Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1. Chapter 1

Monster's on fire

By Danielle Higgins

Prolog

Riana McMurphy sat huddled in the corner of her room coughing. Flames engulfed the door and wall. Smoke filled the room and burned her lungs. Long brown wavy hair clung to her sweat soaked skin. She cried out then coughed and sputtered as the right arm of her night gown caught flame. Tears filled her green eyes and streamed down her face as the flames ate at her skin despite her attempts to smother them with her other hand. The thirteen year old hurried to the other corner of the room not bothering with the window again. She had fought with it three different times now. There was no hope. It was painted shut and lead to a four story drop that ended painfully on pavement. The room was swirling now; the fire devoured the oxygen leaving nothing but thick black smoke.

She didn't hear the glass break over the roar of the fire, but she did feel the strong arms lift her up. She huddled close to the hard chest as the someone carried her to the window. Then he leaped! She would have screamed if there had been air in her lungs. Instead she just gasped.

He caught hold of the fire escape, on the adjacent building, with one hand, and held Riana tightly to him with the other.

"It's ok I got ya." He said hoarsely. He moved onto the fire escape landing and sat Riana down. He used the skirt of her night gown to smother out any remaining flames.

Riana coughed and stared at her rescuer. Her vision was blurred buy the tears and smoke, that also made her loopy, so she couldn't be sure how much she could trust what she was seeing. What knelt before her was a large, large, blurred turtle. The tails of his red bandanna whipped in the wind.

"Raph, come on." The voice came from above them. Riana didn't look up for fear this turtle before her would disappear.

"You're gunna be alright." He ordered then stood up, and said to the voice aloft, "I'm comin'."

He shouted down the alley to get the attention of the fire fighters. Then, like turning out a light, he was gone.

Riana was rescued by something, she couldn't explain, that day. And she was told she had hallucinated because of all the smoke and lack of oxygen. But something told her they were wrong.

Chapter 1

**12 years later**

Riana Dawned her gear as the alarm sounded through the fire station. She jumped into the cab of the big red fire truck as its sirens blared. Lights flashing as it pulled out of the fire station.

Riana pulled her oxygen mask over her face and tightened the chin strap on her helmet as they pulled up to an old office building. Riana stared out at the building. It was condemned, barely standing, on fire, a serious death trap, and probably full of homeless and criminal teens hiding from police and family. Raina sighed 'firefighting wasn't for the faint of heart.'

The red rig pulled to a stop. Riana grabbed her axe and started her search for a safe way in. the building was going up fast but they had to try and save anyone they could. The trucks started to lay on water from street hydrants. The flames hissed in discontentment as the water pushed them back. Steam and smoke mixed in inky billows adding to the smog that blanketed the night in Manhattan.

"McMurphy, over here." Collin's, her current partner, called to her.

Collin's and Riana made their way through a doorway at the back. The Smoke was mostly at the top of the building as was the fire … for the moment. They needed to move quickly though. Whatever business the building used to be used for, there was no reminisce of what it was now. Newspapers and trash littered the floors.

They moved quickly through the first floor, then the second. Munitions littered this floor. Criminal hide out won the pot! If they had remembered to bet on it.

"I think most everyone that was here is gone." Collins concluded.

"Wouldn't it be terrible if we were wrong?" Riana replied. "Come on let's make sure. And get it done before the fire gets to this level. "

Collins shook his head, but followed Riana to the next floor anyway. Riana was never one to give up easily. If the burns on her arms weren't evidence enough of that, then her stubbornness, and willingness to face off with even the direst of situations would soon clue you in.

The third floor was starting to burn. The flames licked at the ceilings and were working their way to the walls. Riana and Collins picked up their pace as they moved from room to room. Still no one.

"Alright Collins, you win. Let's get outa here." Riana motioned to go back the way they came. Then she heard it, a series of hurried footsteps on the floor above them.

She looked up then hurried toward the stair way to the next floor. Collins was close behind.

Four very large turtles hurried through the burning building, trying to find a way out that wasn't covered with flame or the view of fire fighters. Luck did not seem to be favoring them. Leonardo, wearing a blue bandanna and twin katana, lead the way with their most recent advisory slung over his shoulder. Michelangelo , strutting an orange bandanna and a pair of nunchuku, fallowed close behind Leo, carrying their latest advisory's latest victim, a young teenage boy that had gone missing the week before. Donatello followed behind Mikey, he wore a dark purple bandanna and used his bow staff to push burning debris out of the way. Raphael pushed the others ahead of him, he wore a red bandana and his two sai gleamed in the flame light. "Come on Leo let's get the fuck out'a here!"

"I'm trying Raph!" Leo shouted back. 'Where to go, where to go?' He wasn't sure which direction to start in. the fire and smoke made it impossible to tell the front of the building from the back.

No matter how the fire started, whether one of the thugs that had vacated the premises had started it or it was an electrical issue, it didn't matter now. If they didn't get out soon the fire fighters would be picking very large turtle shells from the debris.

The building groaned threatening to give way under their burnt feet. Leo spotted a window in a back office. "Come on, this way!" he shouted over the roar of the flames. They ducked low as they moved quickly to the back room.

Don hurried past Leo and opened the window. "Hurry, come on, come on." He helped Leo climb out the window to the fire escape and then Mikey, complete with the people they were carrying.

Raph coughed against the smoke that was covering their escape. Don started to climb through the window. Then the building groaned, growled, and a support beam gave way. Don shoved Raph out of the way of the falling beam and dove for cover under the window, covering his head with his arms to protect it from any flaming shards

"Raph!" Don shouted over the flames. "Raph, you alright?! You there? Raph!"

Raph picked himself up from the painfully hot floor and brushed some embers off his shoulder and the edge of his shell. "I'm here Don!"

Raph coughed as he looked around. The fire was separating the two and blocking Raph's escape. There was no way back and no way forward. He was trapped.

"Go through the window. I'll back track and go out another one!" Raph lied. But he knew if they knew he was trapped there, they would die trying to get to him and he couldn't let that happen.

Don was being pushed back toward the window. The heat and flame were getting so strong he felt like his skin was going to boil right off of him. Trusting his brother had a way out he climbed out the window joined his other brother's on the roof and waited for the ever stubborn Raphael to emerge from the fiery building.

Riana reached the fourth level just in time for the support beam to break overhead she leaped out of the way as parts of the ceiling crashed down around her. She could hear the shouting between the people that were on this level. She would have to go through the wall. Riana regained her feet and quieted Collins' radioed worries. "I'm fine Collins. I am going to get these guys out of here. I'll see you out side."

Given no other choice Collins headed back down the stairs, ordering more water toward the fourth floor as he hurried out to wait for his partner.

Riana gripped her Axe and swung it into the wall. She made short work of the plaster and sheet rock she pushed her way through the wall and peered through the smoke. Sitting with his head between his knees gasping for air was something she never thought she would see again. The giant turtle with a red bandana that had saved her so long ago, and here she got the chance to return the favor. She hurried to him and took and extra oxygen mask off her tank and placed it over his face and turned on the air.

He returned the favor by pushing her back. He tried to tell her to get out of there but just ended up coughing and sputtering.

She reoffered the oxygen and he took it.

"You're gunna be all right, I'm gunna get you outa here. Anyone else in here?" Riana glanced around as she asked the question.

The giant turtle shook his head.

Riana nodded and helped him up.

"This way." She led him back through the wall to a window in the corner ally. She opened the window and smiled when she saw how close the next roof was. Not good news if they couldn't get the fire out but good for this moment. The water from the fire trucks was raining down like a water fall causing thick smoke and steam to give them enough cover that no one would be able to see anything other than maybe some shadows moving. "Alright jump in one, two, three."

On three they jumped with all their might across the gap. Raph jumped farther pulling on Riana's oxygen tank enough to set her off balance and fall into him tripping him up and creating a rolling pile of green, red, yellow, and black.

"There!" Mikey pointed Raph out amidst the smoke and fire fighter. He hurried over the roof tops followed by Don and Leo. They had left the two people they had carried out by the mouth of the ally where the fire fighters quickly found them.

Mikey slid to a stop next to Raph and hugged him before he was able to get untangled from Riana's gear which just pulled Riana back into the turtles' laps but lucky for her it was face first this time. She struggled to radio to the truck that she was no longer in the building

"You totally had me worried there for a bit bro. you in one piece?" Mikey asked excitedly.

Raph pushed Mikey off of him. "I'm fine."

He tried to untangle the oxygen mask but must have been taking to long for the fire fighter cause she just ended up slipping out the jacket, oxygen, and helmet and sat back on the roof to take a breath which ended in a coughing fit cause of the hot smoky air.

"You alright?" Mikey asked her.

She must have been, because she was smiling, and she was shaking a finger at Raph.

Before she could say anything, though, Leo caught a hold of her arm to inspect a tattoo that wrapped around her right arm nestled amongst old burns that marred her skin. The tattoo was a red bandana, with two blacked out eye holes, wrapped around her arm. The bandana had two long tails trailing down her arm. On one was written courage, on the other was written honor.

"Is our secret safe with you?" Leo asked. He looked her in the eyes. Hoping she would sense the importance of her silence. Getting caught by a fire fighter wasn't as dangerous as a cop but he didn't like the chance they were being forced to take, none the less.

She was worried for her safety when the turtle in blue first grabbed her arm, his brown eyes piercing and deep. But his question caused her to relax significantly.

"Of course." She answered softly holding his gaze till he let her go.

Raph, now that he was finally loose of her gear, leaned forward to look at her tattoo. "Do I know you?" He looked her over trying to remember who she was.

She opened her mouth to answer but was immediately cut off by and explosion on the second floor. She looked back at the burning building for a moment then back to the turtles. Except the turtles were running away! "Snap. Wait!"

Getting to her feet Riana grabbed her gear and ran after them, never mind that her job was currently burning behind her. She tried to keep up but her gear slowed her down and when she was sure she had lost them and couldn't have possibly made the next jump between buildings, she gave up with a disappointed sigh.

"I just wanted to say thanks!" she shouted into the night.

"For what?" The gruff voice came from so close behind her his breath moved the hairs on her neck.

Riana about jumped out of her clothes and skin in one movement. She spun around to face the turtle and then jumped again as the rest of the munitions on the second floor of the burning building went off, from the heat, in a great procession of noise.

The turtle gave the noisy building and irritated look then looked back at the woman.

"Shouldn't he be thanking you?" The turtle in purple and shadows asked.

"Ya." The orange one chuckled. "It did look like you were saving his tail."

The one with the blue bandana remained silent, just watching.

"Well?" the turtle in front of her snapped impatiently bringing her attention back to him

Riana cleared her throat. Placed a palm on the turtles chest and applied what she was hoping would be enough pressure to get him to take a step back so they weren't chest to chest, with a long way to fall behind her. "Well…" she began.

Raphael ignored the hand on his chest. He withheld the desire to scream at her for trying to push him back. 'What don't want the freak in your space?! Can't stand to be so close to the monster?!' Then she told him how he saved her from a fire set by a gang at her father's apartment complex, because he wouldn't pay protection money to them.

"You saved me and it made me want to save others. I chose fire fighter 'cause I could defeat what almost killed me." The pressure of her hand on Raph's chest changed from pushing to almost a rested caress. "Thank you, both for your help and for an opportunity to repay you."

She smiled up at him so sincerely with her ash smudged face and bright green eyes. Raph couldn't help but soften his demeanor toward her. "uh," he shifted his weight. "You're welcome …and thanks."

He cleared his throat uncomfortably as he took her hand in his and removed it from his chest as he took a couple of steps back.

The fire roared in the old building that was now almost a block away. Riana frowned at it, it was really getting in the way of her desire to talk with this turtle man. But she really needed to go back and do her job. She sighed.

"here." She said as she dug under her firefighting pants and into her uniform pocket. She pulled a pen out and reached for Raph's arm.

He abruptly pulled away.

Riana frowned at him. "I would like to give you my number. I would love the opportunity to get to know you If you would be kind enough to give me a call sometime. If nothing else you'll have it in case you ever need someone to have your back."

She offered Raph the pen. "Would you rather right it yourself? Even if you aren't actually going to call me, you could humor me."

Raph stared at the pen for a second then glanced at Leo, who simply shrugged. He gave her a disgruntled look but took the pen and got ready to wright on his forearm. "Number?"

Riana recited the number. "My name is Riana McMurphy."

"Ray ray, got it." Raph said as he wrote everything down and handed her back her pen. "I'm …"

"Raph." Riana said his name and smiled. "I remember."

She shrugged and smiled sweetly. "I'll see ya when I see ya." She then got here gear back on and hurried back to the fire to do her job. Radioing in that she was on a building roof and that she had been taking cover from the explosions.

Raph joined his brothers in the shadows.

"So, you gunna call her? She was pretty cute." Michelangelo smiled as he watched her running toward the fire.

Raph shook his head as he walked past. "No, I'm not gunna fucking call her, Mike."

Mikey shrugged. "Bummer."

He then hurried after his brothers as they silently slipped into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Michelangelo hurried across the roof of the apartment building, slid to a stop and hunkered down in a shadowed spot. He tried to focus on slowing his breathing the air making his throat feel scratchy. He swallowed hard as he worked to catch his breath.

He needed to eat a little less pizza and junk, he decided. He was twenty seven…ish and his junk food diet was catching up to him. A movement caught his eye.

He slid further into the shadows, and watched as his brother searched for him. Mikey was the reigning ninja tag champion and he wasn't about to lose it to his genius brother.

Donatello was moving quietly across the roofs and alleys of a four block radius, systematically searching for his ninja brothers. As they had gotten older they had all gotten better at this training exercise. It had gone from basic hide and seek to super, extreme, pro level, as Mikey would say.

Mikey held his breath as Donatello approached his hiding spot. Then a "tink tink." Sound came from the alley, pulling Don's attention.

Mikey used the opportunity to change his hiding spot. Quickly he sneaked across the rooftop and into a dark corner on the second level of an alley just on the edge of the game boundary.

He would have stayed within the boundary, this time, except someone with a window cracked just a bit was blearing some bumpin' music. They were probably ticking off their neighbor's, and Mikey couldn't help his curiosity. So he quietly made his way to the window.

Inside was a woman by herself… cleaning dishes and dancing. Her auburn curls bouncing around her shoulders, her fit hips swaying to the rhythm of the music. She had a wash rag in one hand and a stout dark beer in the other.

"Wait, I'm coming undone… too late, I'm coming undone." She sang out the lyrics to a korn song giving it an interesting twist with her higher feminine voice. She turned to set down her beer on the counter. Giving Mike enough of her profile to recognize her.

It was the fire fighter! Mike grinned and tapped on the window glass.

Riana reached over and turned down the radio and listened for the tapping sound she had heard.

Mike nocked at the window again then waved happily when Riana looked at him.

Seeing the turtle was a surprise. It had been two week since that building had burned down. She had figured she would not be hearing from her tattoo's name sake, or one of his friends, again.

Riana blinked at him at first. Once her eyes had convinced her mind that a giant turtle was crouched on the ledge of her kitchen window she gave him a welcoming grin. She dried off her hands and opened the window for the turtle. "How about you come in before you fall."

