Keeping you safe. (Frontlines!Casey Jr. Au)

oopsies

Casey lay in the cot. He wore the same pants he had on before. He was adorned with a thin gray turtleneck along with someone Master Donatellos strapped to his arm, middle, and shoulder. He had a dull green bandana wrapped around his neck. He still had his mask on, refusing to take it off. He didn't want his hosts to see what lingered on his face from his past. He kept his eyes closed, trying to fall back to sleep. The brace that Donnie had made him squeezed against his leg uncomfortably, and it was pulling at the skin on them. He shifted, thinking he heard someone coming. He opened his eyes, not seeing anything. He felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to jolt to the side. A sharp pain jolted through his chest. His head whipped to his right side, staring at the person beside him. Raphael.

"Uh.. Case? What's the matter? Did you not see me or something?" Casey slowly shook his head. "Sorry. It's.. the mask." Casey lied through the gap in his teeth. Raph lifted a hand up, tapping on it. "Well, you can take it off, you know?" Casey shook his head. "I dont think youd want me to." Casey rasped, rubbing his hands down his arms nervously. "Case, we won't be mad, no matter what's under your stuff. I got my scar, and maybe you have some too. Nothing's bad enough that it'll make me cry." Raph joked. Casey tensed, shifting his gaze away. "I made a kid cry once." Raph blinked. That was unexpected. He took a deep breath - he felt as if he was being impaled with a kraang tendril, the way his chest hurt when he breathed. "Casey. If you need, I can get you some clothes, and you can change from that grubby old outfit and into something less.. Uh." He gestured to Casey's outfit. "What's wrong with it?" "You smell gross." Mikey piped in from the bed next to his, reading from his kindle. "What? What do I even smell like?" "Blood, ash, smoke." Mikey listed, looking back to his book. Casey huffed softly.

"Okay kid. Let's do this, I'll go get april and she can give you some clothes, if you want you can show here whatever you got under there. If not, you can come to me in a month tops. I don't mean to pressure you, but it's not healthy to hide behind something all the time, okay?" Casey nodded slowly. He decided on showing april. It would be easier. He tapped his finger, shaking out his hands. The movement seemed to shake his ribs around inside of his body, the thick fog of pain seeming to fill his lungs. He was getting restless sitting in bed all day. "I'm not a kid." He said sternly. Raph gave a lopsided smile. "Yeah? How old're you?" "Old enough to drive." Casey stated proudly - he had gotten his license a little over a year ago. "Over seventeen." Raph thought his suspicions were confirmed. "What? No. I'm fifteen." Mikey lurched forward in the bed next to him. "FIFTEEN?" He yelled. Casey flinched, pressing his mask closer to his face. "Yeah. What's so weird about that?" Raph and Mikey exchanged a look. "Well, case. Raph is 18, and Mikey is 16. The twins are 17." "Oh. So I'm the youngest?" Raph nodded, chewing on a nail. "That's not that weird. Why is Michelangelo freaking out?" "Well, you've kind of been to war." Casey nodded. "What about it? Kids can go by the time they are 12 if they want to." Mikey stared, jaw dropped.

"Casey. The usual age of war here is 18 or over." Casey shook his head. "Whaat? 18? That's way too old!" Raph sighed, rubbing a hand down his cheek. "Casey, I'm sorry, but I'll teach you about now-a-days some time else. Like mikey said, you reek. I'll grab April and she can get you some clothes." Casey shrugged, the movement of his shoulders causing the hot pain to return. He melted back into the cot. It was so comfortable to him. Raph walked off. He adjusted his mask again, eyes trained on the door. He was ready to get a better outfit. He had to admit, not that he had gotten it pointed out, he did kind of smell bad. The thick smell of ash and a metallic aftertaste lines his clothes and skin. April walked in. "Future boy! Come on! It's time for you to get your makeover." She shook her hands in a jazz-hand-like way.

Casey chuckled, watching as she beckoned him out of bed. He swung his legs off the side, placing the leg without the brace down first. He sucked in a breath, getting ready to stand. "Woah case! Wait a second, I'll get you a crutch." Casey blinked. He was really getting the luxury. He watched as April pulled a crutch from a closet in the med bay. She handed it to him, and he gripped it, hoisting himself up. HE breathed deeply, willing the recurring pain to flee his body. It didn't. "Let's go get you a shower." Casey nodded along as she led him down the hall, stopping at another closet and pulling out a towel. "You can use any soap. The pink ones are mine, blue ones are leos, etcetera." She stopped for a moment. "Don't use the gray one. That's splinters." Casey gave her a thumbs up, and they continued to walk. They stepped into the bathroom. There was a toilet, sink, and bathtub. She set the towel on the sink, gesturing to the shower. "Okay, so. I put a towel on the floor so you don't slip and die." She pointed to the towel-covered tile beneath them. Casey nodded along as she spoke. "Turn this knob, it turns really hot. Turn this knob, it turns really cold. Don't use all the hot water, The boys love their hot showers."