#cdk

Takeout Takedown Master Post

A mini series where the jjk characters react to reading being hit and how they handle it!

Shortly after the two families had snarfed down an ungodly amount of food for dinner Don and Leon had ushered Lil Mikey back to the infirmary to check on his injuries. They would get to Raph after, but they figured it would be easier on everyone to disentangle Lil Mikey from the group first. Even throughout dinner Donnie had remained with his back stubbornly squished against Raph’s side, keeping wrapped up in the blanket and eating the scallop alfredo from a bowl held close to his chin. He seemed to be slowly doing better though, so Don made sure the others didn’t make a fuss over it, reminding them that their guests had all been through extremely stressful events recently. Something that had Leon understandably eager to get the bandages off Lil Mikey’s arm so he could see and assess the damage for himself.

“So Leatherhead was the one that took care of you? Not Don?” Leon asked, glancing over at Don as the latter patiently allowed Leon to take the lead once more.

“Yeah, Don and Leo took care of Donnie – wow that’s weird to say – while Leatherhead and Big Raph took care of me,” Lil Mikey confirmed, wincing slightly when Leon jostled his arm in a way that caused the damaged muscle to protest. He was used to Leon’s hands winding and unwinding bandaging on him, but the injury was still a new experience that made him a little anxious. Enough that the foot he had hanging off the edge of the table swayed slightly.

“Okay,” Leon accepted, figuring Raphael had done the same for Lil Mikey as he’d done for Raph and acted like a distraction. When he carefully peeled the gauze back from the wound Leon ended up giving a small gasp. “Ohmigosh, it’s tiny! I thought it would be a lot bigger. How big was the bullet?” he blurted, brushing his fingers over the stitches before looking at Don.

Don could only chuckle, feeling a little bad for the slight startle Lil Mikey had gotten from Leon’s gasp, and leaned closer for a moment to see for himself. “It was only a nine millimeter one. We were lucky and even though there wasn’t an exit wound he didn’t seem to have gotten too much damage. Leatherhead said it was pretty easy to remove the bullet, it was just the cleanup and disinfection that took the longest.”

Listening to the explanation, Leon’s expression lit in a way only his would when discussing this matter. Looking back at the injury, Leon could only grin. “Gosh, I don’t even think it’ll scar that much. You guys are amazing,” he gushed, taking a few more seconds to admire the work before he started to apply some more ointment and clean gauze.

“Yeah, Big Raph mentioned they got a lot of practice,” Lil Mikey recalled, swinging his foot slightly once again. “I’m glad the people we end up fighting don’t tend to use guns. This really hurt,” he admitted, trying to keep his voice light.

It was subtle for others, but obvious for Leon that Lil Mikey wasn’t completely okay from the event. The slightly tense strain in Lil Mikey’s tone was enough to get Leon to pause, looking up at Lil Mikey’s face. “...Does it still hurt a lot?” he asked, just to make sure Lil Mikey wasn’t trying to be tougher than he needed to.

“No!” Lil Mikey assured quickly. “No, it’s good. It doesn’t even hurt that much, especially with the meds.” He wasn’t lying. He still didn’t really notice the injury until he tried to move his arm too much. But he knew he needed to give a little more so that Leon didn’t think he was pushing it off. “I guess… I’m just still a little scared when I think about it.”

Admittedly it was a fair emotion to have towards being shot, but Leon ended up giving a small snort. “You open a portal to another dimension and completely wreck both your arms for months, but brush that off like it’s nothing. And then getting shot and having a tiny little stitched up wound scares you?” he asked, a little incredulously.

Lil Mikey’s eyes went a little wider at the comparison, having not thought about it before. “...Huh. I guess the fact that I was saving you instead of getting saved by others made a big difference. Every time I got worried about the portal scars I just had to remember that you were still home with us, and it was gonna be okay.”

The response from Lil Mikey caused Leon’s teasing smile to falter, threatening to fade completely but instead settling into one of concerned fondness. He wasn’t sure what to respond, and consequently ended up reacting to Don’s movement instead.

As soon as Leon mentioned Lil Mikey opening a portal to another dimension Don tried to subtly but quickly pull out his phone to text Raphael. Unfortunately for him it didn’t go unnoticed, and he reflexively gripped his phone harder and tried to pull away when Leon’s hand smacked over the top of it. Leon had been intending to take the phone away from Don, but after feeling his fingers clenching the device in an iron grip Leon changed tactics, meeting Don’s gaze with a now steely smile. “...Who ya texting, Old Don?” Leon asked, his voice venomously sweet.

