A Helping Hand

By

Hannio

Disclaimer – None of the characters used in the below work of fiction belong to me in any fashion though man I wish they did!

Author Note - *Hannio stares at the screen with a confused look on her face* I'll be honest with you I have no idea where this story came from because I hadn't planned on writing any more one shots until I had finished a few other stories… this story literally came out of no where.

Anyway please enjoy my little Leo/Mikey brotherly one shot Thanks

"So on a scale of 1-10 how injured would you rate yourself this time? 1 being a slight graze that you didn't even notice happening and 10 being all your body parts cut off leaving you as a head on a torso?" Leonardo stopped and glanced behind him with a raised eye ridge, his gaze focusing on Michelangelo as if he was a ticking time bomb about to go off.

"A head on a torso" he repeated in confusion "Surely by the time I became a head on a torso I would be dead due to blood loss and therefore not capable of having this conversation in the first place" he stated, Michelangelo stared at him for a moment in disbelief before rolling his eyes. He stepped into the living room from the kitchen where he had been making himself a much needed snack to go with the movie he had been planning on watching. He never understood people who could watch movies without eating. It made no sense to him; it was like having a burger without ketchup. You needed one to enjoy the other, without the other it was just wrong.

"I didn't mean… never mind" Michelangelo said shaking his head. Sometimes his eldest brother took things way too literally at times "So are you inured?" he asked taking a step forward, eyes searching for any sign of a wound a frown of concentration on his face.

Leonardo clamped down harder on the forearm as he shook his head, smiling at his brother over his shoulder trying to hide the flash of pain his action caused.

"Nope I'm fine Mikey, not a scratch on me" he lied, he turned away from Michelangelo and took a step away from him trying to make it to his room so he could release the scream of pain that had been lodged in his throat since the foot ninja had got his lucky shot in.

"Oh right" Michelangelo said, his voice bright as he nodded his head "No injury at all" he repeated "Is that why you've left a trail of blood from the doorway to where you're standing right now. I'm certainly not bleeding and Donnie had dragged Raphie out to the junk yard to help him carry something home that he needs so that leaves just me and you in the lair" he breathed in and smiled "Care to revise your statement Leo" Leonardo froze with one foot in the air before turning round to face Michelangelo completely.

"It's just a scratch" he stated, tightening the hold on his arm trying to stem the blood flow. He knew it needed to be stitched and finding that both Donatello and Raphael were out was a blow. Out of the 4 brothers it was normally those 2 who dealt with the injuries they all constantly gained through their fights since they were the least squeamish and had the steadiest hands when it came to things like that.

"It looks like it's bleeding pretty hard for a mere scratch bro" Michelangelo stated, his voice unusually serious as he dropped his eyes to the floor. Leonardo's eyes followed the movement and he sighed as he saw the small puddle of blood forming beneath him. He would have to clear the blood up before the other 2 returned. Seeing the blood would only worry them.

"Fine it is, now excuse me why I go and wrap it in some bandages until the other 2 come home. They can't be long" He turned to go into his room but stopped as Michelangelo grabbed his uninjured arm lightly and began pulling him towards Donatello's lab where the main medical supplies were kept.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Leo but Donnie and Raph only went a short time ago, as in about 10 minutes ago, they aren't going to be back for hours and you need to get that sowed up ASAP" Leonardo allowed himself to be led into the lab and pushed into one of the chairs. He was glad to be sitting down, he was feeling light headed. The fight and the journey home not to mention the loss of blood had sapped at his reserve of strength.

"Err Mikey" Leonardo said as Michelangelo began rummaging in Donatello's drawers trying to find something "Have you sowed anyone up before?" he asked. Michelangelo straightened holding a thread and needle in his hand and flashed Leonardo a reassuring smile.

"Nope" he stated bluntly "Donnie and Raph have always been here to do it but I've seen them do it plenty of times and if Raphie-Boy can do it then so can I, Don't worry about it Leo I'll have you fixed up in no time" Leonardo blinked at him before shaking his head.

"Mikey I…" he began clutching his arm to himself. He had a speech planned the same as he always did. He would merely tell Michelangelo that he appreciated his concern but he was fine and the injury could wait.

"Shut up Leo" Michelangelo said as Leonardo went to continue his speech "I know what you're going to say, yes I know I'm not Donnie and Raphie, I know I haven't done this before and I even know that you think the injury can wait but Bro it really can't. So shut up, keep still and for once trust me enough to do something that doesn't involve goofing around. I'm not quite the screw up you think I am" he stated seriously.