Mike chuckled as he accepted the invitation. "I won't fall, but I'll still come in."

The smell of Italian food filled his nostrils. "Eating late huh?"

"Ya, I just got off work." She watched the vivacious, smiley turtle as he poked around her kitchen as if he had known her for years. '

He opened the oven a crack and took in a deep breath of the cooking food. "Mmmm, lasagna."

Riana smiled and put a hand on her hip. "It's almost done, would you like some…"

"You can call me Mikey. And yes I would love some."

"And would you prefer beer or wine to go with it?"

Mikey pulled out a chair for himself and sat at the small folding table that graced Riana's kitchen. "A light beer if you got it." he grinned.

"Sure." Riana reached in her fridge for a bud light. Popped the bottle cap off with her belt buckle and handed it to Mikey. Then she grabbed her own beer and a seat at the table. "So what brings you to my window this time of night, Mikey?"

"Oh just passing by really… well actually I am currently skipping out on a ninja exercise."

"Ninja?"

Mikey took a long slow drink of his beer savoring the light hoppy flavor. "mmhm."

Giant Ninja turtle…. Well you don't meet one of those every day. "And where exactly do Ninja turtles hale from? I am assuming it isn't the second star and strait on till morning."

Mike smiled and shook his head. "Not exactly…"

He told her about the mutagen accident, which lead to exaggerated stories about his brothers, the shredder and other advisory's they had had in their lives while Riana served him up some lasagna and more beer to keep the turtle talking.

She was captivated by his stories. Every adventure, surprising twist and bend. His impressions of his brothers, though he didn't know how accurate, were amusing. Donatello's intelligence, Leonardo's leadership, and Raphael's temperamental stubbornness exaggerated to comical proportions. By time Mike "shell cell", as the turtles had dubbed the cell phones, rang Riana tears from laughing so hard.

"Hello. Mikey speaking." He answered around a mouth full of cheesy, tomatoy goodness.

"Where are you Mike? …Are you eating? Mikey we have talked about this. It is cheating to go outside the game boundaries." Leo sighed at his easily distracted brother.

Mikey swallowed the bite. "I'm not that far out of the boundary and yes I am eating Lasagna."

"Anywhere out of the boundary is still… what where did you get lasagna?"

"He probably dug it out of the trash." Raph grumbled.

Leo made a face at the idea. They weren't above it, but they hadn't had to eat like that since they met their friend April when they were young teens. And the idea kind of turned his stomach now.

"Riana let me have some. It's homemade and delicious you guys really should come try some." He sat the phone on his shoulder and asked Riana. "Is there enough?"

She looked down at the large baking dish she was had planned on eating off of for the next week.

"sure." What's another trip to the store?

"cool" mike put the phone back to his ear only to catch the middle of Leo's tirade about how dangerous it is to go into people's houses without telling anybody, especially people they don't know well.

"It's Riana's, remember the firefighter that saved Raph and she's an awesome cook. You know you want soommme."

Leo rolled his eyes. "We're coming to get you Mikey."

"Ok, blueish building, north east corner of the boundary, second floor, third window from the front." Mikey hung up "They will be here in a second. "

"Awesome" Riana opened three more beers and sat some more plates out for everyone. And noting Mikey's empty plate offered him some more.

He gladly accepted and she had just given him his third helping when Leo, Don, and Raph climbed through the window.

Raph greeted his brother with a smack upside the head, earning him a frown from their hostess.

He turned her attention to Leo and offered him a plate. "Hungry?"

Leo waved off the offering. "No thank you. We are not staying."

Riana frowned and sat the plate on the counter. "Well that's rude."

"Excuse me." Leo gave her a surprised look.

Meanwhile Mikey handed his other two brothers an open beer. While they watched the exchange they sipped on the beer, Raph gulped his.

"Well it is. Your brother already crashed my dinner the least the rest of you can do is eat it, especially, since I already opened the beer." Riana had her hands on her hips in a no nonsense stance. But the smile on her lips said she was just trying to give Leo a hard time.

"Well she did already open the beer, Leo." Raph said.

Leo looked at his brothers as they found a seat at the small table.

"We really don't want to be rude." Don agreed as he took another sip of his beer.

The enticing smell of the lasagna had convinced Don and Raph to stay as well. So, Leo gave in with a sigh. "Alright, but only one."

The Hamato brothers sat around Riana's kitchen table all amazing in appearance in one way or another. They all had similarities in their looks, the obvious being that they were all turtles and had shells, and had greenish/brownish skin to varying degrees. And they all had brown eyes though different shades. They all stood around 6 ft. Mikey was the shortest and softest in appearance though still toned and strong, soft kind eyes and sweet kind smile. Don was next tallest and quieter. He was the thinnest of the four, reminding Riana more of a gymnast in stature. Not a lot a bulk to his build but still strong. According to Michelangelo Donatello was highly intelligent and was the reason their world had any kind of techno anything. Leo came next in height. Definitely the most serious of the four but his kind nature was obvious when he would smile. His concern for his family was obvious when he wasn't. Riana never felt so much pressure in regards to being under someone's inspection in her life. She was sure he was sizing her up constantly deciding if she was an ally or a possible enemy. He was quite toned and capable. He had more muscle bulk than his other two brothers, but not as much as Raph. Raph was the tallest and was obviously the strongest. Everything about him was intense from his build to the deep gruff of his voice and the piercing intensity in his eyes. If Riana looked at him for more than a second he would hold her gaze stubbornly and frown at her as if trying to bore holes in her with his eyes as punishment for her curiosity. She made sure she had another round of beer open and available.

Four beers and three pieces of lasagna later you would think they had been friends for a very long time.

They had answered every question she had asked from favorite foods to pass times, and she had returned the favor. Her answers all centered around firefighting which took up most of her life.

"Alright so you are a firefighter and it sounds like you love it. Anything other than that?" Raph asked.

"Other than firefighting?" Riana questioned his question as if she was baffled by it.

"Well ya. After I saved your ass what did you do with it Ray ray?" he finished off his fourth beer.

Riana smiled at her new nick name. "What do I do with my ass? Attract strange men mostly. I mean look at who's hanging out in my kitchen."

Ya they were probably pretty strange compared to what she was used to, so Raph let the comment pass… some. "So you're a fire fighter by day and prostitute by night?"

'Prostitute? Oh he was referring to using her ass. Haha, smart ass.' She thought to herself. She had a few smart ass comments of her own. So, she grinned at him. "You know Raph your mouth is the perfect size…"

Raph gave Ray ray a funny look. "For what?"

Ray ray's grin only got bigger. "Your foot."

She was rewarded by the crooked grin of a man who had broken his jaw on more than one occasion, and honey eyes that sparkled with orneriness. He leaned forward on the table, his muscled arms flexing as he leaned on them, then came his thick husky voice. "That the best you got, babe?"

Riana felt like the temperature had gone up ten degrees as she tried to hold his gaze as intensely with her green eyes as he did with his brown ones, but the heated passion that seemed to be consuming her was too much for her at this time, and she had to look away… her reaction to the turtle surprised her. She covered her surprise with a cocky grin and a raised eye brow. "You couldn't handle my best, Raphael."

Even the way his name rolled of her tongue was trouble!

"Ha! I'm up for that challenge…" he growled out

"And on that note…" Leo interrupted, "We should get going. We have an hour before sunrise."

The amount of time that had passed so quickly seemed to throw everyone for a loop. Don grabbed a piece of paper from by the phone and wrote down all their cell numbers, as the others started climbing out the window. He then handed it Riana. "In case you need us or something."

Riana Smiled sweetly as she took it. "Do you still have mine?"

Done looked toward the window to ask Raph but he was already gone. "Well, let's count on the hope that Raph has washed his arm sometime in the last couple weeks and say no."

Riana chuckled as she wrote it down and handed it Don. "Is it ok if I put your guys' in my phone?"

"Ya sure." He gave her an awkward smile said good bye and disappeared out the window.

Looking around the room everything felt so surreal to Riana. Had someone told her she would be feeding four giant turtles this morning she would have laughed at them. Hell if someone had told her as a kid she would have called them a liar. But here she stood at 5:00 in the morning holding four phone numbers and looking over a messy kitchen as evidence that they had in fact been there.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Riana hurried around the scene of a three car pileup taking notes. Like most fire fighters she was a paramedic and so was busy seeing to people's complaints. She helped the EMTs put neck braces and wrappings on people before they were lifted into ambulances. She walked up to the driver of a delivery truck that was talking to a cop.

"Can I go yet?" Said the driver in a thick Irish accent, "I got a schedule to keep."

The cop motioned to Riana. "Let fighter…" He took a quick look at her name badge, " McMurphy check you out real quick and if she gives you the go ahead than your good to go sir."

The officer handed the man a ticket for unsafe driving, then walked on to the next person he had to get a statement from.

Riana gave the blue eyed, black haired Irish man an empathetic smile. "Hey how you doing?" she smiled as she flashed her pin light in the man's eyes to check his pupil dilation.

"I've had better." He answered. His eyes rested on her where her breasts filled out her t-shirt then up her slender neck, soft pink lips, till they met her bright green eyes. "But I think it just got better." He flashed a grin.

Riana's smile faded. "Well I see that you're still male. What's your name?

The man straightened up his behavior. "Ike ma'am "

"Does anything hurt anywhere, Ike?"

"No ma'am. I'm alright, really. I just need to get going."

"So you are refusing care? I just need you to sign this real quick." Riana pulled a clip board out from under her arm and handed it to the man. "Just there at the bottom. It just states that you were of sound mind when you refused care."

Ike frowned but signed that paper work. "Can I go now?"

"Yep. Thank you."

"Sure." The man grumbled as he hurried back to his truck.

A Jar fell out of the cab as he got in. without even a second thought he drove off as the jar rolled slowly down the street stopping at Riana's foot. She looked down and stared at the green glowing substance that was inside the jar. She picked it up and put it in her fire fighter jacket pocket. It was her intention to give it to her chief. But upon further inspection of the jar and it's substance she decided she would take it home. It was probably just glow stick juice or something anyway. The glow would be gone by tomorrow and she would throw it out then. So, she sat it in her small shoulder bag when she got back to the station. Other than that, the rest of her shift went uneventful and when evening came she packed up her stuff to head home.

Raphael made his way through traffic on his motorcycle, built and rebuilt… and rebuilt by Donny, he shifted gears and picked up speed. He then grumbled as he had to stop at a red light in front of a Manhattan fire station.

One of the red rigs slowly made its way into the fire house. Raph sighed impatiently and rocked the bike a little while he waited. Then he noticed a certain lovely green eyed fire fighter as she waved bye to someone at the fire house then started to cross the street. Feeling in a bit of a playful mood Raph revved the bike hard, making it roar as Riana stepped in front of him.

Being a New Yorker she flipped him off. "Hey I'm walking ass hole."

"You off to use that ass for your… other job?" Raph called after her.

She spun around to face this punk. "Excuse me!"

The light turned green and the car she was blocking honked at her. So she smacked their hood. "Piss off."

Raph chuckled. "So now you're a deaf hooker, huh Ray ray?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, you son of a bitch." She muttered as she marched up to the bike. "Who the hell do you think you… wait, you called me Ray ray."

Raph lifted the visor of his helmet just enough only she could see his face. He was grinning like goon to have gotten such a rise out of her. "Want a ride?"

She answered after punching him the shoulder. "you ass hole." She shook her head at him, then sighed "Yes, I want a ride."

She climbed onto the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around the turtle as much as she could. "Tell me, Raph, is that the best YOU'VE got?"

He chuckled then punched the gas sending the bike into just enough of a fishtail to make Riana hold on a little tighter. It wasn't the he thought he had a chance with her; It was that she was fun to get worked up.

Riana had a white knuckle grip on Raph's Jacket and a gigantic grin across her face. He was driving like a maniac, whipping in and out of the night traffic and going about as fast as the bike would go, on the empty streets. But dang it was fun! If there was a cop that saw them they didn't bother with even trying to catch the two. There would have been no chance of it.

Raph turned onto another empty street sped up and popped a wheelie, Riana's laughter trailing after them. They Road around under the city lights then up through central park.

The air here was different than the rest of the city. It was fresher, sweeter, and was filled with the scent of fragrant spring flowers. Trees filled with white and purple flowers rose above them, their petals drifting silently down on the breeze.

Raph slowed the bike to a pace that anyone could have out run. He wanted to take in the peace here. He had to admit it was nice. The view, the smells, the hum of the motorcycle, Ray ray's arms wrapped around him, even if she was just holding on. Then there was the way she rested her head against his shell and sighed just relaxing against him. It made him feel… like he was human; Like He was the best place in the world for her to be right now. He took the long way through the park wanting the feeling to last, knowing it would upset him once it ended. Because he would have to face, yet again, that he was, in fact, not human. An unwanted monster of the under belly of New York. A freak, rejected by society, and sot after for experimentation. Not a human and not an animal, just stuck somewhere in between.

It ended sooner than he had planned on, which really pissed him off. But the thugs beating up on some poor soul, up ahead, would get the brunt of Raph's upset.

He slowed to a stop, put down the kick stand, and removed his helmet.

"Stay here." Raph ordered Riana quietly then started walking toward the thugs.

"Raph." Riana's concern evident in her voice.

Raph looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Be careful." She was a fire fighter not a person fighter and even though Mikey had said they were Ninjas, she had not yet seen them in action. Raph was strong but that wasn't always enough, especially when up against someone that was armed.

He pulled his twin sai out from under his jacket. "Always."

He moved across the grass quickly, so soft footed not a sound was made, which was amazing for someone his size.

The thugs were there just behind some trees. They had quieted for a moment when they first heard the motorcycle, but when nothing happened they thought it had driven off.

Raph assessed the situation from the cover of some bushes.

The victim was tied kneeling on the ground and blubbering, his accent thick and hard to understand. "I don't know where it went. It was in the truck, I swear."

"That isn't good enough, Ike. I wanted every jar accounted for, and you failed to deliver." A stout, blond man spoke plainly before laying his fist into Ike again.

The thugs were well dressed, wearing suits. The one that was talking had a New York-Irish accent like he had spent too much time in both places. His jacket was off, his sleeves were rolled up, and there was blood on his fists.

All the thugs were packing guns that were holstered. Which was excellent 'cause it would give Raph just a couple extra seconds while they reached for them. This was all he needed.

The first of the four hit ground before he was even aware he had been hit. The butt of raph's sai had done that job nicely. He brought his elbow up, the second thug's nose crunching beneath it. The third thug had his gun mid draw when Raph brought his elbow down on the thug's arm and a knee up into his gut. The gun fired hitting the broken nosed thug in the shoulder. Raph humphed at the irony.

The blond tried to throw in a sucker punch but Raph saw it coming and dodged, retaliating with a punch to the blonde's kidneys.

The blond let out an "oof" but recovered quickly and threw a couple haymakers. Which raph blocked with ease then landed a well-placed kick to the man's chest sending him flying backwards.

The gun man had found his feet during the exchange and was pulling the gun up to take aim.