Don realized his mistake immediately, and had to keep himself from groaning at his own stupidity. Of course the teens would be wary of them having possible outside communication. So while he didn’t exactly want Leon to see what he’d been typing, he relented and opened his palm to give up his phone. “See for yourself,” he accepted, hoping Leon didn’t take too much offense to his unfiltered phrasing.

The phone being so easily relinquished caught Leon slightly off guard, the smile faltering halfway as he studied Don for a moment, looking for anything to hint that he was trying to pull a fast one on him as soon as he looked away. He couldn’t find anything though, and eventually looked down at the phone screen. The recipient was labeled as Raphael, with a more candid picture of the elder turtle in the bubble. And the most recent message sent sooner than Don had intended read ‘Did you know Little Mikey got his scars from opening an interesting’.

Leon realized his hand probably caused an autofill for the last word before sending the message, but it didn’t stop him from frowning. As Raphael’s message came back, asking for clarification, Leon tossed the phone back to Don. “You’re all really annoying, you know that? Why do you keep butting in our business?”

“Leo,” Lil Mikey chided immediately, his voice lowered and slightly hissed. That wasn’t an appropriate tone to take with someone who had been more than helpful for them in his mind.

Don held his tongue for a moment, not able to blame Leon at all for his reaction and only feeling upset with himself for not considering his action might be taken wrong. He’d thought Leon was a little more comfortable with him than he apparently was. “... I’m sorry. We’re just curious, and want to help. But don’t want to push you guys too hard, so we’re trying to figure things out on our own so you don’t have to tell us about it,” Don admitted, a little hesitant but hoping honesty would help instead of causing more problems in this case.

“You ever think I don’t want to tell you about my life?” Leon snapped back.

“You don’t want to? Or you can’t?” Don asked, his voice gentle yet blunt as he noted Leon’s response coming from distress instead of anger. And as Don suspected, the call out to Leon’s smothered discord caused him to freeze for a moment, eyes widening slightly and losing focus as he reflexively shut down in avoidance. Making a stilling motion to Lil Mikey as the lad quickly started to respond, Don waved his hand gently in Leon’s vision to get his attention without touching him. Once Leon’s eyes flicked back to him, Don carefully gripped Leon’s palm with one hand while the other cupped against Leon’s jaw. “I know you’re probably a little scared right now, but can you just focus on my hands for a moment? Let me know if they’re too warm, or if I’m holding you too hard. Also we used a different ointment this time for Lil Mikey. Can you smell the difference? This one smells more herbal than synthetic, yeah?”

Leon didn’t verbally respond, but Don could see his mind quickly shifting to focus on what was requested of him. Eyes flicking down to their hands as his cheek pressed into Don’s other palm slightly. A deep breath as he tried to smell what Don was pointing out, let out in a shaky exhalation before another was drawn. All the while Lil Mikey watched in surprise, marveling at how easily Don addressed Leon.

A few more slow breaths in and out, and Leon sullenly looked up at Don, the annoyance from before having faded into sheepishness. “...How did you do that so easily?” he ended up asking, voice quiet.

Don could only give Leon a bittersweet smile, lowering his hand to Leon’s shoulder and giving the other a squeeze when he saw Leon wasn’t quite ready to be without physical comfort yet. “My Leo…,” Don started,  then caught himself and reorganized his thoughts to explain better. “When we were teenagers, Leo got in a fight that almost cost his life. And while protecting him the rest of us almost got caught in a gas leak explosion. He ended up a little different for awhile because of it, and we had to get some help from Master Splinter’s old friend because none of us knew how to address the trauma he held. And as we got older we eventually learned what had happened, and how to help. It’s come in handy for all of us, even to this day.” The explanation was gentle, and Don tried to be as open as he could about it. And at the end he released his grip and lifted his heavily scarred arm slightly to draw attention to it, trying to ignore how the infirmary had gained two newcomers by now.

Having felt Leon’s distress, Donnie had hurriedly disentangled himself from the couch to make his way to the infirmary with the others. The blanket was still held around his shoulders, and he studied the room with a slight glare before he begrudgingly considered that Leon wasn’t being intentionally antagonized. Leon even seemed effectively distracted, and curiously engaged with the conversation now too, so Donnie held his own questions back with narrowed eyes as he approached. After side eyeing Don to make sure he wouldn’t suddenly try to grab him or something, Donnie leaned against Leon’s back just enough to tuck his head down against Leon’s skull, offering his own form of comfort.

The other newcomer was Raphael. Having not gotten a response from Don quick enough he’d decided to come find his brother in person. But with the scene he’d walked into he decidedly remained at the doorway, folding his arms and pursing his lips warily. He didn’t like where the conversation was going, but he also realized this wasn’t about him and kept quiet.