Leonardo watched with his mouth open as the youngest went about disinfecting the needle before attaching the thread to it. He walked up to Leonardo and removed his hand from the injury wincing as he saw the deepness of the slash.

"Whoa this is nasty Leo" he commented, his voice sounding hushed "I'm going to have to disinfect it before I start to stitch it up other wise it could land you in a whole heap of trouble. It's going to hurt though Bro as in really badly" he said as he turned and grabbed a cloth and a large bottle of TCP that Donatello kept in plain sight on his work bench for them all to use. Even the smallest cut had to have TCP placed on it when you lived in the sewers. A lesson each of them had learned individually the hard way.

"Do you want something to hold on to while I do this?" Michelangelo asked hesitantly as he poured the liquid onto the cloth. Leonardo jerked back automatically as the smell hit him, he hated that smell more then anything, to him it represented failure, failure for getting a blow, failure for not being fast enough or strong enough to protect his brothers. He hated it.

"No just get it over and done with" he said gritting his teeth together. The moment the cloth touched his arm he felt his breath explode out of him as if he had just been punching in the gut, stars floated across his vision as flames leapt up his arm. He focused his attention on Michelangelo struggling to remain conscious.

"I'm so sorry Bro, I'm so sorry" the younger boy was chanting softly, clearly trying to clean the wound as fast as he could but trying to make sure he did it correctly as well.

"This isn't your fault Mike" Leonardo said quietly as Michelangelo took the bloody cloth away. Leonardo looked up and met Michelangelo's blue eyes which looked surprisingly bright in the harsh lights of the lab.

"It will soon be over Leo" Michelangelo said gripping Leo's shoulder for a moment before giving It a squeeze "I'll go as fast as I can" he stated "And I'll talk to you the whole time so you can have something to focus on" Leonardo nodded wincing as Michelangelo sat down and began to stitch the jagged cut.

"So" Leonardo said, his voice breathless as he focused his eyes on the clock situated just behind Michelangelo's head. He didn't want to stare at his brother in case he put him off and he certainly didn't want to look at the needle going in and out of his skin "You learnt all this from watching?" he asked, Michelangelo looked up with a slight smile before dropping his eyes almost instantly to focus on what he was doing, his hands never ceasing their action.

"Sort of?" he confessed, a tone of amusement flavouring his voice "Donnie has been teaching me how to do this sort of things for occasions like this when both him and Raph are out. He says we all need to be prepared and we can't just rely on one person but on all of us" Michelangelo quoted "Has he gotten round to teaching you yet?" he asked, Leonardo closed his eyes for a moment against a wave of dizziness before shaking his head

"He's taught me the extreme basics, how to bandage someone's arm, how to feel for a broken bone that sort of thing but he hasn't taught me anything else. I think he's hoping that he doesn't have to. I mean I can't even look at a needle without feeling sick let alone use one to stitch someone's flesh back together" he resisted shuddering with difficulty. Michelangelo laughed out loud the sound attracting Leonardo's questioning gaze to him.

"Oh you could do this Bro no problem" Michelangelo said confidently "If this was the other way round and it was me or Donnie or Raph bleeding everywhere and you were the only one around to help then you would do it easily and since it's you, you would end up doing a really good job as well. You may be extremely sick afterwards but you'd manage, you always do" Leonardo made a face but didn't reply to the question. There was a moment's silence broken only by the ticking of the clock that Leonardo was staring at again

"So how did this happen anyway?" Michelangelo asked indicating the injury with a tilt of his head, his eyes fixed on the stitches he was half way through doing. Leonardo risked a look down. The stitches were surprisingly neat considering it was his first time doing them. Definitely neater then Donatello's by far.

"The usual way" he answered "I was on a training run, I got attacked, I got distracted and careless and I got slashed" he shrugged his shoulder regretting the movement almost instantly.

"Stay still will you, this is hard enough as it is" Michelangelo scolded with a hot glare at him, Leonardo smiled running a hand down his face.

"Sorry" he said meeting Michelangelo's concerned eyes "You're doing a great job by the way, better then Donnie normally does though don't tell him I said that to you" Michelangelo grinned the concern momentarily banished from his eyes.