Raph spun around to defend himself but found he didn't need to as the man sank to his knees, Riana standing behind him holding a thick log.

Raph's surprise was quickly over taken with agitation. "I told you to wait by the bike!"

"Well he was gunna… look out!"

Raph turned in time to get a stiff punch in the jaw. It knocked him of balance a bit. But he was back in the fight in less than a second.

Riana slid down beside the victim and started to untie him. She recognized him as he started to stand up. "Hey, you at that accident today."

Ike didn't waste any time confirming her recognition. He simply took off running.

Riana looked back at Raph in time to see him land a knockout punch to the blond's jaw.

The blond hit the ground with a thud, Raph straddled him lying in two more solid hits for good measure.

"Raph." Riana called. The look on his face made her not sure if he was gunna stop.

"What!" He snapped.

"The other guy ran off." She explained pointing the direction he had gone.

"So who gives a shit. He's alive ain't he?" Raph started back across the grass leaving the battered men to sleep off their new injuries.

"Well, ya." Riana said softly as she carefully stepped through the unconscious men and hurried after Raph.

He stopped when he got to the motorcycle and turned on Riana. "I otta leave you the fuck here!" He yelled. "Are you fucking stupid running in there like that?! I told you to stay here!"

He wasn't really angry she had jumped in to help. Really what she did took guts, and you had to respect a woman with guts. But damn it she could have gotten herself hurt or killed. He didn't need that on his conscience. he had enough to torture him already.

"He was going to shoot you!" Riana justified herself.

"I was handling it just fine without you! Next time do what you're told!" He slammed his helmet on, got on the bike and started it. "Get on."

"Fuck you." She said as she crossed her arms.

He looked at her for a moment as she stood there stubbornly frowning at him.

"Suet yourself." He said quietly. He put the bike in gear. Pealed out and burned down the road.

"Fine!" Riana shouted after him. With a huff she started marching in the opposite direction. 'Ungrateful ass hole!' She had just risked her life for him. She slowed for a second realizing that had been the issue all along. He was wanting to protect her… but dang it he didn't have to be such a jerk about it! She resumed her march.

Up the road Raph began to feel guilty for leaving Ray ray to walk. "Damn it." He growled to himself and turned the bike around.

He caught up to the stomping Riana quickly.

She had determined she wasn't even going to spare him a glance when she heard the motorcycle approaching. That had been a mistake.

Without slowing down he slid back on the bike, reached out, caught Riana around the waist and pulled her on to the motorcycle.

She let out a satisfyingly, startled yelp as he placed her on the seat in front of him. She squirmed for a second but once she realized she was pinned, with a huff, she rested on the gas tank.

Feeling strangely triumphant, Raph grinned. He had won both fights… kind of.

The bike came to came to a stop, in the alley outside Riana's apartment building. Raph leaned back releasing Riana from having to hug the gas tank.

She slung herself off the motorcyle like she was dismounting a horse, purposefully catching Raph's jaw with her heel. Not hard, just enough to jostle his helmet.

He gave her an irritated look while adjusted his helmet.

She shot it back as she adjusted her clothes.

Raph started to put up the kickstand up so he could go. Despite getting kicked and hit in the face he was feeling pretty good. He would have hung out with Riana but she seemed a little to irritated to want to join him.

"I saw that guy earlier today, Raph." Riana said as she took off her shoulder bag and dug out the glowing jar to show it to Rapheal. "He dropped this."

Raph put the kickstand back down and stared at the jar for a moment before taking it in his hands. He turned it over in his hands a couple of times before removing his helmet. "The guy that I saved had this?"

Riana nodded.

Raph frowned. "Blondie was talking about a jar not being delivered." It looked like mutagen. Raph had to admit he was going off the fact that it glowed, was green, and some guy got beat up over it. It could also be just some sort of science experiment or glow stick fill. But just in case…

"I think we should show this to Don. Hop on." He said as he handed the jar back to Riana.

"Where is Don?" she asked as took the jar and put it back into her bag.

"Home. You coming or what?"

Without another moment of hesitation she hopped on the back of the bike. Exited to see where the turtles lived.

"I was hoping you would sit in the front, again." Raph said with a smirk as he put his helmet back on.

Riana rolled her eyes at him. She had no desire to be squished against the gas tank again. "Only if I get to drive this time." She grinned.

"ha, you wish." Raph laughed as he popped up the kickstand and wheelied out of the alley 'causing Riana to throw her arms around him again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Raph drove the motorcycle to a badly lit road that ran along the Hudson River. The pavement ran out and the dirt road was over grown and rocky. Ahead there was an old boat house with, what looked like, used to be a boat mechanic's shop. Vines grew over the walls, trees with branches that reached out like boney fingers trying to grab at the building and pull it into the ground, and thick brush grew around it making it something that was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it.

The garage style door slowly opened as the motorcycle approached the building.

Riana couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine, she felt like she was entering some sort of haunted building. Then they pulled into the garage the door closing behind them. Riana slung herself off the bike and took in the room. There was a closed door, in the wall closest to the river, that had a sign above it that read "Dock". The room itself was well lit. The hum of a generator said where the power for the room came from. In it was an old classic ford, what looked like a rebuilt, patched up, armored truck, Raph's motorcycle and tons of parts and tools. Each on a shelf or hung on the wall. There were air compressors, generators, car batteries, a transmission…. And many other things through out that Riana couldn't identify.

"Over here." Raph walked to the back corner of the room and opened a trap door and started to climb down.

Riana wondered if turtles ate people, for a moment, then with a deep breath climbed down the trap door closing it behind her.

She climbed about five feet down into a large underground room. The ceilings were at least ten feet high. And at the center of the room there was a section that was probably about twenty feet high with very dirty sky lights that barley let the light through. Underneath this section was what looked like a training aria complete with weapons racks, homemade practice dummies and a tumbling pad. Off to the side of that there was workout equipment, like weights and what not. There was the hum of more generators by the far wall. Closer to her on the left was a small but open galley type kitchen, to the right there was a large, very old, table with eight miss matched chairs around it. At the back of the room was a collection of large and small T.V.s all somehow connected creating an ultimate game player's or avid T.V. watcher's dreams come true. A large ratty but cushy couch sat in front of it, adorned with a sleeping Michelangelo. The room then turned in an L shape. Along the walls, she could see, there were four doors. One of which had a public restroom sign.

Riana caught up to Raph, who was half way across the dojo space. "What is this place?"

"I told you, home." He answered without stopping.

"What was it before that?" she wondered out loud.

They walked through the T.V. area and passed the humming generators. There were three more doors at the walls and the space in between was filled with counters that were covered with beakers, microscopes, things that bubbled, and things that burned. There were shelves filled with computer parts, of every shape and size, and books. So many books! Practical science, calculus, biology books, Micro biology, engineering of both applied and computer, architecture… If it was of a factual nature and could be applied in any way shape or form it was there.

Don poked his head out from around an impressive computer set up and answered Riana's question. "I think it was once used for a drug ring. Processing and storing weed in its different applicable states. The boat house was just a cover. It is completely off grid. The generators use solar storage and it is solar powered during the day. I am actually kind of baffled at how the previous owners got caught."

"It's called a snitch, Don." Raph had been patient enough to let Don finish. "Ray ray's got something we need you check out. Where's Leo?"

"He is meditating with Splinter." Don turned his attention or Riana. "What do you need me to check out?"

Raph disappeared through the door closest to the inside corner of the L shaped room.

Riana walked around the tables that held all the chemistry stuff and sat her shoulder bag down on a reasonably clear spot and took out the glowing jar then handed it to Don.

"Oooo, what's that?" Mikey had woken up and was intrigued by the cool glowing jar.

Don looked at it for a moment then shrugged. "Someone probably just emptied some glow sticks into a jar."

"That's what I thought at first too…" Riana started

"But then we had to save some dip from getting his ass kicked for loosing it." Raph interrupted as he reentered the room followed by Leo, and what was the biggest rat Riana had ever seen.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the rat, her shock impossible to hide.

Splinter was quite used to this kind of reaction and worse, however. So, he gave her a kind smile and, in a voice like wind through trees, introduced himself. "I am Splinter."

At first all Riana could do was nod. She finally composed herself and managed a smile. "I'm Ray ra…I mean Riana. Raph calls me Ray ray." She explained as she waved her hand about in her nervous embarrassment. "Anyways, the jar…" Riana Explained about the car accident, then Raph interrupted and explained about the fight.

"It's all thick and oozy." Mikey said as he turned the jar in different directions to watch how the substance moved slowly about its container.

"And that's why I think Don should check it out." Raph stated as he snatched the jar away from Mikey.

A concerned look crept across Leo's face. "You think it's mutagen, Raph? That's pretty unlikely isn't it, Don? Didn't it get destroyed years ago?"

"It was in theory." Don answered. "But that doesn't mean it was all destroyed. There was what The Shredder had before we defeated him."

"We looked for the vile, but it was gone. There wouldn't have been much left in the vile even if someone else did get ahold of it."

"Someone wouldn't need much to get the chemical makeup, just the science and a trace amount."

"Which is why Don should check it out." Raph reiterated as he placed the jar on the Lab table, now sounding irritated. "Why are we still talking about it? Get started already."

Leo frowned at Raph for his impatience. "I guess we should leave you to work, Don."

"Would you like some tea while we wait, Riana." He offered up some turtle hospitality.

"Yes, thank you." Riana smiled at Leo, then followed him and splinter to the kitchen.

A radio on the counter played some pop/rock music quietly, Raph had gone to his room Mikey, Splinter, and Riana sat at the table snacking on chips while Leo made tea.

I was all Riana could do not to fall asleep. Only God knew what time it was and Riana felt like she had been awake for days.

Leo sat cups out for everyone while the tea steeped, lost in his own thoughts and concerns about the glowing goo.

The room was quiet except for the crunching of chips, and the radio.

Leo sat at the table. "You said the guy that the ooz had an accent?"

"Mmhhmm." Riana looked over at him as she crunched a chip.

He had that same strait faced, thoughtful expression he had had when she met him, like he was sizing something up. It gave her on over whelming desire to hug him and tell him everything would work out. She refrained from doing so. Instead she swallowed her chip and answered his question further. "It was…. It was English or Scottish or something along those lines."

Leo reached for the tea and started to pour some out only to find it was still mostly just hot water. He sighed and put the tea pot back on the table.

"What is on your mind my son?" Splinter asked as he reached for a chip.

"What if it is mutagen? Why would someone be trying to make it again?" Leo shook his head as he voiced his question.

"Probably to mutate stuff." Mikey chimed in.

Leo rubbed at his temple as if trying to ward off a head ach. "Yes, but why, Mike?"

Leo turned his attention to splinter. "This could be really bad, sensei."

"Then we stop them." Raph said from his bed room door way. (first door closest to the table)

"Whoever they are, we don't have a lot to go on." Leo explained to raph.

"Why…"Riana yawned, "would it be bad if they are mutating…stuff."

The four mutants blinked at her as if she had suddenly sprung an extra head.

"Seriously?" Raph asked as he walked up to the table.

"I was just thinking it would probably be good to have more…" Riana was tired and having trouble trying to find the right word. She didn't want to say the wrong thing. It bit her in the ass any way.

"Freaks." Raph leaned over a chair and glared at her.

She was definitely too tired for any of Raph's attitude. "There a reason you're putting words in my mouth? You think I can't do it on my own?" Riana rubbed her tired eyes and tried to maintain her calm. "Like you, why would it be bad to have more like you?"

Raph's glare didn't falter. Leave it to a human to not understand the cursed life of a mutant. Having to lurk in darkness, away from the fear and screams of people….

Mikey broke the silence. "Ya, why is that a bad thing?"

Raph's glare focused on Mikey. "Seriously Mikey." He then turned his attention back to Riana. "You don't have the first fucking idea what it's like. I wouldn't want to wish this on any one."

"It's not all **that** bad, Raph." Leonardo interjected.

"Shut it, Leo" Raph snapped.

Leo waved him off and poured his tea trying to ignore Raph's rant.

"Raphael," Splinter started. "Every being on this planet has its own struggles. All know what it is to want and what it is to hurt…"

Raph shook his head "fuck it." He turned and stormed back to his room.

"I honestly didn't mean to offend. I was just thinking…" Riana apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Mike gave Riana an encouraging smile. "He goes off like that over all sorts of crazy stuff."

"What it boils down to is that it is unlikely that anyone would be recreating the mutagen for something other than their own personal gain." Leo explained. "It's not for the mutant's sake and it is definitely not for our sake. Especially not coming from, what sounds like, dangerous people."

Riana nodded her understanding. "I was just thinking you would be less lonely."

Leo smiled at her softly. "Trust me we've thought about it."

She had fallen asleep at the table last night and Mikey had thought to carry her to the couch, where he stubbed his toe on the coffee table and tripped himself up enough that he ended up sitting on the couch with Riana on top of him. He didn't want to take any more chances of waking her so he just stayed there and let her use him as a pillow…a very hard pillow. He watched her breathing softly till he himself had fallen asleep on the couch holding the sleeping Riana.

Mikey was wide awake, now, watching T.V. leaned against the corner of the couch, his body and one leg under Riana, His arm around her shoulders.

Riana didn't remember falling asleep on their couch, but, that was where she woke up and practically drooling on Mikey's chest no less. She sat up quickly, once she processed the questionable position she was in.

"Aww, I was enjoying that." Mikey grinned.

"I'm sure you were." She said as she tried to, unsuccessfully; brush her mess of wavy hair down.

"Don't mind him. When you live lives as void of affection from the opposite sex as we do, you take what you can get where ever you can get it." Don explained Mikey's flirtatious behavior, from his seat in his lab.

"Way to make me feel special, Don." Riana teased.

"Sorry." Don apologized as he looked through his microscope at the glowing green gunk Riana and Raph had brought down.

"Come back over here I'll make you feel special. " Mikey winked.

"I bet you would, Mikey." Riana smiled as she shook her head at him. She then got up and walked over to where Don was working.

"Don't touch anything." Don said when he noticed her coming up behind him. "Gloves only."

Riana took a step back. "Do you know what it is?"

Leo came out of his room. That was located across the L from the lab. He cracked a grin at Riana's crazy hair.

He really did have a sweet smile. So she stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her eyes for a second.

He continued to smile as he shook his head at her silliness.

"Oh, Its mutagen alright." Don answered Riana's question. "But it isn't different from what mutated us."

Leo's smile turned to an expression of concern. "What do you mean Don?"

Mikey came closer to hear the explanation.

"I mean this has the general make up of mutagen but with some new elements, they tweaked it so to speak."

"Tweaked it to do what?" Leo asked.

Don shrugged "I have no idea. I would have to experiment with it."

"I think we should do some runs top side and see if we can find anything." Leo started his planning. "Riana we will get you home after dark ok."

Really she could walk up the road and have a cab pick her up but she didn't mind getting to hang out here. "That works for me. Since I'm gunna be hanging out for a bit, is there a shower I can use. I would like to tame down my mess of hair."

The guys couldn't help but smile at that cause her hair really did make her look like someone had sent her through a car wash without a car.

"Sure, I'll show you." Mikey offered.

