Archive of Our Own ^beta

The first few days after Mike had “come back from the dead”, Leo barely left his side. Mike wasn’t upset by it, he missed his brother as much as Leo missed him, but he did worry about how much his almost death affected Leo. Hell, he was still trying to process it himself. He had been ready to die to keep his brother and the others safe and pretty much told Leo not to save him. The echo of Leo’s pained screams as he fell towards the bottom of that crevice were forever etched in his mind and he knew it was gonna take some time to get through it. For both of them.

On Mike’s first night, after he told the commander and high counselor he was back, he walked back to his room to find Leo sitting on his couch, staring out the window. Mike wasn’t too surprised after the day they had.

“Hey little brother,” Mike said to get his attention.

Leo looked over at the sound of his voice and sprung to his feet, “Hey, how did it go?”

“Pretty good actually. High counselor Ramier interrupted before I had to explain where I’d been and they seemed glad I’m back so I think we’re in the clear,” Mike chuckled.

Leo smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Good. I’m glad.”

“You doing okay?” Mike couldn’t help but ask. He knew it was gonna take time to process everything, for the both of them, but he needed his brother to know he could talk to him.

“I feel like I should be asking you that,” Leo chuckled but there was no humor behind it.

“Hey, we’ve both been through a lot. So don’t think you can’t feel upset by it too okay?”

“I’m fine, I promise. I’m just really glad you’re back.”

Mike could tell he was lying but didn’t want to push it. It had been a long day and Leo would only keep shutting him down so he decided he would let Leo talk to him when he was ready. Instead Mike gave him a small smile and pulled him in for a hug to offer some comfort, which Leo wholeheartedly returned.

“Hey it’s getting late, why don’t you stay here tonight?” Mike asked once they pulled back. After everything that happened, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone and he figured Leo wouldn’t disagree.

Leo smiled, this one a touch more genuine.“Yeah, sounds good to me.”

For the next few days after that, Mike would come back to his room after shift at night to find Leo already there. And when they weren’t fighting monsters or hanging with their friends, they played video games and watched movies. Mike didn’t even need to ask him to stay because Leo made himself at home in his room.

Mike knew they needed to talk about it but he wanted to give both of them more time and he hoped Leo would come to him when he was ready. But Leo never brought it up and it was almost like it never happened.

Until Mike had another close call when they went after that distress signal.

He had taken Leo with him for back up (and because he wasn’t sure Leo would stay behind if he didn’t). Everything was normal at first, then they’re attacked by an alien-like creature and it doesn’t take long for things to start going south.

The creature came close to getting all of them. Mike was on high alert the whole time while also keeping an eye on Leo. Thankfully they fought it off and were able to find the others and free them from the cocoons the monster had wrapped them in.

But when they were making their escape and Mike was about to jump across to their ship behind Leo, the Monster had grabbed his leg and tried to pull him back. Leo held tight though and Mike could see the fear in his eyes. That’s when his instincts kicked in, the same ones from the day he fell into the crevice. He had to protect Leo and keep everyone else safe.

“Save the team, let go!” He screamed. He watched Leo’s face harden and he knew that was the last thing Leo would do.

“Not this time!”

After a brief fight and with some quick thinking of the other rangers, Leo was able to pull Mike into the ship. Leo’s face was full of worry and Mike hated that he put it there again but he needs to make sure everyone was safe, especially Leo.

That night, after their debriefing, Mike walked back to his room with Leo in silence. He could tell Leo was still upset by the way his face was contorted but he didn’t say a word. He figured it was best to wait until they were out of the public hallway.

As soon as Mike walked through the door to his room, Leo pulled him in for a crushing hug.

“You really need to stop trying to sacrifice yourself for everyone else. I can’t lose you again.”

Mike’s heart dropped. He never wanted to hurt Leo but he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him either. As the older brother, he was supposed to protect him, but in the process he kept making Leo worry about him not coming back.

Mike squeezed Leo tight before he spoke, “I’m sorry Leo. I just want to make sure you’re okay. If anything happened to you I don’t know what I’d do.” He pulled back to look Leo in the eye. “But I know that sacrificing myself only hurts you and that’s the last thing I want.”

Leo looked at him with tears in his eyes and Mikes heart clenched. Leo rarely cried so for him to show emotion like that meant it really affected him.

“I already thought you were gone once and it killed me, I don’t want to go through that again. You’re important to me and a lot of other people. Don’t forget that.”

Mike pulled him in for another hug.

“There’s always another way that doesn’t involve killing yourself for the sake of others.”

Leo had a point. And Mike can’t stand the thought of putting that sad look on his brother’s face ever again. So he vowed that from now on he would try his best to keep Leo safe while also making sure he made it home at the end of the day. No matter what.