"I can't promise that now Bro, not when you've given me ammunition for the next time he lectures me over something trivial" Leonardo raised an eye ridge at him

"Donatello lectures you?" he said in surprise "You mean our Donnie? When does he do that I've never seen him say anything to you before"

"Of course you don't" Michelangelo stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "He doesn't do it when you're here because you're here. He only does it when you've disappeared somewhere. He sees it as his duty as the second eldest to take over the caring of the family until you return." He suddenly grinned again "It's kind of amusing when he tries and lectures Raph because it never works. Raph always gives him the same pitying look, pats him on the arm and walks away often shaking his head even if Donnie is in mid-sentence" Leonardo sighed a sympathetic look coming to his face. He had seen that look several times before that was for sure.

"Does Raph lecture you if me and Donnie are out?" he asked curiously. He rarely had the chance to speak to the youngest without the others being around, when they were about Michelangelo tending to stick close to Raphael and Donatello for company, getting on better with them. Michelangelo now shook his head.

"Nope" he said "He'll often give me a look which lets me know when I'm screwing up or if I've done something right he'll pat me on the shell or the arm but Raphie believes in learning things for your self sometimes the hard way. He says that you'll respect things more if you've had to deal with it before. He's always around though to make sure I don't mess up too badly. He's like you, always there but without the annoying lectures. It's kinda peaceful "he said

"It's my job to lecture you all, I'm your eldest brother it come with the job description" he stated blandly.

"And that's why I'm glad I'm the youngest" Michelangelo said with a grin as he came to his feet with a pleased look "I'm finished. I don't think it's a bad job either. Let me just dab a bit more TCP on it before I wrap it up to make sure it's completely disinfected. Donnie will probably want to have a look at it just to make sure I did it right" Leonardo glanced down at the now stitched cut. He was pretty sure that Donatello wouldn't find anything wrong in Michelangelo's handy work.

"I don't think you're a screw up you know" Leonardo suddenly said remembering Michelangelo's earlier comment, Michelangelo shrugged his shoulders

"Its not important Leo" he said, Leonardo reached forward and grabbed Michelangelo's arm stopping him from moving. Michelangelo shot him a surprised look as Leonardo spoke, an intense look on his face as he met his brother's eyes.

"It is important if it upsets you Mike" he stated strongly "Look I worry about you Mikey because its my job to worry about you but I don't worry about you anymore then I worry about the other two… well maybe I worry about Raph more then you and Donnie but he is Raph" Leonardo said shaking his head "I trust you to get on with things and I know you'll remain safe. I trust you in battle and I trust you with my life you understand? You are not and never have been a screw up in my eyes and I know that Donnie and Raph feel the same way" Michelangelo stared at him for a moment, his face serious before a small smile came to his face.

"Thanks Leo" he commented before pulling his arm out of his brother's grip and grabbed the TCP bottle giving it a quick shake as he placed some more on a fresh cloth "Now this will sting but you already know that, then I'll wrap it up, get you into your bed so you can rest and then make you something to eat"

"I appreciate it Mikey but I'm not hungry" Michelangelo placed the cloth against Leo's arm, wiping away the left over blood and making sure that the wound was properly disinfected. Leonardo remained still though Michelangelo knew it had to hurt.

"Doesn't matter" Michelangelo said firmly "I'm still making you food, you've lost a lot of blood and your blood sugar count or whatever it called will be low, Donnie says to always make the person eat something after they've lost a lot of blood" Leonardo nodded his head as he sighed giving up the fight. Michelangelo could be just as stubborn as the rest of them when he set his heart on somewhere and he had clearly set his heart of getting Leonardo to bed and fed.

"Fine" he said out loud watching Michelangelo grab some clean bandages and began to wrap it round Leonardo's arm. He remained silent until he was finished before smiling at Leonardo, a touch of relief in his eyes.

"All done" he commented dropping the left over bandages onto the metal work surface. He stepped forward and pulled Leonardo's food arm round his shoulder hoisting him up and led him out of the lab and to his room making sure he stayed away from the blood on the floor in case he slipped in it.

After placing his brother in the bed he smiled down at him please to see a smile on Leonardo's face as he looked up at him, his eyes already drooping as if he was struggling to keep them up.

"Thanks again Mikey for everything I really appreciate it and you"

"Not a problem Bro" Michelangelo said quietly as Leonardo's eyes lowered and his breathing began to steady as sleep took him "Anytime"

Author Note – Well here we go a cute little Brotherly love fiction between Leo and Mikey, no idea where this came from because I certainly wasn't planning on writing another one shot at the moment until I had managed to finish the others (I currently have 1 chapter story on the go, 2 chapter stories in the process of being written and 2 other one shots which also need to be completed)

I don't know what happened recently but I've been attacked by so many plot bunnies that I actually feel smothered by it. Still plenty of ideas are better then none of all.

Please review but no flames. Thank you