Master Splinter called him down to practice. What he didn't want was a confrontation with the turtle waiting up for him in the large chair in the middle of the living room. Leo's head came up as soon as Raph stepped out of the elevator and he set aside the book that he had been reading.

"Before you even start," Raph groused as he limped further into the lair, "it's not my fault that I wasn't here when I said that I would be. I'd have called to let you know but my phone got busted which I'm gonna catch hell from Don about in the morning. I don't need to get it from you too."

Leo walked up to where Raph had paused and looked his younger brother up and down taking in the cuts, some of which were still bleeding, and the already forming bruises. The muscles in Raph's shoulders tensed up in anticipation of a coming lecture and the fight that would follow that but nothing happened for a long moment. Just as Raph was starting to try and gear himself up for what could only be the inevitable fight Leo reached out and pulled Raph into a strong hug holding him tight and not letting go until he felt Raph relax back down from his fight or flight response.

The longer Leo's arms remained around his body the harder it was for Raph to remain tense and ready for a fight. It just took too much energy and he was all tapped out for the night. Slowly he relaxed into his brother's hold to the point of resting his head against Leo's shoulder and just letting his brother hold him up for a minute.

Eventually Leo eased back giving Raph enough time to stand back up on his own. Taking one of Raph’s arms Leo slung it over his shoulders while wrapping one of his own around Raph's waist to give him some extra support so he wouldn't limp as badly and guided them both through the living room to the bathroom. Once there Leo had Raph sit down on the lip of the tub as he pulled out the first aid kit and knelt down in front of the larger turtle.

Raph's eyes narrowed in irritation and he turned his head to the side so that he wasn't looking directly at Leo as his brother pulled out the supplies that he would need to begin patching him up.

They were both silent as Leo carefully tended to each of the abrasions on Raph's skin. Only the sound of the cotton swabs dabbing on ointment and the crinkle of bandages being put over top of injured skin broke through the comfortable silence between the two turtles. It was Raph that eventually ended the silence.

"I wasn't even out there looking for any trouble or to bust any heads," Raph said softly feeling the need to explain what had happened. "I was just riding my bike around the city. That was it. I was stupid though. Since I wasn't looking to bust any heads I wasn't paying attention to the surroundings as much as I should've been and the Dragons came out of nowhere. There were at least fifteen of them and I figured I was better off outrunning them then taking them on without any backup."

As Raph talked Leo never paused in his ministrations making no move to try and interrupt or dissuade Raph from talking.

"They chased me but I managed to lose them after twenty minutes," Raph continued. "I lost control of my bike though and crashed. Bent the front frame so I couldn't ride it home and had to push it back to the garage which is why I was so late. Broke my phone in the crash so I couldn't call and let anyone know."

Raph flexed his hands into and out of fists as he recounted a summary of his night to Leo. He hated the fact that not only had he run from a fight instead of standing his ground but also that he had failed so spectacularly in doing so, managing to damage both his bike and himself. As Raph mentally chewed himself out for how the night had gone Leo finished up taking care of his brother's injuries and put away the supplies before going back to kneeling in front of Raph to catch his attention.

"What about your limp?" Leo asked speaking for the first time since Raph got home needing to make sure that he knew about all injuries his brother might had received.

"Landed on my leg wrong when I crashed my bike," Raph grumbled. "Must have done something to my knee cause it hurts to stand or walk on it. I'll be fine though."

Leo frowned down at the offending knee as though he could glare it into submission to stop hurting his brother just by his will alone.

"Do you want me to get Don to check it out now? I don't know enough to be able to fix it if it's something serious," Leo said as he ran his fingers over the offending knee to see for himself if it looked bad enough to require waking Don up.

"Nah, it hurts but it's not that bad. Not like I broke it or anything. I can wait until morning for the genius to start fussing over it," Raph said carelessly though he did nothing to stop Leo from performing his own check.

Leo's exploration didn't turn up anything more then some swelling where Raph must have gotten hit and some bruising around the injured knee. If there had been something more serious he would have insisted on waking Don but as it was Leo was willing to acquiesce to Raph's wishes.

Pushing himself up to his feet again he held out a hand to help Raph up. "Why don't we get you up to bed in that case so you can be well rested for Don's fussing tomorrow," Leo suggested with a smile.

Smirking back Raph took Leo's offered hand and let his brother help him stand up and walk out of the bathroom and upstairs to his bedroom. Even when they got to Raph's room door Leo didn't let go of his brother and insisted on helping him up into his hammock so that he didn't fall and injure his knee anymore than it already was. Raph grumbled as they went along but made no real move to try and push Leo away instead leaning into Leo's hold and letting him support him as they went.

Once Raph was comfortably in his hammock Leo turned to leave the room to let his brother sleep and get some rest himself.

"Good night little brother," Leo whispered as he walked out of the room.

"Good night Leo," Raph said. "And thanks."

Leo smiled to himself and closed the door behind him. It didn't feel good knowing that his brother was hurt but he was home and he was safe and that was what mattered to Leo in the end. All of the rest of it could be worked out over time. For now he would head off to bed and rest easy knowing that his family was safe and whole under one roof. That was all that mattered in the end.