Hey, this is my first attempt at a Family/ hurt comfort/ fluffy story so don't kill me if it isn't great.

Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

It had been an hour since April's family farm had disappeared out of sight, as the team began their journey back to New York City, and at last, everyone had fallen asleep- save for Casey, who was driving. Leo lent his head back against the cold metal wall of the party wagon and felt a small smile reach his lips. Finally they were heading home.

However, there was still one thing Leo needed to take care off before they got back.

"Casey Jones is a giant puck head." He whispered, knowing that if the boy was listening, he wouldn't be able to ignore the comment.

Nothing. The radio must be too loud, the thumping tunes drowning out any other sound.

Leo checked his youngest two brothers once more to check they were sleeping, before he nudged Raph.

"Huh?" the red banded turtle sat up groggily, "Wh, whatsa going on?"

Leo put a finger to his lips, gesturing his brother to be silent.

"Raph, I need a word with you."

Raphael looked around the van at the other turtles then at the two humans up front.

"What do ya want?" He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn, looking confused at the privacy.

Leo knelt down and muttered,

"I just want to thank you, Raph."

Raph's eyes widened,

"What for?"

"For the past months," Leo began to look embarrassed, "if it weren't for you- I probably wouldn't have recovered as quickly. I just wanted to say thank you."

Raph blinked, appearing to digest what had just been said. He froze for a moment longer then suddenly reached out and pulled Leo into a tight hug, surprising his elder brother immensely.

"You really had me worried, bro." Raphael whispered back, "I didn't think you were ever gonna wake up."

The two brothers met eyes and the stress from the past months gently slid away. At last they were all together again, and soon, Splinter would be back with them. They shared a smile, yet Raph saw a slight waver in his brother's expression- a flash darted across his eyes, and when Raph moved his gaze away, he saw that Leo was attempting to take his weight off of his just healed limb.

Unfortunately, Leo caught his gaze.

"What." His tone became sharp as he pulled out of the embrace.

Raph tipped his head to one side,

"You're still not healed, are you Leonardo? You lied when Don asked you this morning." Raph jabbed a finger at his brother's shell, "Your leg still hurts, doesn't it?"

Leo silently pleaded Raph to lower his voice. Yes: it was true that his leg had healed, but it still throbbed on and off.

"I slept funny?" he tried, but the red banded turtle's glare made him shut up. "Alright- it does still hurt a bit- but I'm not going to let a little pain stop me."

Raph crossed his arms, "I know you won't, Leo, but what if you're aggravating it and it only gets worse. What you gonna do then? You may be stuck holed up somewhere while we're fighting some new threat. You see bro- we need you." Leo looked up sharply at these words. His brothers had never directly said that.

"You do?" he muttered, but to his surprise, his brother just blinked back.

"You didn't know?" Leo shook his head, "Are you thick or something bro? Where would we be without you?"

Leo listed the things off on his fingers,

"Probably still in New York; Ready to fight again in under a month rather than four; With more training practise; a stronger leade-"

A hand clamped over his mouth.

"You shut up right now Leo." It was Donnie. When did he wake up? Leo thought.

"Don's right, Leo, there is no way we could have a stronger leader."

"What's going on?" There was a screech of brakes and everyone slid forward. Great, now Casey and April were up too. Only Mikey was left sleeping- well, until Donnie kicked him lightly.

"Leo has something he wants to tell us." Raph growled and at once, all eyes fell upon Leo.

"Dude? What's happening?" Mikey queried, sitting up.

"It's nothing." Leo snapped, spinning to face his stubborn brother, "Right, Raph?"

"Wrong." This shocked the blue banded turtle. The technique usually worked, "Leo's still injured. He didn't want anyone to know as he thought it would hold us back."

Casey laughed, receiving an elbow in the ribs from April, "What? He's kept us at that farmhouse for the past four months- what's a couple more- OW!" April slapped him this time. He didn't try anything else.

"Leo. Can't you trust us?" Donatello asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Leo sighed and slumped to the floor. "We need to find Splinter, save the city and the people, and we have to get Karai back. We can't afford any more setbacks."

Raph opened his mouth to say something, but Donnie intervened.

"Start the engine Casey. We've come this far, we may as well carry on."

Leo looked up at his second youngest brother in gratitude. He knew there was an alternate motive, but he was thankful for the focus to be moved off himself.

Donnie knelt down next to his brother.

"Can you take off your knee pad Leo? I need to take a look."

Reluctantly, the leader did as he was told, revealing a thick layer of bandages around the joint.

"For support." He muttered weakly, feeling the hot glares from his siblings. The subject was dropped.

The smartest of the turtles unwrapped the bandages and inspected Leo's knee, his fingers delicately probing the area.

"Ah…" he sighed, "And it all becomes clear."

"What does?" Raph snapped, a hint of concern showing on his face.

"The bone snapped- hence the reason you had trouble walking to start with, Leo- but when you were out we focused on your main injuries- not your leg- so by the time we came to it- it had already healed, but it did so wrong." Leo blinked at him, and gestured for Donnie to continue, "So that means whenever you put pressure on it, your bones are grinding together, creating the pain you're experiencing."

"Can you fix that?" Leo tentatively asked, attempting not to sound too desperate.

Donnie Looked at the area again before saying, "I think so… The easiest way would be to- beak the bone again and set it so it heals properly."

Leo's eyes boggled.

"How long will that take? We need to get back to New York!"

Donnie's face grew hard, his medical authority triumphing over Leo's determination to the mission.

"Do you want to be in pain for the rest of your life? All we have to do is camp out somewhere for a single week more, then with your mutagenic DNA you should be ready for action."

"A week…?"

"A week." Donatello looked over his shoulder to Casey, "Find a pull in. We're camping."

There was a groan, but within a couple of minutes, the van pulled across and rolled to a halt.

"Right- everyone but Raph and Leo, out."

Leo gulped quietly,

"Are you sure it will work?"

"Sorry Leo, but it's the only way. Raph? Can I have one of your sais?" Leo nearly blacked out on the spot.

"What are you going to do with that?!" he whispered hoarsely.

"Cut you open and then yank your bones apart." Donnie paused, "You're going to bite down on it- what else do you think I was going to do?" he turned to Raph, "Hold him steady, I'm going to administer some antistatic so it won't hurt."

There was a sharp prick on Leo's arm and instantly, his pain drifted away.

"In three, in two, in one…"

There was a loud crack and Leo was swallowed by darkness.

I'll update as soon as possible!

REVIEW please with how to improve or just your general thoughts.