He showed her were to find towels and everything she needed. She thanked him and got the shower going as Mikey left to give her some privacy.

The hot water felt good as it ran down her body. The smell of the soap on the rag, musky and masculine, she loved it. The rags ruff texture over her skin scrubbing away the last days work. She wasn't sure how they acquired any of these needs and she wasn't about to ask. Either they had someone that helped them, they dumpster dove for it, or it was stolen. She didn't want to know if it was the latter two.

She heard the door open and close. She listened to see if she could hear if someone had come in or just had opened the door only to realize that the bathroom was occupied.

The sound of someone urinating reached her ears. She rolled her eyes. "Ummm, someone out there?"

"Shit."Raph mumbled. He had forgotten she was even there and figured it was one of his brothers in the shower. "Sorry, Ray ray. I thought you were one of my brothers."

Ray ray smiled at the sound of raph's husky voice. He definitely had an attractive tuff sounding voice. It suited him. "Just don't come in here and we'll be good."

He yawned loudly as he finished up. "Good, then I'm gunna brush my teeth."

Riana shook her head. Her statement hadn't been an invitation. She really wasn't all that worried about it. He was a giant turtle, that walked around naked, after all. She didn't think he would be all that interested in her physically.

She finished rinsing off then opened the shower curtain and stepped out. "Can you hand me that towel."

Raph spit as had finished brushing his teeth then turned to see what Riana was wanting from him. "What you need?"

He tried to keep his gaze averted but couldn't help his eyes trailing over her body, her burns went up the entirety of her arm, up past her tattoo of his bandanna, across her shoulder and down her side touching the side of her breast and ending at the bottom of her ribs. Her left arm had burns on it up to the elbow and her right leg was burned half way up on the outer side of her shin and calf. He noticed other things too though. Like the fact that she was fucking beautiful. Her tone, the way her muscles moved under her skin, Strong yet delicate and feminine. He noticed the gentle slope of her shoulders, her soft ample breasts, the curve of her hips, her strong legs and toned stomach. And he definitely noticed the way the left over droplets of water trickled down curves.

"They used to bother me. Then one day I stopped trying to date and I stopped giving a shit." She said, figuring the burns were what had his attention.

Raph met her eyes. He reached for a towel and snatched it off the shelf, "Your scars are a reflection of your strength." He spread it out and wrapped it around her. "You're beautiful Ray ray."

She looked up into those honey eyes, framed by his red bandana, and tried desperately to ignore the heat igniting in her belly. Her reaction to him was just as confusing now as it was the first time he was this close to her. She wasn't sure if she wanted him because of him, the fact that he had rescued her all those years ago, or if it was simply curiosity. It was something she would have to sort out later. She smiled softly, "So are you, Raph."

He scoffed as he tossed his tooth brush back in its holder.

Riana's eyes dropped to his mouth for a split second as she contemplated his taste. Having him this close was dangerous.

"You know what else?" her grin became mischievous, as she removed the towel from her body to dry her hair

His breathing had become ragged as he tried to hold on to that last strand of self-control. That grin of hers about took him over but he managed to maintain it by turning toward the door. He needed to leave the bath room.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"I kinda like you when your mouth isn't getting the way."

He cocked that crooked grin over his shoulder. "I like you, when you're not pissing me off."

She bit her lip as he left the bathroom. A sudden realization hit her, if she was reacting to Raph this way, could he be reacting to her? Suddenly she felt really embarrassed. She never should have gotten out of the shower without a towel on.

Leo was in the Dojo training when Raph left the bathroom. Leo finished his kata and watched his brother as he headed to the living room. 'What the hell is he grinning about?' Leo heard the bathroom door open again. He turned to see Riana coming out, looking perplexed.

Leo frowned thinking Raph must have done something to upset her. He put his swords away and approached Riana. "Everything alright?"

"Huh." Riana's attention snapped to Leo. She had been watching Raph make his way to the couch.

Leo raised and eye ridge. "Is everything, ok?"

She nodded. "Ya." She nodded, and then looked back at Raph, who was now fighting with Mikey over the remote.

"Well kinda… Umm" She looked back at Leo. "Do you guys..." she sighed. "Maybe this is a stupid question, but do you guys find humans attractive?"

"Yes." Leo said slowly. "I think it's because we don't have any female turtles though."

Riana could feel her cheeks getting warm.

Concern crossed Leo's face. "Did Raph do something? Cause I'll go deal with him." Leo's voice went from worried to mad.

"No. He didn't." Riana shook her head. "I'm just an idiot."

Leo gave her a relieved smile. "I think that's debatable."

She chuckled as she said. "No leo, it's not."

Riana left Leo standing there looking a bit confused, and went to watch the first hockey game of the season, with Raph and Mikey, from the comfort of the couch. Bets were made then a great deal of yelling and cheering ensued.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mikey sat in the front seat of the armored truck counting his money and gloating. Raph and Riana sat pouting in the back.

"You really should know better Raph. Leo, take a left."

"Shut up, Don." Loosing bets was one of the many things that irritated Raph, Which is why he didn't bet much, the winner usually got hurt.

The vehicle turned left.

Mikey turned around in his seat, and pointed the camera in his phone toward Raph and Riana. "Smile bro!" Mikey called out.

There was just enough time for Raph to look up before the picture was taken, which was emphasized by a little jingle to mark that the photo was taken.

"That's it!" Raph leapt to the front of the car determined to nock Mikey for a loop.

"Shit." Mikey ducked and giggled knowing full well he was about to get whooped but found it all too amusing to be upset.

"Come on Raph. Cut it…" Leo suddenly hit the brakes bringing the vehicle sliding to a stop and sending Raph into the windshield and dash board.

"What the hell Leo!" Raph snapped.

Leo was intensely staring out the windshield. Everyone else's gazes followed.

Up ahead, in the street, was a large creature with leathery gray skin. Little pointed ridges ran up its think tail and along its back, it was thick in form, and had a head like a Rhinoceros only a little longer. Three large horns ran up its nose. It had been rooting around trying to get under a car to get to some poor cat before the turtles and Riana had come across it.

"Whoa." Mikey exclaimed. "It looks like a mix between a Rhino and an alligator. Oooh I know it's a Rhinogator!"

"Where did it come from?" Riana asked.

Everyone looked to Donnie.

Donnie looked at each of the expectant faces. "Well I don't know what it is."

They all looked back out at the Rhinogator. It was facing them now. Steam billowed off its hot breath. Making it look like a stout dragon of sorts.

"Do you think this has something to do with the mutagen?" Riana asked.

"I think that is definitely a possibility." Donnie Replied.

The Rhinogator lowered its head, snorted, and began to thunder toward them.

"Back up, Leo, back up!" Don advised excitedly.

Leo threw the armored vehicle into reverse and punched the gas. "I am." The vehicle spun out before the tires finally gripped the concrete lurching backwards then lurching again as the Rihnogator made contact with the grill one of its horns catching the bumper and lifting the front off the ground. The tires smoked as Leo continued to push down the gas trying to break free of the creature.

"Come on, Leo, get away from it!" Raph bellowed.

"I'm trying. It's not like your helping." Leo snapped back.

"You need help? Fine." Raph grumbled as he opened the door and jumped out.

"Where you going?!" Leonardo called after him.

"Crazy." Riana said shaking her head at the red clad turtle.

Mikey chuckled. "He's already there sis."

"Can't do a fucking thing without me." Raph grouched as he moved away from the vehicle. He stood to his full height of 6' 5" pulled out his sai and pointed one at the mutant beast. "Hey ugly, put it down!"

The monster dropped the front of the armored vehicle, which went flying backwards the moment it was released, slamming into a couple of cars that were parked on the road side. The sudden stop sent Riana and Donnie, the only two not buckled and standing, flying backwards into seats and gear.

The Rhinogator turned and faced Raph shifting its weight and lowering its head for the charge.

Raph hunched down placing one fist on the ground as if preparing some sort of football blitz. "Bring it." he growled.

"Everyone alright?" Leo asked as he through the vehicle back into gear.

"Yep." Don said as he buckled up.

Riana jumped back up in between the front seats. "That thing is gunna crush him."

"Not If I can help it. Buckle up." replied Leo as he hit the gas.

The Rhinogator charged Raph. It roared, Raph yelled as he accepted the challenge and ran at the creature. At the last second Raph jumped up over the creature's horns landing hard on the back of its head his weight sending its head into the asphalt. Then he leapt again as the armored vehicle made contact with the Rhinogator's side.

Raph flipped over the vehicle and landed in a crouched and ready position and watched as Leo's driving sent the creature sliding across the street into some cars and parking meters.

Quarters skittering across the ground as the Rhinogator tried to right its self.

"Hit it again." Mikey yelped.

Leo sighed, "I'm not gunna just keep hitting it, Mikey. That would be cruel."

The Rhinogator found its feet and balance amidst the slick of the quarters, and then spun around on the vehicle with all the speed of an angry alligator and all the might of a Rhinoceros. It slammed its head and horn into the side of the vehicle.

"Should have hit it again!" Mikey yelled.

"I get it." Leo said as he threw the vehicle into revers again bulling the creature sliding over the slick surface the quarter's made. Which worked great till the Rhinogator's feet found the asphalt again then it just became a tug of war over the bumper.

"Is it always like this with you guys?" Riana asked slightly reeling at how weird life had gotten lately.

"Pretty much." Don said as he gave her an apologetic smile.

The Rhinogator jerked the vehicle sideways, then slammed into it again. Leo shifted into drive and pushed forward. The sudden change in direction sent the creature off balance. It roared out it's protest then slammed into the vehicle again.

Raph watched as the creature laid into the vehicle slamming its head and body against it. He took off running coming around behind the creature then did a wall kick off the building coming down on the creature's shoulders.

It spun around snapping at its unwanted rider.

Raph sunk a sai into the rhinogator's shoulder to give himself something to hold on to. As the Rhinogator brought its head around to snap at him again, Raph swung his other arm around and brought his sai down hard where the back of the head met the neck.

The Rhinogator's body shuttered then, with a thud, fell to the ground.

Raph took deep calming breaths as he tried to slow the adrenalin that coursed through him. His concentration was broken by a female voice.

"You're kind of a bad ass." Riana was grinning thoroughly impressed with Raph, as he stood there win all his glory with the street lights shining down on him making him look like some sort of mutant heaven sent.

Raph found himself kind of…tickled to have earned her praise. So he frowned at her as he popped his neck, then jumped down off the beast. "Just doing what these dorks can't seem to."

"You shouldn't have even gotten out of the car." Leo chastised.

"Well I killed it didn't I? A lot more than you were accomplishing!" Raph bellowed.

Leo was about to attempt to put Raph in his place, but Don spoke before he could.

"Actually, it's not dead." Done was examining the creature hoping to find clue of its origin. "You just paralyzed it."

"Aww" Mikey's heart went out to the Rhinogator.

"Are you nuts" Raph asked Mikey. "It tried to rip you all out of there like fucking sardines."

"But it's suffering." Mikey pointed out with a wave toward the entirety of the rhinogator.

Leo put a hand on Mikey's shoulder then walked up to the creature's head and drew one of his katana. He lifted the weapon up over his head then brought it down with all his might, slicing off the creature's head and ending its pain.

"It's not hurting now Mike."

"Thanks Leo." Mikey frowned. But his attention span soon shifted to talking to Raph about the high lights of the fight as they loaded back into the vehicle.

"Come on Don let's get Riana home." Leo called back to the lagging turtle.

"Coming." Don stuffed the last of the samples he wanted into a bag and jumped into the vehicle behind Riana.

As the van drove out of sight an on looker frowned down at the scene below. 'So, there is more than one of those pains in the ass running around.' A man by the name of Cael Bigley chewed on the end of a cigar in his frustration.

"What do you want to do now, boss?" A well-dressed man asked, the Irish burr on his tongue giving away his heritage.

Cael light his cigar and took a long slow puff. Then, licking the cigar taste from his lips, the stout blond spoke, "Well, Eric, I want you to get my monster off that street, then you will find out who the HELL those creatures are and where the HELL they came from. If anyone else in this city has mutagen I want know and I want to know yesterday understand!"

"Yes, boss." Eric, turned and hurried off to do the bidding of the Irish mob's Leader.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After dropping off Riana the turtles returned to where they had dispatched the Rhinogator, hoping to find some clue as to what was going on. However to their surprise it was no longer there. The quarters that had spilled into the road, the crushed mete, and damaged cars were all, just gone. Not even broken glass was left. If anything the street was too clean.

"But I cut off that thing's head." Leo stated, dumbfounded by the lack of anything.

Raph frowned "This doesn't make any sense." If his brothers hadn't been right there through it, he would be questioning if it had ever happened.

Mikey's eyes widened "What if it regrew its head?"

"It can't regrow its head." Don informed as he walked along the tire marks from where they had pealed out fighting to get away from the monster, they were the only sign that anything had happened there at all.

"How would you know?" Mikey asked in a teasing manner. "Are you an expert on Rhinogators?"

As usual Don took him seriously. He sighed in exasperation. "No Mikey, Nothing can grow back its head."

"It seems" Leo interrupted after looking under the fourth car for so much as a quarter. "That we are dealing with someone that is very good at covering their tracks."

"I think we should talk to April and Casey. Maybe they have heard or seen something." Don suggested.

Leo nodded. "Let's go."

Now April and Casey Jones are the turtles oldest and closest friends. The turtles had known the Joneses since before they were both the Joneses. April was a successful news reporter and mother now. Casey was a father and ran a motorcycle repair shop by day and was a vigilante by night, when April wasn't making him stay in. It was definitely possible either or both had heard something that might pertain to the matter at hand.

Coffee cup in hand April sat and listened to the turtles retell the events of that evening. Her red hair wild and unkempt, in comparison to her usual clean cut and professional appearance, as the turtles had woken her and Casey to share their story and ask questions.

She took a slow sip of coffee as Mikey explained the Rhinogator. "You said it looked like a mix between a Rhinosarous and an Alligator?"

Mikey nodded excitedly. "It was actually pretty cool."

"We think that someone might be mutating animals." Don explained." We don't know why. Also the mutagen they are using seems to not just cause a creature to become more evolved, but instead combines the genetics of two creatures making something that is a bit of both. I need to do some experimenting to be sure but by the looks of what we ran into tonight I would say my theory is not far off."

"There were some dudes in suits rounding up stray animals the other day." Casey mentioned.

"Unless there was a gator and a Rhino running with the dogs, I don't think that's what we are looking for, Casey." Raph said.

Leo raised a hand to stop his brother. "Let's not count anything out, Raphael, it might be more significant than we think."

Raph shrugged in response.

"There was a zoo robbery the other day." April chimed in. "there was a security guard shot and everything. I wasn't the one that covered it though, so I don't know what animals were taken."

"I don't need a list to guess at least two." Stated Raph.

There were agreed nods all around.

"Any leads on who broke in?" Leo asked April.

April shook her head as she swallowed another sip of coffee. "Not much. The security guard told the reporter they had an accent… Irish or Scottish or something. He wasn't really sure."

