Chapter 7
	Raph groaned in pain from the shell cell’s buzzing alarm he had set for five-thirty that morning awakening him. He was tempted to shut it off and skip the training Arianna had offered him to do but he knew he wouldn’t be feeling any better until he got up and started moving around. The only way to overcome the jetlag was to adjust to the new time frame as soon as possible, and also, it would work the rest of those drugs out of his system. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he found out he had overdosed on them.
	Slowly, Raph rolled his aching body out of bed and shut off his alarm. He yawned and shuffled over to the door and down the hallway to where Arianna said the bathroom was. After a good, long piss, a hot shower was definitely in order.
	Half asleep still, Raph felt around with his hands till he found the door knob and thrusted the door open.
	“Hey!” Someone yelped from the other side as he banged them with the door. A moment later there was a crash against porcelain and rustling of a shower curtain.
	Raph’s eyes blinked back open. Hesitantly, he peeked around the door to see who he had hit. Muscular, mint green legs were slung over the edges of the bathtub, the shower curtain had been yanked down from the bar, and water rained from the shower head. There was no doubt of who Raph had hit. 
	Raph cautiously entered the small bathroom and tapped Leo on the knee. The turtle didn’t even twitch, meaning, he was definitely unconscious. 
	“Shit.” Raph swore. He leaned over the tub to shut off the water before looking around for a towel he could use. He found one large enough folded underneath the sink and, opening it wide, he draped it over Leo’s motionless form and padded him dry before scooping him up. The turtle weighed more than Raph had remembered him weighing but it didn’t make too much of a difference to him as he carried Leo into the living room and laid him down on the couch.
	“What happened? I heard a crash.” Arianna appeared into the living room a second later, sleepy-eyed and dressed in an overly large shirt for her slender body. The back of the shirt had been cut out to give room for her shell. She paused at the doorway of the room and blinked at them.
	“Uhm, did I interrupt something?”
	Raph rolled his eyes.  “No. There was a little accident in the bathroom and Leo got knocked out. Do you happen to have anything to help him wake up with?”
	Arianna smiled slyly. “Oh, a little accident, eh?”
	Raph glared at her. “I’m not in the mood for this. Can you please get him something? A blanket maybe? The shower water was cold.”
	Arianna raised her hands in surrender but she still looked amused. “Yeah, sure. We got some smelling salts in the medicine cabinet that should work.” 
	“Also, get an ice pack. He might get a lump from that fall.”
	Arianna nodded and disappeared down the hall. It only took her a few minutes to return with his requested items in hand. She handed him the ice pack to position under Leo’s head and set down the little black bottle that read, ‘Wake up, Motherf****r’ onto the coffee table before unfolding the blanket and throwing it onto Leo.
	She kneeled beside Raph and grabbed the bottle to open it. Then, she held it beneath Leo’s nose and waited patiently. 
	It didn’t take long for Leo to react, he snorted and scrunched his noise and a second later his eyes blinked open. He raised his hand from beneath the blanket, trying to swat away Arianna. 
	“What happened?” Leo groaned and tried to sit up but Arianna held him down.
	“Relax dad, you’re alright. Raph just knocked you unconscious.” Raph glared and nudged Arianna’s shell with his knee. She grinned in response. 
“On accident.” She added as an afterthought. “You’ll be tender for a while but it’s nothing too serious.”
	Nothing that Arianna had just said seemed to register to Leo as he stared off into space. Of course, that could just be because he was blind. But eventually, his eyes began to move around, not focusing on anything obviously. 
	“Arianna?”
	“Right here, Dad.” She said in a gentle voice and grabbed onto Leo’s hand. Slowly, Leo began to sit up for the second time and Arianna helped him. Leo groaned in pain and Arianna looked like she was having a hard time supporting his weight so Raph came over to help. He grabbed onto Leo’s right arm and began to lift him off the couch.
	Leo stiffened, his eyes wandering around his right side. “Raph?”
