Hey everyone! I went ahead and set up a story thread to put any drabble requests that I receive from my tumblr ask box. I don't own TMNT, just the little stories that I think up to respond to these prompts. I hope you enjoy them! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Based off the Tumblr prompt: Casey and Leo (platonic) pairing: 'Things you say when you're scared'

835 words

Rated K

Takes place before 'Within the Woods'

Wake Up

Casey sat beside the bathtub where Leo lay in his comatose state, his arms wrapped protectively around himself. It had been exactly two weeks since the invasion and since they had secreted themselves away to April's family farmhouse. The atmosphere at the house had been heavy with tension, partially because his friends had been driven away from their home, but mostly because Leo didn't seem to be getting any better.

At two o'clock in the morning, the teenage vigilante had been having a hard time getting to sleep. After several hours of tossing and turning on his stiff mattress, he had given up on sleep entirely. He thought that Raph may still be up and had tiptoed over to the upstairs bathroom. The whole house creaked with each step he took, no matter how lightly he tried to step.

He peered through the bathroom door, expecting to see his friend sitting on his stool, keeping vigil over his brother. However, Leo lay alone, sleeping in the half-full bathtub. Casey swallowed nervously, considering if he should just leave him alone. Then he just stepped inside and closed the door gently behind him.

"Hey there, man. How's it hangin'?" he asked as he sat down in the stool that was usually always occupied by one of Leo's brothers.

Leo didn't answer, not that Casey really thought that he would. He just lay prone in his watery bed, his breathing shallow and his face looking very pale and gaunt. If Casey didn't know better, he would have thought that his friend was dead already. The thought made him go cold and he shivered involuntarily.

Raph had wondered aloud several times if Leo would ever wake up at all. Everyone else, especially Mikey and April, had asserted that sooner or later, he would wake up. It was just going to take time for wounds like that to heal.

However, Casey was with Raph on this one. The Shredder had really messed Leo up bad and most of those slashes were really deep. Casey wondered how he hadn't died after all that. Anyone else might have if they had been nearly sliced to ribbons before being thrown through a window. It seemed like too much for one person, or in this case turtle, to handle, but Leo had defied all odds by surviving. It had come at a cost, but at least he was alive.

Raking his fingers through his messy hair and released a deep sigh. He thought about Raph, sitting up here with Leo for days on end, barely eating or sleeping. About Donnie, who worked himself to the bone to make his brother some medicine that might make him better. About Mikey, who against all odds, kept everyone smiling and kept everyone's spirit's light. Casey could see that sometimes the smile was forced, though the goofball tried to always stay positive.

Then there were times when it all started to fall apart. Tempers would flare up and boundaries would be crossed. It usually got resolved, but the bonds between the brothers were definitely being tested by this whole mess. It probably wouldn't take much to send one or all of them over the edge.

Casey was worried. Actually, he was totally scared that one day, something would happen that would make Raph or Donnie, or even Mikey just leave. Rational thinking told him that this was a ridiculous fear, but that nagging, paranoid voice whispered dark possibilities. Leo might die. The rest might split up and he would never see them again. These guys were the closest thing to family that he had left, and the last thing that he wanted was to lose them.

His throat constricted as stared at the floor. He intertwined his fingers, more to relieve some of the stress than anything else.

"You need to come back soon, man," Casey said in a small voice that sounded afraid of itself, "Everything's been crazy since you've…," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "since you've been gone. Everyone's been so down. Worried about you, you know? They've seemed really lost without you and Master Splinter. I just…"

His voice trailed off, uncertain of what else he should say. Scraping the stool closer, Casey adjusted himself closer to the lip of the tub. He could see the water rippling around the sleeping turtle's softly rising chest and was comforted by such a mundane sign of life.

"Your brothers really need you. April and I need you too. Please… wake up, Leo."

He leaned forward, looking right into Leo's speckled face, almost expecting for him to open his serious blue eyes. But they remained closed. Leo lay still, sleeping through this pain. Casey swallowed, trying to whet his dry throat and rubbed at his itchy eyes. He ignored the moisture he felt as he settled back on his stool.

Casey Jones sat with his friend until the sun rose. If he couldn't do anything else for him, he could at least be there if he needed him.