"And we're back to the guys I took on in the park. I'd put money on it. " Raph nodded to emphasize his certainty.

Casey's eyes lit up. "You busted heads in the park and didn't let me in on it."

"Sorry Casey. Didn't think about it. I had Riana with me, and…"

"What who's Riana?" April asked. Her voice full of playful suspicion.

"No one." Raph started to say, then feeling it didn't do the woman justice, he changed his mind, which still didn't come out right. "Well, someone."

Mikey giggled at Raph's awkwardness.

"Not that kind of someone!" Raph exclaimed in an exaggerated manner, as he threw the nearest object at Mikey.

Getting beamed with the salt shaker only made Mikey giggle harder. "It's ok Raph I think she's hot too. And she has the burns to prove it."

"I didn't say she wasn't…. or was. Look, just shut up and leave her burns out of it!" Raph was not about to admit to anyone how he found her attractive, burns and all, or how it had felt to have her arms wrapped around him when they drove through the park. Besides entertaining any idea of a human ever being interested in any of them was a ridiculous waste of time.

Being done with the conversation Raph crossed his arms and turned his back on the room.

Leo decided he had better explain the story behind their new friend, then not having any more reasons to deprive April of sleep, the guys headed to the roof tops joined by Casey as he touted his weapons of choice.

Casey carried a golf bag full of assorted sports equipment, including but not limited to; a baseball bat, a hockey stick, a cricket bat and of course a couple golf clubs. His face was covered by a goalie mask and so that his blue eyes were all the showed through, his scruffy black hair tousled and hanging to his shoulders. Casey also prided himself on the fact that, even though he was ten years their elder, he could still keep up with them… sort of.

To everyone's dismay however the next couple of nights patrol turned up nothing.

Riana sat at the turtles' kitchen table sipping on some sweet chamomile tea, splinter himself had picked the chamomile, chattering quietly with Leo, Mikey, and April about the usual get to know you topics.

Don was in his lab looking at the specimen samples he had collected from the Rhinogator.

Raph and Casey were grappling in the Dojo. The occasional thud would resound through the home as one of the men would hit throw the other to the mat.

Riana couldn't help when her attention would wonder away from the conversation to the two sparing. Watching the way Raphael's arms would flex when would lift Casey over his shoulders for another throw gave her that tingling feeling of embers being coaxed into flames. She didn't understand her draw to the giant, mutant, turtle. But she really couldn't deny that there was in fact an interest there.

She took the time to examine him as he wrestled. He was, as she had noticed before, the strongest of the four turtles, to the point of almost being too thick for his shell. Nothing on him juggled or moved without a purpose. Thick veins would become apparent when a muscle flexed. His carapace edges were dented and cracked from battles. What were once deep scars etched the back of his shell and the front of his plastron. And she was pretty sure she could see some imbedded bullets in his carapace. His skin was just a scarred as his shell. It was obvious he wasn't one to shy away from a fight. In his eyes was so much passion and fire! Leave it to a fire fighter to want to walk into an inferno.

Raph could feel her watching him. Just staring. It was driving him nuts! He threw Casey down one more time then turned to glare at her. She continued to just sit there this lost in thought expression on her face. What in the hell did she think she was staring at! He stood to his full height, brought his shoulders back, and scowled in an attempt to intimidate her into looking away. This usually worked with everyone. Even Leonardo usually would back down to avoid the confrontation that usually followed Raphael's scowl.

To his surprise she smiled at him.

Raphael walked across the room picked up April's chair, earning a surprised yelp out of her, moved it over them placed both fists on the table as he leaned over Riana. Who was still holding his gaze.

"What is your fucking problem!?" he snapped.

'He just had to open his mouth, and ruin it.' She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing."

He watched her as she sipped her tea then frowned at him. Her willingness to hold his stare and the way her bottom lip pushed out when she frowned was not helping him keep track of his thoughts. He was immensely grateful Don broke into them.

"I was right!" Don exclaimed as he rushed into the room holding a shoe box.

Leo had been watching Raph's strange outburst and was happy for the shift in attention. "About what?"

Hearing Don's excitement Splinter also found his way to the table.

Don sat the shoe box down on the table. "So my theory about this new mutagen combining the genetics of two species instead of just causing it to evolve…well look."

Every one leaned in closer as Don opened up the box.

Immediately Raphael leapt back and started moving quickly to the other side of the long room. "You couldn't have used anything else for your experiment?"

Everyone else looked in the box as they processed what they were seeing.

"Does that spider have… wings?" April asked.

"Yes. Fully functional." Don started.

Everyone at the table jumped back as the winged spider flew to the edge of the box, as if to prove that Donatello was telling the truth.

Don continued, unfazed by everyone's reaction. "The hoarse fly can now spin a web! Isn't it amazing?"

"Creepy." Riana said. "I would call the spider and the fly morphs creepy."

Don shook his head. "You're missing the point…"

"Have you put the lid on the box yet?" Raph asked from around the corner.

"Raph it's just a Araneus gemmoides, none venomous." Explained Don.

"Does it look like I give a shit!"

Don replaced the lid being careful to not squish the spider.

"Anyways, this means that the mutagen when introduced to two different sets of genetics it combines them while filling in the gaps and turning on choice genomes that most likely went in active during the phenotypic period of embryonic development."

"Uhhh, say what?" Mike asked what everyone was thinking.

Don Sighed. "Try to keep up. Basically most species share similarities during early development. Some would be humans, fish, birds, and reptiles. They share things like the ability to have a tail, gills, hair, etcetera. As a given species develops further the genome is either turned off or left on, so to speak, for that given species. So humans don't have tails but if the genome was left "on" they would then grow one. The mutagen is turning on the ones that are in the genetic makeup of the species that a "host's" genetics are being blended with."

Blank and confused expressions stared at him.

He frowned. "You could use mutagen to mix the genetics of a dog and a cat, or a fly and a spider, but not a cat and a spider."

"Oh. Ok." Came the unanimous sound of understanding.

"So basically…" Casey started.

"Don't touch it." Leo finished


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cael Bigley Stood in front of three cages, looking down at his latest additions to his slowly growing mutant collection.

"They are better than expected." A short skinny man in a white lab coat said.

Cael nodded. "That they are. Do you have an anti-venom?"

"Ah, yes." The scientist hurried over to a cupboard and pulled out a couple of vials and syringes, then brought them back to Cael. "Here you are."

Cael looked over one of the vials. "Put your hand in the cage."

"What?" the scientist's eyes grew wide as fear began to well up inside him.

Cael was not a patient man. You did what you were told when you were told, or you were dead. He drew his Magnum and pointed it between the scientist's eyes. "I don't need vials of saline. I need anti-venom. So to make sure I am not being double crossed, you are going to put your hand in that cage. If what you have handed me is the anti-venom you haven't a damn thing to worry about, now do ya."

Still looking terrified the scientist slowly slid his hand into a cage.

The creature with in growled it's warning, then in a lightning flash manner snapped its teeth down on the scientist's hand.

The scientist with held his desire to yelp, but quickly pulled back his hand.

By the time Cael had drawn a dose of the anti-venom the scientist was on the ground convulsing.

Cael took the man's arm and shot the anti-venom into his blood stream. Then squatting there, he watched.

After a moment the convulsing stopped, his breathing slowed. Other than being dizzy the scientist had pretty much returned to normal.

With a nod Cael stood up opened the cages and whistled for his new pets to follow. Dutifully they did.

Back in the sewers the turtles waited for evening to fall. They were becoming anxious and frustrated in regards to the lack of anything they had found on the mutagen and the rihnogator. No leads not even an utterance of anything in regards to strange creatures had surfaced for almost a week now.

At the moment everyone sat in various spots, weather it was the couch or floor, in the T.V. area. An old rerun of "funniest home videos" had everyone chuckling at one point or another.

Suddenly Casey came rushing into the layer, with his dark haired, green eyed daughter, Marie, in his arms. Her hair was wild and unkempt, her thumb in her mouth, and she was still wearing her pajamas. It was obviously a day that April worked.

"Guy's, go to channel six. You got to see this." Casey burst out.

Leo reached for the remote. "What happened?"

Mikey was already making silly faces at Marie.

"You just gotta watch it." Casey sat down, placing his darling two year old on the ground.

The channel was changed, and April appeared on the T.V... "There was a body found today in an ally on 10th street." April turned to the officer that stood to her right. "Officer, do you have any idea what happed here tonight?"

"Well, Mrs. Jones, It would appear that this was some sort of animal attack." The officer answered.

"Could it have been a pack of stray dogs?"

"Umm…" The officer shifted. "We can't be sure, but it could be a pack of VERY large dogs."

The interview continued on.

Casey looked around at the turtles. "It could be something related to all the weird stuff lately right?"

Marie tottled across the floor and plopped down in Mikey's lap, and started trying to copy the funny faces he was making at her.

"It wouldn't hurt to check it out." Leonardo admitted. "We'll split into two groups to cover a little more ground."

Casey left Marie to play with Splinter, which would mostly consist of her giggling as she followed him about holding onto his tail, then went to the roofs with the four brothers.

"So how do we find whatever is attacking people?" Mikey asked.

Donnie held up a bag of hamburger. "With bate. We set it out in an ally and wait."

"We will rig a dumpster to catch the animal." Leo decided.

With a plan in place they set the trap and waited…and waited... and waited. They sat there in the shadows of the fire escapes stirring only to occasionally chaise off a cat or stray dog.

Mikey was board! He tapped out a rhythm on his plastron, putsed with a game on his phone then noticed Raph leaning on the fire escape railing below, looking just as board. Mike reached over and took Donnie's boa staff.

"What are you doing?" Don whispered.

Mikey just grinned.

Done knew something mischievous had crossed his brother's mind, and most likely it was going to end badly.

Slowly leaning over the edge of the fire escape Mikey positioned the boa staff.

Don shook his head at Michelangelo, but the turtle did not heed his brother's warning.

Raph ignored the first poke to the top of his head, in an attempt to maintain the quiet. But he wasn't willing to put up with more than the second.

When Mike attempted the third poke, Raph grabbed the boa staff and forced it back at Mikey. Thankfully for Mikey the blow was cushioned by his own fist.

"OW."

Donny just shook his head. "Will you ever learn?"

"Cut it out." Leonardo attempted to remind everyone of the needed silence.

Raph growled. "Leo, this is stupid. I'm not sitting here all night."

Without another word Raph started up the fire escape, giving Mikey a shove as he walked by.

"Raph."Leo called after him. "Where are you going?"

Raph looked down at Leo. "To be productive."

"This is productive, we are trapping…"

Raph didn't let Leo finish he just ninjaed his way up the rest of the fire escape and onto the roof.

"I'll go with him." Casey said as he hurried up the steps.

Leo waved them off, momentarily giving up. He was feeling a little defeated with the fact they hadn't found anything they were looking for, and didn't feel like dealing with Raph's attitude. It seemed the older they got the less he wanted to deal with it, even though Raph's outbursts were less extreme than when they were kids.

Raph and Casey hurried across the roof tops with no real destination in mind.

Raph finally came to a stop to catch his breath. Casey huffing as he came to a stop next to his friend.

"We gotta plan, or are we just gunna run around in circles all night?" Casey asked through gulps of air.

Raph smiled. "Well it beats sittin' twitting our thumbs all night."

"Yah." Casey agreed with a shrug.

Sirens drew the two to the edge of the building. They watched as the large fire truck sped up the road. It's air horn honking at the cars that were slow to get out of the way.

Raph took a quick look around to deturmin exactly where they ware. "I think that could be Ray ray's truck."

"Ray ray's?" Casey raised an eyebrow.

"Ya. She's a fire fighter. The fire house is about ten blocks north of here. Come on." Raph took off in the direction the fire truck was going.

Casey took off after His friend. "Why are we fallowing the truck?"

"To see what's up."

The fire truck wasn't the first on the scene. Police were trying to calm some freaked out people. And create a perimeter outside a parking garage.

The fire crew hopped out of fire truck. The driver talked to the police about what was going on. The fire alarm in the parking garage was blaring its obnoxious noise, but there was not smoke.

The driver came back to the six man team of the truck. "Ok two of you go turn off the alarm. And do a walk through check for fire. The rest of you help set up a perimeter."

"McMurphy and I have it." Collins volunteered Riana and himself.

"Hell ya." Riana smiled

Collins gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Is there anything you're not game for?"

"It looks like we're turning off an alarm Collins." McMurphy smiled as she slung her axe over her shoulder.

Collins chuckled.

Raph frowned down at the exchange from above. He couldn't hear what they were saying but the fact that the guy was touching Riana at all got Raph riled. He gestured toward the two as they headed into the parking garage, "Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Why do you care?" Casey asked giving Raph a knowing grin.

Raph glared at Casey. "I don't. She could…just… do better."

"Have you met the guy?"

"No. But look at him he's a prick. You can just tell." Raph defended his motives.

"Mmmhhmm." Casey's grin widened. "You can't fool me Raph. You like her."

"I do not." He lied. "At least not how you're thinking." He tried to convince himself.

Raph frowned down at the street as Casey waited for his friend to come clean.

However Raph remained in denial. "It wouldn't matter anyway." Raph frowned and quietly made his way into the garage.

Casey dropped the subject. Teasing him about a girl was obviously upsetting. It probably reminded him of his lack of humanity, Casey guessed. So, he just quietly he followed his friend.

Riana McMurphy and Collins quickly made their way into the parking garage. Then up two levels checking to see which alarm was tripped as they went.

Riana finally found it and went to work on turning it off, which wasn't exactly rocket science, while Collins took a look around to see if there was a fire. He was walking back to Riana when he noticed it. Not a fire, but blood.

"Hey McMurphy…" Collins called as he moved to look around the corner. "Oh shit!"

There were two HUGE canines, pulling apart the remains of… well at this point Collins couldn't be sure, but it was big enough to be a human. The canines were over six foot long, not counting their tails. They stood at least three and a half to four foot at their shoulders. The Canines had medium length black fur that was interrupted with spots of dark green scales. Their eyes were Jaundice yellow and their teeth, God their teeth were huge. Especially their 'canine' (or cutting teeth). The two teeth hung down past their jowls like a pair of fangs.

"What?" McMurphy asked as she approached Collins. She stiffened when she looked at what had Collins frozen in terror. She slowly took Collins by the hand. "Let's back up slowly so that you get to see your wife tomorrow."

Collins gave a slow nod. Then one step after another the two began to back up.

Raphael and Casey were currently just strolling through the parking garage, being careful to avoid the cameras but otherwise just passing through the level. The alarm was off and it sounded like everything was well in hand. So they would move on, or so went their plan, until they came across a huge mutant canine with patches of green scales and a mouth of sharp teeth that would inspire nightmares.

The giant dog had been sniffing around cars until it caught sight of Raph and Casey. It lowered its head and growled the fur on its back stood up making it look bigger than it already had.

Casey slowly drew out his hockey stick.

Raph drew out his sai. "Suddenly I wish I had gotten the swords instead of Leo"

Without any more of a warning the Canine lunged at them, teeth snapping.