	“Right here, Leo.” 
	The two remained silent as they stared at each other. Or rather Raph stared at Leo while Leo just stared in his general direction. It was going to be hard for Raph to get used to this. 
	Raph hesitated but slowly raised a hand to cup Leo’s cheek. It was warm and dry again and surprisingly soft compared to the rest of Leo’s callused body. Raph’s heart was beating against his chest and he swallowed thickly as memories flooded his head. 
	Those thoughts were immediately kicked to the curb as Leo suddenly glared and punched him in the jaw. It was honestly a baby slap but it was the unexpectedness that got Raph stumbling backwards. 
	“Why the hell did you do that asshole?” Leo snapped. He didn’t sound angry despite what his face said.
	A startled chuckle escaped Raph. “Just wanted to make us even.”
	Leo snorted. “This just means I’m going to have to get you back for this.”
	Raph grinned crookedly. “Looking forward to it.”
	Leo felt the back of his head for the bump that had formed and flinched when he found it. He sighed and rubbed his temples, probably to try to soothe the headache he must have. 
	“Arianna, what time is it?” Leo asked.
	“It is . . .” Arianna leaned to the side to see the clock in the kitchen. “Five fifty-eight.”
	“Damn it, how long was I out?”
	“Longer than the shower you would have taken.”
	Leo grumbled and turned to walk back to his room to get ready. 
	Arianna turned her attention to Raph. “So, are you going to join us for training?”
	Raph shrugged. “Well, I’m up and awake so mine as well.”
	Arianna smiled. “Great. Then I’ll need to get you a uniform.”
	Raph frowned. “Uniform?”
	“Yeah, duh. Don’t you remember? Not everyone knows what we are so we can’t go running around buck naked.” Arianna waved him along and reluctantly, he followed. She walked up to a hall closet and looked around, then frowned.
	“Hey Dad! Where are our spare foot uniforms?” She called out.
	“We might have ran out! Hold on, I might have some in my locker!”
	Leo came walking out of his bedroom a second later with a black and grey bundle in his arms. Raph’s frown only deepened as he took in Leo’s half-dressed appearance. Leo’s body was garbed from head to toe in black and grey leather. A red foot symbol stitched into his chest and shoulders.
	As Leo handed over the uniform Raph sneered and took it. “This just feels so wrong.”
	Leo smirked. “It’s either that or nothing.”
	Raph quirked a brow. “You never had a problem with my wearing nothing.”
	Leo frowned and pursed his lips before turning and walking back to his room.
	Arianna scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. We haven’t yet figured out a new style of uniforms yet so we’ve been using the old foot uniforms for now. Go change and we’ll meet you outside in a minute.”
	Still disgusted by this prospect, Raph went back to his own room. He laid the pile onto his bed and lifted up the shirt piece. Raph’s brows furrowed in confusion at the smallness of the size. 
	“Hey Leo!” Raph called.
	Leo appeared at the door after a moment. “Yeah?”
	“Is this your idea of a joke because I’m pretty sure I can’t even fit my head in there.” Raph said as he showed Leo the piece.
	The corner of Leo’s mouth quirked up as he said, “It’s faux leather. It’ll stretch.”
	Raph snorted and eyed the shirt. “Maybe, but I don’t think it’ll stretch that much.”
	“Well you never know until you try.”
	Raph huffed and decided to let Leo have his way. Throwing the material over his head, Raph managed to get the shirt just passed his shoulders and biceps but it refused to go any farther than his chest. This was not stretchy material.
	“Told you this wasn’t my size.” Raph glanced over his shoulder at Leo.
	Leo shrugged. “Hm, maybe I did get your size wrong. Here, take it off and I’ll get you another one.”
	Raph grabbed the hem of the shirt and tried to pull it back over his head but the material got stuck around his biceps. Raph tugged but it wouldn’t budge so he tried to lay the shirt back down to get it off a different way but the shirt wouldn’t move. 