“...What happened to your arm?” Leon asked, taking the bait Don laid and looking down Don’s arm. Seeing how many scars there were and noting how his grip was definitely weaker than his other hand. The muscles in that arm seemed slightly smaller too.

“...I had my arm in a generator, trying to remove the crystal core, when it got turned back on,” Don answered, giving up his own personal grief story in exchange for having learned something similar about Lil Mikey. “Fifteen fractures along my entire arm, along with deep gashes wherever you see a scar. It scared Raphael pretty good, and Leatherhead still blames himself for not being able to do better fixing it up. It’s one of the many events that motivated us to get such a nicely stocked infirmary.”

Leon was quiet as he processed what Don had told him. Trying to guess exactly how much damage had been done to Don’s arm, and what it had taken to get it back to the state it was in now instead of amputating it. And then he slowly began to fully realize what Don had told him. Their infirmary was top of the line because they needed it to be. Because they hadn’t had just one close call. Don had just told Leon that all of them had almost died when they were teenagers. And then told him there was one more time where Don had personally, probably almost died again after that. And yet they were all still there, smiling and laughing and not breaking down at everything that even slightly reminded them of the events. The next breath from Leon shook slightly, and he reached up to bother Donnie into giving him an arm to hold. “...How are you guys not… How are you still functioning like normal?”

It was a question that Don noticed had as much pain as it had hope in it, and Don could only smile in pained warmth. “Emotional wounds, and mental wounds can heal just like physical ones. As long as they’re taken care of properly,” he assured, returning his hand to Leon’s to give it another squeeze. “I’m asking all the questions I am because I don’t want to just help you guys with your physical injuries. I want to help with everything else too, because when we get you guys back home I want you to be able to feel safe and sound there…. Okay?”

Leon’s gaze fell, but this time it was because of thought instead of wanting to avoid Don. It was too hard to respond with trust just yet. He couldn’t say it was okay, or that he was willing to talk. He couldn’t even say he couldn’t talk about it yet either. So instead he just looked away and relented with a form of direction. “...Ask April about it… She and Mikey are the only ones that can manage to talk about it so far.” The admittance caused him to tighten his grip around Donnie’s arm, afraid he’d just made a mistake by giving Don information he hadn’t had before. It didn’t help that Donnie shared his unease, his eyes moving to stare in mild warning at Don without moving his head. It was a rare moment of them being vulnerable, and Donnie was promising hell to pay if Don used it against them.

By this point Don was starting to get used to the twins’ wariness and bristled emotions, and could only withdraw his own hands as a physical motion to show he wasn’t going to try to pry any more from Leon. “Thank you. For trusting me a little,” he responded first, wanting Leon to know he appreciated his openness. “How about I finish getting Mikey’s arm dressed again, and you can go back to the living room with Donnie to relax more?”

Leaving the situation he was in felt tempting, but Leon also didn’t want to leave Lil Mikey half cared for. He was the one who was supposed to take care of them in this situation after all. He’d needed help with Raph, but something as simple as changing a bandage wasn’t hard. And yet he couldn’t find the motivation to want to complete the job. “..You sure?” Leon asked, half giving in to his reluctant lethargy.

“Sure. You can take it easy. And if I’m too rough then I give Mikey full permission to throw me out the door,” Don persisted brightly. It was a mild joke, but Leon understood why Don had said it. He didn’t mind if the boys got rough with him to protect themselves. He didn’t mind if they were baring their teeth in wary defensiveness. It was nice to hear, and Leon’s nerves stilled a little more as he shifted to stand up, keeping a hold of Donnie’s arm and pulling him with him.

“Alright. Let…,” Leon relented fully, starting to say his usual line of giving them permission to get him if they needed anything. But this time, he didn’t actually want to be bothered. So the words were changed as he started again. “I’ll let you take care of it. And I’ll send April in to help Mikey back when you’re done.”

It was a bit surprising, hearing Leon give Don an easy way to get April and Lil Mikey together to be able to ask them what had happened. But Don could only smile warmly, taking the response to mean he had done well in responding to Leon’s concerns. “Alright. Take it easy, and we’ll come get Raph when we’re ready,” Don bid, letting the two boys shuffle out of the room.

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laughing weakly as I post this at ungodly hours of the night just because I wanted to actually get one up and was worried I wouldn't be able to come back to it tomorrow X'D

sorry for the delay this time. I had a brain crisis like a month ago or something I dunno keeping track of time has been hard especially with having double duty at work and not sleeping the greatest because of leg aches all the time now |D I used to be able to do Rizen and CDK at the same time, but now just 1 project it a bit difficult to work on. I haven't given up on any of my projects, they're just taking a way long time to update now

CDK - Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

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