Placing one hand against the canine's jaw and the other on its shoulder then pushing, Raph, knocked the canine off course. It missed its target, Raphael's shoulder, and skidded across the concrete, only to right its self and lunge in at the two again.

As Collins and McMurphy stepped back there was the sudden crunch of a soda can under Collins' foot. Both froze and watched as the canines turned to look at the firefighters.

One of the giant dogs gave a hushed bark. The other lowered her head, licked the blood off its jowls, and growled. Slowly the canines moved around their kill and toward the firefighters.

"Move move!" Collins pushed Riana McMurphy ahead of him.

One of the Canines leapt at Collins knocking him to the ground. His helmet went skidding across the floor his forehead cracking into the cement.

The canine growled as it bit at Collins' oxygen tank, whipping the poor man around like a rag doll.

"Collins!" Riana slid to a stop turned and ran back to aid her friend.

The second canine slid past her due to her unexpected change in direction.

Riana raised her Axe above her head bringing it down as she ran. She didn't bring it down solid but still made contact with the canine that was going after Collins.

The mutant canine yipped and backed off to whimper about its injury, then it turned letting out a low growl at Riana as she stepped between it and her partner.

"You can't have him." She said as she gripped her Axe.

The canine paced, venom dripping from its long fangs as it prepared to lunge.

Riana braced herself only to be taken off guard by the second canine's attack. It ran out snapping out at her leg catching the edge of her fire fighter's pants and pulling her off her feet.

The first canine jumped at her, finishing her fall with a hard thud that knocked the breath out of her. Before she could even attempt to catch her breath the canine snapped down at her face.

Riana Jammed the handle of her axe up in to the mutant dogs mouth. The other canine pulled hard at her pant leg, than bit down on her leg.

Riana yelped. The fire fighter's pants protected her leg from the sharp teeth but hot the hard pressure of the bight. Determined not to die here, not like this, Riana Began kicking the second canine as hard as she could, while fighting to hold back the first canine as it continued to snap at her. Its attempts to get around her axe handle momentarily futile.

Casey hit the large mutant dog hard with a slap shot. It yipped then attacked again, this time to be met by Raph's fist.

"Tuff little bastard isn't it?" Raph said as the dog got back up and came at them again.

Casey swung his hockey stick sending the canine for another loop. "Definitely doesn't know when to quit."

Riana's shout for Collins resonated through the parking garage. The terror in her voice chilled Raph and Casey's blood.

"Go get her." Casey said as he swung at the attacking canine again. "I got this one."

Raph hesitated torn between helping his best friend and helping the girl he didn't want to admit he liked.

Riana's second yelp made his mind up for him. "I'll be back."

"I'll be here." Casey said as brought his hockey stick down on the canine's head again.

Riana kicked again this time nailing the second canine right in the nose. It yipped then went after her other foot, biting into her thick boot.

The first canine snapped at her again this time maneuvering over the axe handle its mouth closing millimeters from her face. A look of surprise suddenly replaced its scowl as it was suddenly lifted off of Riana.

She watched, in what seemed like slow motion, as Raphael threw the canine as hard as he could against a parked car. It let out a pained yip when it hit. The second one let go of Riana's boot and lowered itself preparing to attack Raph.

Raph lowered himself preparing to take on the large dog. "Come on!"

A high shrill whistle sounded through the garage, causing all the mutant dogs to stop and perk up their ears. The whistle sounded again. The two canines that Raph and Riana were facing took off running toward the sound. A few seconds later the third canine that Casey had been fighting loped past, Casey running after it.

"Hey, I'm not done with you." Casey shouted as he chased after them.

Riana rolled Collins over and started checking his injuries.

Raph squatted down in front of Riana, reached out and touched her shoulder. "Ray ray," he said her name softly. "You ok?"

She spared Raph a glance and nodded, her expression hard and void of emotion… all but her eyes. Her eyes said she was dealing with the fact that she was almost eaten.

It was in this moment Raphael realized that Casey was right. He did like her. He liked her very much, her courage, her ability to face what was thrown at her and do what needed to be done, her stubborn kindness, and unwillingness to just give in. He could even dare say he loved these things about her.

Riana positioned herself and then lifted Collins into a fireman's carry.

Raph couldn't help but smile at her. "You got him?"

"Ya." Riana took a deep breath.

Tires squealed down on the main level of the garage followed by a crashing sound and yelling.

"Thank you, Raph." Riana said softly. She gave him a week smile, held his gaze for a moment then started walking down the ramp to the next level.

Casey was running back up the ramp. Gave Riana an encouraging smile as he passed her then hurried to Raph's side.

Raph watched Riana as she walked away. His world momentarily taken over by her beauty and strength. An unfamiliar tightening in his chest caused him to have to take a couple of deep breaths.

Voices could be heard as fire fighters and police filtered in to the parking levels below.

"We should go." Casey interrupted Raph's thoughts.

Raph nodded, then led the way back into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Leo, Mikey, and Donny sat in the ally way and watched as three cats and a dog fought over the hamburger that the turtles had used for bate.

Mikey sighed. "Leo this is so lame!"

Leonardo frowned at Michelangelo but had to agree with him. "I think it's safe to say this plan didn't go…umm as planned."

Leo took a deep breath. He wasn't looking forward to telling Raph that nothing had happened. Raphael would give him grief for sure. "Come on lets go."

They walked at an easy pace not at all in a hurry to get home. It wasn't till they were on the darker side of town and almost home that anything seemed suspicious.

Here they had to move under a couple of overpasses and along some of the docks by the Hudson. Not their favorite rout home as it didn't give much for cover, but it was always dark.

As they walked Leo started to feel uncomfortable, like he was under someone's inspection. It was giving him goose bumps. He stopped and looked around, searching for a figure or a shadow that was out of place.

Noticing his brother's uncomfortable behavior Don asked, "Everything all right, Leo."

"Something doesn't feel right." Leo drew his swords.

Trusting Leonardo's gut, Michelangelo, and Donatello drew their weapons.

A deep chuckle came from somewhere in the dark. "They even talk. How interestin'." The thick Irish accent was followed by the flick of a lighter as the man lit a cigar. He was standing beside a new black Cadillac, that was strategically parked in the dark in front of a cargo truck. "It seems you blokes can't stay out of my way. So what should we be doin' about that?"

Leo squinted at the dark figure by the dark car standing in the… well… dark. He pointed at all the dark with one of his swords. "Who are you?"

"And how are we getting in the way?" Mikey asked. "I mean he's way over there."

Donny face palmed.

The man walked out into the street followed by three armed men in suits, that came out of the Cadillac. The man that had been talking wore a suit as well, with a long black trench coat, and covering a head full of blond hair was a black fedora.

The man puffed on his cigar. "To answer your first question, My name is Cael Bigly. I have no need for your names… if you have them." Cael waved his hand dismissively, the glow of cigar cherry bobbing about. "You won't be a problem much longer."

A black van pulled up as Cael finished his threat, drawing his attention. "Get rid of them." he said over his shoulder as he walked toward the van. Tossing some strips of meat into the back of the van. Growls and snarls could be heard as the creatures inside fought over the treats.

"Who us?" Mikey asked.

He was answered when the three armed men opened fire on them.

"Evade!" Leo barked his order as three brothers leapt into different directions. "To the docks, we need more cover."

Dodging bullets that buzzed by their heads and embedded themselves in their shells, the turtles retreated to the cover of the cargo containers that sat on the docks. There Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello became silent shadows awaiting the armed men as the descended onto the docs.

Cael watched for a moment then, having confidence in his men, climbed into the van and became just another part of New York's traffic.

The three mobsters quietly made their way onto the cargo docs. Eerie silence waited for them. Soon they were jumping at the sounds of their own footsteps.

Donatello made his move first. He calculated the distance between the crates and using a series of wall jumps brought himself to the top of a cargo container. Then silently he ran down it, flipping off at the end landing behind the huddled group of Irish gangsters. He swept his bow low catching the backs of their legs, creating a mobster pile. He brought his bow down on the back of the man on top then his head knocking him out cold then disappearing back into the shadows, before the other two could right themselves.

"Nice." Mikey praised his brother as he joined him in his hiding spot.

"shhh." Don smiled. "Your turn."

"You know this is way too easy." Mikey said as he leapt out of their hiding spot. His nunchuku spinning as he showed off his skill. He swiftly blocked a couple of bullets, to the surprise of the suited men. Then, advancing quickly, he used a snap kick to disarm one man then with a round house to the face brought the man to the ground. To Mikey's joy the man was not getting beck up soon.

"Haha." Mikey smiled at his small victory. Then found himself dodging bullets again as he back flipped his way back into hiding.

Leo shook his head at Mikey's lack of focus. His swords drawn he leapt off the edge of a cargo crate, performed a perfectly executed flip, then in one smooth motion sliced through the man's gun as Leo landed on the ground without a sound.

The man watched as his gun slipped into two pieces clanking as it hit the ground. He gave Leo a wide eyed look just before the hilt of Leo's sword met with the man's temple. Leo frowned at the lack of challenge the opponents had provided.

Really the fight had been child's play for the three turtles. But they didn't mind reveling in their victory none the less. After exchanging a couple high threes (as they only have three fingers) they began to make their way back to the layer.

"Did you see that Bigly guy through meat into the back of that van?" Leonardo asked Donny as they moved a little quicker toward home.

"Did you hear the noises?" Mikey asked. "Sounded big… and mean."

"Yep." Donny answered. "I think he is our guy. I am going out find out what I can on him we need to have a couple more run ins. I might be able to triangulate the estimated location of his base of operations."

"He wants us out of the way." Leo said as he began to brain storm. "Perhaps we can bate him."

"No offence Leo, but your last bating plan didn't go so well." Mikey put in his two cents.

Leo sighed. "That wasn't entirely my idea."

Don shot Leo an annoyed look. "I just brought the meat."

The three hurried down the dirt road to their layer.

"Look we have no idea where to look other than somewhere in Manhattan. So unless you two come up with a better plan we will have to figure out a way to get him to come to us." Leo explained as they entered the garage.

"I'll get back to you on that Leo." Don smiled and made his way to his computer.

"Seriously. Are you guys going to give me grief every time a mission doesn't go exactly as planned?" Leo asked slightly exasperated.

"Haven't we always, dude?" Mike slapped Leo's shoulder and flashed a playful grin.

Cael Bigly frowned at the sight of his men, bruised and battered. "You had guns you point the Damn gun and pull the bloody trigger!"

"They blocked the bullets." One of the men explained.

Cael frowned. "They blocked the bullets with what?"

"With like… ninja weapons. And they were jumping all around and stuff." Another man explained.

"They were jumping around and… stuff." Cael took a deep breath. These weren't his best men but by god he knew they were better than this.

He pulled out his gun, pointed, and pulled the trigger, shooting one man in the leg.

Eric, Cael's second, entered the room followed by their hired scientist. He looked at the man rolling on the ground in pain. "Why did you shoot silent Jim?"

"They failed to deliver. Hopefully I have better news from you." Cael holstered his gun.

Eric watched poor Jim for another second. "But it's silent Jim… I would have shot Benny he's an ass hole."

Benny stiffened.

Cael sighed as he looked down at Jim, then looked at the other two men. "Well get him outta here before I decide to shoot the two of you as well."

Benny and the other man helped Jim up and half carried half dragged the man from the room.

"What do you have for me?" Cael looked to his second.

"You're going to like this." Eric smiled as he turned to the scientist. "Take the floor Stockman."

"Well, I see the dogs worked out well for you." The Scientist stated as he motioned to the mutant canines that rested behind Mr. Bigly's desk.

"They did the trick." Cael Bigly agreed.

"Well if you will follow me," Stockman spread out his arms in exaggerated showman ship. "I will show you my newest creation."

Cael and Eric followed Stockman to the basement of the building.

"Have you any news on those turtle creatures?" Cael asked Eric as they walked. "Obviously those three idiots weren't able to handle the job."

"They are harder to find than you would think." Eric explained.

Cael frowned disapprovingly. "Eric, find them."

Eric nodded. But he wasn't pleased about the task. He felt he had little to no direction to go in, other than setting a trap, which wasn't really his style. Eric much preferred to knock on your door, bust it in just before you answered then beat you up and shoot you if it was part of the job. He crossed his arms and thought as they took the last few steps to the basement.

"If I may…" Stockman stopped in front of the two mobsters and, adjusting his lab coat, said, "You really should check the sewers. It is where they have run off too in the past."

Cael and Eric blinked and Stockman.

"You have seen these giant turtles?" Cael asked

Stockman nodded mater of factly. "When the shredder found them, it was in the sewers."

Cael thought about this for a moment. "The Shredder failed to get rid of them?"

Now the Shredder, for those who don't know, was a mad man, bent on destroying the turtles and their ninja master. He dressed himself as samurai and led the foot. He fronted himself as a businessman and at a time ran the city, money keeping the Mayor in his "back pocket". He was a ninja and vicious opponent.

Baxter pushed his glasses up. "They killed him."

Cael frowned. "They retreat to the sewers… than that is where we will start looking. Eric, get some men together…"

"You want us to go into the sewers?" Eric made a face.

"Is that a problem?!" Cael snapped.

"If I may…" Stockman interrupted.

Cael glared at the tall, dark skinned, short haired man, his irritation evident.

Stockman swallowed hard then cut to the chaise. "Before I worked for the shredder I made some robots I called mousers. I only have twenty and they aren't much good for combat, but they will be good for recon. They can go into the sewers so your men don't have too. And, if they find the turtles no men are lost. Your men stay safe in a van, on the street, watching the video stream that the mousers send back."

Cael looked at Eric. "Send them down with the dogs."

Eric nodded and left to do his father's bidding.

"Show me your creation." Cael demanded of Stockman.

Stockman flipped on the lights to the basement. And in a cage that took up a hole corner of the room was the most beautiful monster Cael could have ever hoped for.

"I mixed the DNA of the lion and the komodo dragon." Stockman explained.

The creature in the cage yawned loudly. Its massive mouth of teeth slowly closed, and the scaly monster licked its long snout. It stretched its long scaly body and shook its massive main. Its claws scraped against the concrete floor as it adjusted its position. The only thing Cael could think to compare it to was the golden dragons of Japanese fold lore.

"He is magnificent." Cael grinned.

"She." Stockman corrected. "This one is a female."

"How many monsters do we have?" Cael placed a hand on the outside of the cage.

"The ware house is almost full."

Cael nodded. "Perfect."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was midafternoon when Riana left the hospital. She had stayed with Collins till his wife showed up, then sat with her until he actually woke up. Collins told his wife about the mutant canines, and Riana told her part while leaving being helped by a giant turtle and a masked vigilanty out of it. She felt guilty not giving credit where credit was due, but figured it was better to keep them her secret.

Riana stood on the curb watching the people go by. She took a deep breath trying to calm her fried nerves, but it didn't really help. Being attacked by those…things was terrifying. She had come to terms with possibly dying in a fire as well as a few other possibilities, but being mauled and possibly eaten? That made her stomach turn.

Each step she took toward home made her feel more alone, more vulnerable. She thought about powering through it, as she stood there waiting for the subway, watching the shadows. But then the subway that headed toward the Hudson River showed up first. Very much preferring to be with the turtles than by herself she caught the subway that took her away from home to somewhere better.