	Raph froze when he heard Leo laughing behind him and he quickly realized that this was pay back for the shower incident. 
“Leo, ya piece of shit.” He growled angrily which only got the turtle to laugh harder. 
“I think you forgot that I’m blind, Raph! I can’t see the size tag!” Leo laughed.
“Quit yer laughin and help me ya fucker!” 
“Oh, I’m just sorry that I can’t see this right now!” Leo hollered, ignoring Raph’s curses. Raph sighed heavily and waited impatiently for Leo to finish up.
As if things couldn’t get worse, Raph could hear Arianna’s voice as she entered into the chaos. “What the heck is going . . . Raph?” She said, startled.
“Arianna, can you please either help me or smack your dad. Or both.” Raph grumbled.
“Oh my god.” Arianna giggled but at least she had the decency to try to stifle her amusement. Arianna coughed and collected herself before she walked over to Raph and, grabbing the hem of the shirt, they managed to tear it off Raph’s head.
Leo had calmed down by the time that was over. He was smiling and wiping the laugh induced tears from his eyes. “I feel so much better now. Thank you for that.”
Raph flipped Leo the bird while Arianna scooped up the rest of the uniform and left to go find another. She reappeared with another folded black and grey pile and handed them to him. “These are the largest I could find. They might be a little clingy but I don’t think you’ll get stuck in them.”
“Thanks.” Raph muttered and unfolded the shirt. It did look considerably larger than the last one and Raph trusted it enough to try it on. Arianna was right when she said it was clingy but it fit well enough for now.
Arianna gave him a thumbs up before leaving the room. Pushing Leo out with her and giving Raph the privacy to finish changing. It took Raph some self-persuasion but he eventually got up the courage to put the rest of the uniform on. Which, thankfully, fit pretty well.

“Yame!” Leo’s authoritative voice boomed for miles overtop the forty-eight soldiers all neatly lined by tens in four rows before him. They were sorted from youngest being in the front for Leo to keep a close eye on; and oldest in the back. All of them listened for Leo’s next set of orders attentively, and once it had been given, all of them would follow with quick precision. It was hard for Raph to believe that most of these soldiers were just mere civilians from the main land and surrounding countries. They were trained well.
Raph would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed by Leo’s progress. Whether or not it was good enough for Shredder was still up in the air but Raph kept his pessimism to himself. After all, he had accused Leo of just lying around on an island, sipping on a pina colada or some shit like that, and not even thinking about the war or his brothers who were fighting it. He supposed it wasn’t fair of him.
Arianna smiled as she spotted Raph in the far corner of the lot they were training at, watching. Arianna was the youngest of the soldiers there. Leo usually only permitting people eighteen and up to join, but obviously, she was the exception. 
Arianna tried to wave Raph over but he shook his head. He felt too awkward to just insert himself into this. Especially since he had no idea what Leo was doing. You’d think he would, considering Leo had taken some aspects of Splinter’s training for them into this, but Raph knew there were major changes to it to accommodate the large amounts of people.
Arianna waved again for him to come, catching a few nearby people’s attention. Raph shook his head again.
Then, there was a sigh from Leo. He glanced over his shoulder at them despite the fact that Raph knew he couldn’t see a damn thing. How the hell he even knew what they were doing was beyond his knowledge.
Leo finally turned back and said, “I have an announcement to make. We have a guest here today that will be training with us for the week that he is here.”
Raph huffed as Leo gestured for him to come over. Reluctantly, Raph made his way to Leo’s side. 
“This is Raphael Hamato. He is my brother from New York and I expect everyone here to treat him with the same respect as you do me. Understood?” 
Everyone in the crowd shouted, “Yes sir.” 
Leo patted Raph’s shoulder before pushing him in towards the end of the first row. “Alright everybody make room. Raph, I want you up front for today.”
“Yes sir.” Raph muttered with a two-fingered salute before moving over next to Arianna. Raph could tell the girl was smiling at him through the mask she wore. She was excited for him being here and Raph couldn’t help feeling the small bit of pride from the attention. Arianna had made it sound like she hadn’t cared about his existence but for a fleeting moment, Raph played with the idea of her accepting him as her second dad.
The fantasy didn’t last long as another round of orders had been given and Raph was now forced to obey them. After the twenty-minute exercise, to which Raph had purposely showed off by doubling the amount they were required to do, they were ordered to run for the last forty-minutes. When they had returned from the jog, Raph was soaked from sweat and panting heavily. The uniform suddenly clung to his skin now and made him feel incredibly uncomfortable but he put up with it anyway.
It had been a disappointment though that Leo could no longer see him. Raph wondered if Leo would be in the least bit impressed by Raph’s improved shape. He had almost tripled the amount of exercising he had been able to do since the last time they saw each other.
Anyway, as Raph had anticipated, he was now feeling ten times better than he was this morning. His head suddenly seeming a lot clearer now than before. In fact, he felt great!
“Raphael! Up front!” 
Raph was startled from Leo’s voice suddenly calling his name. He stopped his stretching and walked up to him. 
“Sir yes sir.” Raph said casually.
“You’re going to be my assistant in defensive techniques for a few situations I might find myself in. Are you ready, Raphael?”
Wearily, Raph said, “Sure?”
“Grab my neck.”
Confused and bewildered by this predicament, Raph slowly raised his hands and coiled them around Leo’s neck in a non-threatening manner. It felt weird being this close to Leo and Raph found his mouth going dry and his pulse quickening in response. It was a completely unintimate position but Raph had the sudden and irrational urge to pull Leo closer. Really close.
Leo cleared his throat and Raph quickly shook his head clear. He need to concentrate!
“From this position,” Leo continued, not missing a beat. “I can grab onto my attacker’s wrist and, with the dominant arm, I elbow his jaw. I can also back fist him in the head.” Leo explained, slowly leading Raph through the motions. 
“After that, I’m going to grab his head and knee him. Then, continuing the momentum, I can take him down. From here, he’s in a vulnerable position. Now you can either knock him unconscious or kill him by striking to the head. In battle, either one works so long as you subdue him but killing your opponent guarantee’s you won’t have to deal with him later. Everyone understands?”
“Hai Sensei!”
“Good.” Leo waved for Raph to get to his feet. “Now, in faster timing. Raphael, attack me again. And not like a pussy please. There are soldiers here.”
That got a giggle from the crowd.
Raph smirked and complied. He was fast as he advanced on Leo, but apparently not fast enough because as soon as his hands latched onto Leo’s throat and squeezed to block his air passage, Raph found himself supine and staring up at the blue sky, dazed. His jaw and head mysteriously throbbing now.
“Now, I want you to repeat that with the person to your right. Five times each partner. Hajime!” Leo ordered from above him.
A hand suddenly appeared in front of Raph’s face but Raph slapped it away. Rising to his feet on his own. 
“How in the hell did you get so fast?” Raph asked. Still a little confused by the whole event.
“How in the hell did you get so strong? I think I’m going to have bruises on my neck now.” Leo complained though his tone suggested Raph didn’t even come close to hurting him.
Raph snorted. “Too much time on my hands, I guess.”
“Hate to say it but I know the feeling.”
Raph didn’t reply immediately as the two watched the soldiers practice. Eventually, Raph said with amusement, “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
“Oh yes.” Leo smiled underneath the mask. “I’ve been dreaming of the day I could do that to you.”
“How sweet. You’ve been dreaming of me?” Raph said teasingly.
Leo didn’t respond but Raph could hear him chuckling, albeit it was muffled.
“This makes us even now, you know.” Raph added.
“Not even close.” Leo said. Then shouted, “Yame!” And the soldiers separated to face him.