Having already been alerted by Donatello and his surveillance set up, Leo stood in the kitchen waiting for Riana to descend into the Lair. Water set to boil on the stove for tea.

"Hey" Leo greeted their friend with a smile. "What brings you down in the middle of the day?"

"The complete and utter desire to not be home alone, as pathetic as that sounds." Riana answered honestly as she glanced around the layer. It was quiet and still in comparison to usual, except for the generators. "Where is everybody?"

"Uh, most everyone is asleep. I tend to get up before everyone else and Don doesn't know what sleep is." Leo teased the turtle that was typing away around the corner.

"That's why there is coffee." Don countered back.

Leo shook his head. "He is trying to get as much information on a Cael Bigly as he can."

"He's some mobster or mafia guy." Riana shrugged, "He was arrested for a murder a while back but was acquitted because of lack of evidence or something I think. Why are you looking him up?"

As the water finished heating and the tea began to steep Leo told Riana about their run in with Cael and his men.

"We have apparently upset him or gotten in his way, 'cause he knew who we were and wanted us dead." Leo explained. "The only thing I can figure is he has something to do with this mutation issue."

Calling it a mutation issue felt awkward to Leo considering what he was. The words felt …wrong. "There was something in the back of a van that pulled up. Something big, I couldn't see it though. You could tell by the way the van moved and the sounds that it made… like a growling, yipping sound."

Riana's eye widened. "Like a dog?"

Leo considered this for a moment. "Hmm, ya only a lot bigger."

"Didn't Raph tell you what happened in the parking garage?" Riana's surprise was evident.

Leo furrowed his forehead in concern. "No. I got on him about leaving us in the ally, he got all temperamental as usual we fought he stormed off into his room. He didn't tell me anything."

"I can't believe he didn't tell you." Riana ran her fingers through her hair as she started to become agitated. "Is he ok?"

"Ya." Leo answered he would have taken the time to calm her but felt he needed to know what she was talking about. "Riana, what happened?"

Riana started to pace as she told Leonardo about the fire alarm, and the canines… "And…and Leo they were huge. One had me pinned down and one was pulling on the leg of my fire suit." Riana explained, the upset from the experience stuttering out. "I thought that it was going to eat me. I was positive that I was going to be done for. "

Leo poured them each some weak tea as Riana continued. "I'm sorry to say Leo but I am ecstatic that Raphael left you guys in the ally. I think I would be dead if he hadn't. And he was… magnificent."

She bit her lip for a second as she thought about the sight of him throwing that creature and then standing to defend her, then blushed a bit at the silly feeling of being a damsel in distress.

"Riana…" Leo called her back to the here and now.

Riana shook her head. "Anyways the dogs left when someone whistled, and in the police report a black van busted out of the place. Maybe Bigly has everything to do with what is going on."

"I think that is a definite possibility." Donny agreed from around the corner.

"How can he hear us?" Riana whispered.

"The room is relatively quiet because Mikey is asleep and we are turtles. We have excellent hearing." Leo smiled and whispered back.

Riana smiled back and the kind turtle man. She was fond of Leo and becoming more and more grateful for his friend ship. Really she was growing quite fond of all the turtles. One in particular though was becoming more of a fondness. "Leo, please don't be hard on Raph. I really don't think Collins and I would have left that garage in one piece if he and Casey hadn't shown up."

"He doesn't make it easy." Leo admitted.

Riana laughed "No he does not." She agreed.

Just then, as if on cue the incredibly stubborn and prideful mass of muscle and attitude opened his bedroom door. When he saw Riana and Leo laughing he frowned at them, the idea of Riana chumming it up with Leo, Raph found irritatingly agitating. Partially cause he was already frustrated with Leo for chewing him out over leaving the night before and partly cause Leo was chumming it up Riana. Already feeling the morning was for fit Raph decided to just leave the aria. So he started for the garage.

"Speaking of the devil." Riana smiled as Raph walked by the kitchen.

He had no desire to be a part of whatever Leo was doing to make Ray ray smile, purely because Raphael wasn't the center of that smile, or so he thought. The fact that that distressed him only caused him further irritation. It wasn't going to be his day. He raised an eye ridge at Riana and her smile as he was walking by, attempting to not care about whatever was going on between the two. "What devil?"

"You."

Raph stopped and gave Ray ray his full attention. "Me?"

"Nothing terrible." Leo assured his brother.

"I was telling him how you saved my ass." Riana leaned on the counter, Her body stretching out in a distracting position.

She wasn't doing it on purpose but it was still driving Raph nuts. "Well, it's a nice ass." Raph shifted his weight then headed to the garage.

Riana chuckled and shook her head as she watched him ascend up the latter to the garage that was disguised as a boat house.

Riana's expression became perplexed again. "Leo?"

"Ya." He picked up his tea cup and took a sip.

Riana pursed her lips as she thought. "You know how when you find something… amazing, like umm… a butterfly and you just want to see every color every…" She looked up at him and saw his blank expression. "Butterfly is a bad example."

Leo nodded. "Ya I have no idea what you're trying to say."

Riana sighed. "Ah ha, you're the sword guy right?"

"Yes." Leo answered as he tried to figure out what she was getting at.

"Let's say you find this sword and it's a beautiful antique, or something. Well you're going to want to pick it up right? Look it over. Take in every amazing detail. Your gunna want to hold it in your hand feel its weight. The way your hand conforms to the hilt and… and watch the way the blade slices through the air and stuff. Really get an appreciation for it right. Am I making sense?"

"Sounds like you like swords about as much as I do." Leo stated not really understanding why she was telling him this.

"Ha, no." came Riana's response. She took another deep sigh. "It's more how I feel about… Raph."

Leoanardo's eyes widened at her confession. "Raph? Raphael?"

"Ya. I haven't completely wrapped my head around it. And I know he hates it when I watch him. Which is kinda creepy, but I like watching the way he moves and the way his…"

"Ok." Leo cut her off. He had no desire to know what physical aspects she liked about his brother. He thought about the situation for a moment trying to figure out what to say. The main issue with the situation came to the forefront of his mind. "But, we're turtles."

"Mutant turtles." Riana corrected. "It's not like I am diving into a pond crushing on a little water turtle. You guys are very humanesk." She attempted to defend her desires toward Raph, even though they didn't make sense to even her.

Leo decided to be more blunt. "Riana, we're freaks."

Riana smiled "Leo, everyone is a freak. Some people are just better at hiding it."

He blinked at her. "How on earth are you a freak?"

Slowly she ran her fingers over her burns.

"You know the likely hood of anything working out is…"

"Not likely. I know." Frowning Riana turned her tea cup around in her hand.

Leo sighed. "Look you are most likely just curious..."

She looked at Leo. "I thought that at first too." She rolled her tea cup around in her hands as she thought and tried to reason through her feelings. "Every time he gets in my face I know he is trying to intimidate me but… damn it if it doesn't get me going, Leo. And honestly I admire him. I admire his courage, the way he stands between any threat and you guys or me, or whoever he is trying to protect, His stubborn determination, the way he struts, and puffs out his chest when he is trying intimidate someone, his piercing eyes and that glare… It's like…fire. It burns but you long for the warmth. I can't decide if I should keep my distance or risk the burn."

"You WILL get burned." Leo assured.

"Raph's abrasive personality is part of why I am attracted to him."

Leo shook his head. "It isn't so much Raph's personality. Riana, the life we live," Leo tried to find the best way to explain. "Think about long term. Do you really think that there is a happy ending in a relationship for any of us?"

Riana bit her lip as she looked toward the entrance to the garage, and considered what leo was saying. He was right how would something like that work? It probably would end in broken hearts and bruised egos just like most relationships. Riana's lips slipped into a smiled. "I didn't become a fire fighter thinking I wouldn't get burned. Some things are just worth the risk."

With a matter of fact nod she left her tea on the counter and headed for the garage.

"What are you going to do?" Leo asked as he poured himself some more tea.

"I'm gunna go talk to your brother. Maybe I'll sort this out."

"Good luck." Leo said as he watched her walk away. 'This is going to either be really good or really bad.' He thought to himself as he took another sip of his tea.

Raph was tinkering with his motorcycle. Mostly just checking the air pressure in the tires and making sue bolts were tight, anything to get his mind off of her. Seeing her stretched out leaning against the counter her back arched and the curvature of her ass… Raph took a ragged breath as he tried to clear his thoughts. Instead the image of her after she had just gotten out of the shower slinked into his mind, water droplets slipping down her skin accentuating the swell of her breasts, the curve of her waist, the fair of her hips…

"Hey." Riana's voice crashed into his thoughts. Causing him to drop his wrench and jam a finger against the motorcycle.

"Damn it." he cursed as he shook the pain from his finger.

"You ok?" Riana asked as she squatted down next to him.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

Riana frowned; the one thing she didn't like about Raphael was his often miss directed temper. "Never mind, I guess."

She stood up and turned to walk away.

"Damn it, Riana hold on." Feeling guilty now Raph cursed again as her reached up and caught hold of her hand.

She stopped and looked down at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry, you startled me. That doesn't happen very often." Raph apologized.

Satisfied Riana turned back around. "Want any help?"

"Leo ain't cutting it for ya?" Raph's tone getting quippy again.

'Leo ain't what? What the hell was he talking about?' Riana didn't ask the question but her face didn't hide her confusion.

Raph sighed. He really shouldn't be so hard on her. 'If she liked Leo than she liked Leo, he would just have to suck it up.' Raph decided with a deep breath. "If you want to help, hand me a 3/16ths from that bag in front of the tire. " He motioned to the front of the bike.

"Sure." Riana turned leaned over the bikes fender and started digging in the tool bag for the wrench, meanwhile unknowingly giving Raph a full view of her back side in well-fitted jeans.

He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. 'Does she have any idea how hard she makes this?' Raph clenched his jaw in frustration.

"Here you go." She said as she turned and handed Raph the wrench.

"Thanks ." he mumbled.

Riana brought herself to sit cross legged next to him as he pointlessly fussed with some bolts. "Raph…" She fidgeted with a socket wrench as she muscled past her fried nerves. "Can we do something?"

Raph looked at her a little surprised. He hadn't exactly been inviting. "Why don't you see if Leo…"

"I want to do something with you." She cut him off, the words coming out a lot more desperate than she had planned. She sighed. "Look everything has been, so, just, crazy and so much has changed and happened in the last few weeks and I would just like to do something…"

"With me?" Raph finished her statement with a question.

"Well, ya." Riana answered slowly. 'I feel safest with you.' She wanted to say. If she was completely honest with herself she would admit that she felt alone and scared after today. And she wanted to be with Raph because he was everything she viewed as safe.

Raph waited for more of an explanation but one didn't come. He watched her as she fiddled with the socket wrench and chewed absent mindedly on her lip. He had to admit he could use a little fun, other than beating up other mutants.

Finally he sighed softly and tossed the 3/16ths in to the bag. "Ya, alright." He stood up and held out a large three fingered hand to help Riana to her feet.

He then led her out of the garage and into the thick brush that surrounded their home. It was day light and so he could not walk around freely. Riana was more than happy to try her hand at ninja stealth, which she wasn't too good at. Every step Raph took was silent as if he was walking on feathers. Riana on the other hand made every twig leaf and blade of grass crunch, each one sounding to her as if she was walking through the brush clanging symbols.

"How do you do that?" She whispered as they made their way closer to the river's edge.

She was rewarded with an amused grin. "Practice." He whispered back. "Look where you're going to walk. Plan your rout." He said as he pointed ahead. "Then step down toes first. Feel the ground before you put all your weight down." He them moved forward demonstrating for her.

She followed his lead, moving slower but also quieter than she had been.

Raph led her to a grated sewer entrance that emptied into the River. He pushed the large grate open just enough for the two of them to slip through.

He led the way deep into the sewers until Riana was most definitely lost.

"You're going to be able to get us out of here right?" Riana asked. She couldn't say she was even remotely interested in being lost in the sewers. It smelled like septic and crawled with lord knows what she could hardly see, the last issue she was kind of glade of. She heard something scurrying about and feeling uneasy reached out and caught hold of Raph's belt, feeling a little better having a hold of her guide.

"I grew up down here." Raph answered as he reached back and took Ray rays hand guiding her through the dark and debris. "The others and I know these sewers probably better than you know your apartment." He said with a low chuckle.

Considering as little time as she actually spent in her apartment he was probably right. ""So, where are we going then?"

"Just up a head." He led her into a larger room, that was better lit, where four tunnels converged. A large grateless drain was at the center and water was pouring down from above and into the tunnel below.

Raph was grinning that delicious slack jawed grin, "I haven't done this since I was a kid." He said as he stood in front of the drain his back to the flow of water.

Riana stood in front of him and watched as he positioned himself she couldn't help but smile at his almost giddy demeanor. "What are you doing?"

"Turn around and come here." He ordered.

She gave him a wary look.

"What, you don't trust me?" His eyes unusually playful and smile mischievous.

"I'm not sure." Ray ray teased as turned around and backed up till her back was against the lower part of Raph's chest.

Raphael wrapped his arms around Ray ray's waist, their closeness making Raph's heart race. He allowed himself just a second to breathe her in. She didn't wear perfume, so her scent was of a flowery feminine shampoo, soap, and the light lingering of smoke like she had walked by a camp fire. He then lifted her just a bit and started to step back toward the drain.

"Wait, wait, wait." Riana said as she gripped Raph's arms. "Are we jumping down that hole."

"Yep." Raph said against her ear. "You're not scared are ya? 'Cause I got ya."

He definitely had her. She couldn't have escaped from his grip with all the grease in the world. "Just one question… where does this water come from?"

"Some questions are just better left unanswered, babe." Raph answered and jumped back.

"Shit." Riana gasped as they free fell for a moment, until Raphael's shell made contact with side of sloping, dark tunnel.

They were on the fastest, darkest water slide Riana had ever been on. Riana had a white knuckle grip on raph's arms as they cussed and laughed through the tunnel, the speed they were going and darkness made it impossible to know how far they had fallen and every turn in the tunnel felt ten times more extreme than it really was. It was terrifyingly wonderful!

Raph rocked his body side to side as they began to slow, the water splashing Riana earning some squeals of surprise from the cold. The "slide" evened out and the shallow water slowed till it no longer would push the weight of the turtle and the human wrapped in his arms. So they crawled the last few feet to where the tunnel met back with a larger sewer tunnel.

"That was disgustingly awesome." Riana said as she shook the dingy water from her arms and attempted to ring out her pant legs as much as she could.

Neither of them smelled very pretty anymore.

Raph grinned at Ray ray, still a little high from the rush of sliding at high speeds, through the dark, with an attractive woman, he happen to like, in his arms. "Want a go again?" he said as he waggled his bare eye brows.

Riana grinned. "Hell ya."

Raph looked around getting his bearings then pointed up the tunnel behind Riana. "That way."

They hurried up the sewer, Raph guiding Ray ray by the hand, and Ray ray teasing Raph about getting turned around twice.

"Thought you know the sewers better than I do my apartment."

"It's been a while since I've been down this way." Raph justified.

Riana laughed then ran into him as he suddenly came to a stop. Running head long into Raphael's shell was like hitting a rock wall. "ouch."

"Shh." Raph let go of Riana's hand and stepped forward a couple steps listening.

He could hear the rhythmic scraping, tapping sound of mettle, like a group walking around with tap shoes on. Raph highly doubted that there would be a troop of tap dancers walking around the sewers even in the middle of the day. Keeping Riana behind him he stepped back and into the shadows, and brought his sai to the ready. His breathing slowed, and his senses peaked as he focused on the tunnel ahead.

Riana keeping quiet peeked around Raph's shell curious to see what they were hiding from.

Scrape tap, scrape tap, scrape tap. A knee high robot made its way into the sewer ahead. It looked like a silver football with two legs and teeth and a little red light on the top center of its head.

Raph looked at the robot for a moment. "A mouser? What is that doing… around." He had faced off with the little menaces years ago but they had all been destroyed, or so he thought, and their creator hadn't been heard from in a long time. So its presence was kind of bewildering.

"It's kinda cute." Riana said, relaxing considerably.

The robot scanned one direction of the sewer.

"Stay here." Raph ordered as he moved ahead intent on putting the little robot out of its misery.

The robot turned and scanned the tunnel that Raph and Riana were in. It made sound that could only be described as something between grinding gears and roar. Raph quickened his approach as another little mouser hopped out of the connecting tunnel. Both sai at the ready, His fist snapped out in a low strait punch piercing the closest mouser.

He caught the large mutant canine out of the corner of his eye. The monster was on Raph before he had a chance to react. It grabbed hold of his shell in its long sharp teeth as it leapt at him knocking Raphael into the sewer wall.

"Raph!" Riana shouted at him, Surprise quickly being overtaken by worry. She scanned the ground for something, a pipe, anything to help defend the turtle from the surprise attack.

"Damn it!" Raph cursed as he grabbed hold of the dog's scruff and pulled it off his shell. He caught its bottom jaw in his hand as it snapped at him. as he struggled with this one two more sets of eyes and many more bobbing red lights started running at him.

"Shit." Raph cursed again. It was just more than he could take on while trying to protect Riana. So, he gave the jay of the canine a firm jerk that was emphasized by a satisfying cracking sound and a pained yelp. He then threw it into the tunnel it had come from.

The second mouser had caught site of Riana and was currently having its football shaped head smashed in with piece of an old grate.

Raph didn't waist another second. It was time for a "tactical retreat."

Riana ran and was half dragged through the sewers by Raph as he ran through the sewers the canines and mousers that no one had bothered to count close behind. He slammed through a gated tunnel then pushed the gate closed behind him and held it there with his back against the gate. His muscles bulging and straining as the two uninjured canines jumped at the gate and tried to bite and claw threw it. The worst they could do though was cause minor damage to Raph's shell. But the mousers were already making quick work of the gate.

Riana shoved some heavier debris up against the gate but it wasn't something that was going to hold.

"Get out of her!" Raph bellowed at her.

"What and leave you. I don't think so." She scanned the sewer the floor the wall the ceiling. Then she saw their salvation where the ceiling sloped into the wall, a gas line. She dug in her pockets and found a slightly moist lighter inside a really old, squished pack of cigarettes.

"You smoke?" Raph asked when he saw it. How come he never smelt it on her?

"No. They belong to Collins." She said as she pointed at the gas line. "Puncture that will you?"

Raph took out a sai and eyed the pipe. "Won't it blow up?" He groaned as the canines put a little extra effort into another bout attacks on the gate and his shell. He kicked at a mouser that had chewed a small hole in the gate as he listened to Ray ray's reply.

"No, there is too much pressure; it will work like a really big blow torch. The city will have it fixed in a day or so."

Raph grabbed a sai and threw it into the pipe. The pressure in the pipe shot the sai back out and into the gross water that ran along the bottom of the tunnel.

Riana held up the lighter. "Jump toward me on one, two.."

"Three." Raph leapt away from the gait rolled along the ground grabbing his sai as Riana flicked the lighter wheel, the spark igniting the gas creating a very hot wall of flame.

The dogs paced on the other side of giant blow torch growling.

"Collins'? That guy you carried out of the parking garage, why do you have cigarettes? You seeing the prick or something?" Raph asked sounding very accusatory.

"No, I'm not seeing him, he's married. And why do you care?" She was hoping for a different answer than she got.

"I don't!" Raph lied.

"Then why did you ask?"

Raph looked at Riana for a minute deciding what to say. He ended up just shaking his head. "Let's get the fuck out of here before those things find a way around."

Riana glared at him but when he headed for the nearest way back to the river she quickly followed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Up on the street an unmarked black van sat in an ally. Eric Bigley cussed as he watched, on a small monitor, one of the canines get its jaw broke. When the ten foot flames shooting out of the gas pipe like they were coming out of a flame thrower stopping him from obtaining the turtle, Eric threw his coffee cup across the back of the van, the foam cup exploding against the dash board. "Damn it."

The driver jumped as the coffee splattered all over the cab of the van. "What happened?"

"These turtles are proving to be one hell of a pain in the ass. Call back the dogs and find out who that girl is. And Joe…" Eric leaned over the front seat. "Get it done before Cael gets anymore pissed off. 'Cause I start getting yelled everyone below me starts loosing limbs. Shit roles downhill, you know what I mean."

The driver nodded and jumped out of the van pressed a whistle to his lips and blew.

Eric didn't feel he was being unreasonable. How the hell hard was it supposed to be to catch turtles. Weren't they supposed to slow! It was irrelevant. All he knew was if he didn't start delivering being Cael's son wasn't going to matter.

The hatch to the layer slammed closed.

"For the umpteenth time I am not sleeping with Collins', he is married." Raina's voice echoed through the layer.

"Then why are you carrying his shit?" Raph asked curtly.

Leo frowned from where he and splinter were meditating, Mikey was trying. Obviously things hadn't gone as well as Riana had hoped.

"…and as far as your brother goes we were having tea. Why are you so upset about that?!" Riana sounded exasperated.

"I'm not." Raph bellowed.

Riana pursed her lips in that way that made Raph want to taste them, which didn't help the situation. "Obviously." She said sarcastically.

Splinter slowly stood and made his way to the kitchen intending on settling the two down.

"So you are gunna stand here and tell me you ain't sleeping with what's his face and you weren't over there flirtin' and gigglin' it up with Leo earlier." Raph couldn't decide which upset him more. One on account for his brother and both on account for himself. He didn't think he had a chance in hell with Riana. Really he didn't think any of them did. But she did seem to be getting along well with Leonardo. Which normally he wouldn't have given two leaps about exept, Damn it, he liked her. He sure the hell wasn't gunna put himself out there when he was sure he would be shot down, but he didn't want her seeing anyone else.

Raph clenched his jaw in frustration. What the hell kind of mess did he get himself into… He leaned back away from Riana as her realized his issue, he was jealous.

Riana advanced on him emphasizing her frustration with his lack of listening skills by poking him in the chest, "That is exactly what I am going to tell you. I am not sleeping with, the married, Collins and I have no interest in Leo! No offence Leo."

"None taken." Leo answered from his place on the floor.

Raph brushed her hand away from his chest. Suddenly he was wishing she was involved with someone. Cause then the fact he didn't have a chance wouldn't have been because he was a freak. His expression changed from angry to broken.

"Raphael." Splinter said firmly "Perhaps it would be best if you…"

Raph's eyes darted back and forth trying to focus on anything other than the woman in front of him. His jaw clenching and releasing as he struggled to process the onslaught of conflicting emotions. He suddenly felt as though he was drowning and burning at the same time. He finally focused on splinter, "I'm going to go meditate."

Splinter watched in surprise as his son rushed past him and locked himself in his room. Storming off to his room wasn't so much out of character for the turtle, but meditating was, especially without at least some prodding.

"What have you done to my son?" Splinter asked softly.

Riana blinked at Splinter, the poor woman was just as confused as splinter was. Raph was the most fantastically frustrating man she had ever met and right now she had no idea what to do with him. She rubbed her face trying to alleviate some of her frustration. "I think I'm going to go home."

Splinter nodded. "The other's will walk you."

Riana shook her head. "I'll be fine splinter."

"No way babe, there are giant mutants running around out there." Mikey said as he walked into the kitchen, Leo walking behind him.

Riana smiled at Mikey. "There are giant mutants running around down here too."

"Ya, but we're the good kind." Mikey grinned playfully.

Riana giggled at Mikey's silliness.

"Besides we should do another run now that it is dark." Leo stated then turned to call to the other side of the room. "Don, we're heading top side. You coming?"

Don rubbed his eyes and sighed as he looked in the direction of Leo's voice then back down to his computer screen. On it was a long list of dropped charges, useless information, and affiliates of Cael Bigly. Don had been sifting through it for hours he hadn't found so much as a phone number and definitely no address. Someone had already hacked the records and eliminated anything that could have led them to him. All the dead ends they had come across were getting to be irksome. With a sigh Don got up from his computer table.

"Coming Leo." He called back. He grabbed is gear then headed top side with the others.

Raph sat with his carapace against the door to his room. He listened as the others left; As Splinter paused by the outside of the door, sighed and then moved on to another room. There in the silence with only the sound of his own breathing to comfort him as he was finally able to clear his mind of Ray ray and the cluster of emotions she stirred in him that threatened to burn him up and devour him. He didn't know how long he could continue pretending he didn't feel for her. Not that he was doing a great job of that already. Frustrated he threw a sai across the room. The hum it made when it stuck into the adjacent wall slowly faded back into silence and darkness.

Mikey laughed as he hopped around on the roof top in front of Don, going on about some impossible move in kung fu movie Mike had recently watched on T.V..

Don rolled his eyes at his easily exited brother. "That isn't even possible. Like not even on the moon."

"I'm not trying to do it on the moon I'm trying to do it here, duh." Mike informed Don.

"If you can't make a jump like that on the moon you can't do it here, Mikey."

Michelangelo hesitated for a moment before making an impressive flipping wall kick off of a sign on the top of the building they were walking across. "Why not?"

"Because of gravity." Don said gravity slower to emphasize the importance of it. "There is less on the moon than on earth. So if you can't make a jump on the moon you definitely can't make that jump on Earth."

Mikey considered that for a moment. "Why does it make a difference?"

"Because the Earth is bigger."

Mikey thought about this, too, for a second. "We've had this conversation before haven't we?"

Don sighed. "Yes a couple of times."

Honestly Mike knew damn well what Donnie was talking about. But he was enjoying giving Don's lack of imagination grief. The poor turtle looked exhausted too which made Mikey's goal that much easier.

Riana and Leo walked a few paces behind Mikey and Don. Riana had remained quiet through the majority of the walk back toward her place. Too much on her mind between all the mutants that were now a norm in her life. "Leo, is Raph usually this difficult?"

"Yes." Leo replied simply. He could have embellished on how his brother was difficult because he questioned orders regularly, was stubborn, short tempered … and loyal, brave, and stubborn. Leo sighed he knew he shouldn't encourage Riana's infatuation with his brother but…, "I don't know what his issue is but it is just usually best to give him space when he gets in a mood. He'll come around."

Riana nodded. She thought about the night trying to pinpoint what had set Raph off, cause really he had been rather pleasant even laughing and teasing Riana. Suddenly she remembered why they had run from the sewers in the first place. "Oh Leo, I almost forgot. We ran into those dog things again."

"In the garage?" Mikey asked. Don and he had stopped to wait for Leo and Riana on the roof of her apartment building.

"We went into the sewers for a bit." Riana explained. "When we were there we ran into the mutant dogs. And there were also these… things.." Riana made a football shape with her hands as she tried to remember what Raph had called them. "umm, mousers I think Raph said."

"Mousers?" Leo asked, thinking he couldn't have heard her right. But Riana's nod confirmed that he had heard just fine.

"Baxter Stockman." Don smiled. "The man is a mad genius but he is also too full of himself to cover his tracks well. We'll be able to find him without too much trouble."

"Perhaps I can reacquaint you?" A man with a thick Irish accent stepped out of the shadows followed by two mutant canines. It was amazing how easy it was to find someone once you had a positive ID on them the images from the mousers had provided Eric with all he needed to acquire one of Riana McMurphy. He knew she would be home eventually and then with the right persuasion she would be forced to lead him to the turtles. But it was apparently going to be a lot easier than that.

Riana and the three Turtles blinked at the man.

"Who the heck it he?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know him, but I recognize his pets." Riana said as she took a step back. She didn't have her axe to defend herself this time.

Leo drew his swords, his brother's dutifully followed suit.

"Two dogs and one guy? Should I just order a pizza and watch from the side lines?" Mikey joked.

"It won't exactly be a challenge." Leo admitted. He turned his attention to the Irish man. "Where's Stockman… and Bigley?" Leo wasn't really sure how those two fit together just yet but they apparently did.

Eric didn't bother with an answer. The turtle would be finding out the answer in person soon enough.

"Sick 'em." He said as he loosed the canines.

The dogs lunged forward snarling and barking as they did.

Leo took point. Two quick steps, stand firm. Leo watches the canine lunges. One, two, he times his strike. His left foot slides to the side as he starts to pivot. Leo's kattana slip back by his right shoulder. "Three." He breaths, as the canine leaps at him he shifts hi weight bringing just a breath out of the canine's path, his swords building tension against the animal's flesh as they are pulled through the creature. The katana sang their victory in a low hum for him, Leo's favorite sound in the world.

The Dog yelped as it the ground and lid to Riana's feet. She turned and ran to roof access door throwing it open with a purpose. She had no way so defend herself, so she would find one.

Knowing the dog was dead Leo ran for the Irish man standing on the edge of the building.

Eric's eyes widened when the large mutant turtle came barreling at him. He pulled his gun and managed to fire off two shots. Both expertly deflected by Leo's katana. Eric, who was not without other means of self-defense, prepared himself for the fight.

The second canine met Don's boa. Don's first strike landed true across the canine's head and neck stopping it short. The animal growled and snapped at Donnie's boa, yanking harder than Don had anticipated, pulling the boa from Don's hands.

"Hey." Don exclaimed before using a sweeping kick to knock the animal over, then grabbed his boa and commencing in a tug of war.

Mikey laughed at the scene, until the canine dropped Donnie's boa and lunged forward, sinking its teeth into his shoulder.

"Donnie!" Mike yelped as he hurried to his brother's aid. His nunchuku spinning in their flashy fury, he struck the mutant dog on the head with nunchuku then brought his foot up to meet the dog's side, sending it rolling across the roof.

Eric ducked as Leo swung his fists. Good old fashioned Irish boxing had taught the young man that much, He countered Leo's attack swinging in a couple of hay makers. It was evident that even though Leo had killed the mutant dog he wasn't so readily willing to kill a human. Eric felt this gave him an advantage and advanced on Leo bringing in a punch toward the gut then one toward his face.

Leo blocked both then brought a foot up into the Irish man's chest knocking him back a few feet. Then Leo advanced again.

"Release it." Eric shouted to a man beside a semi-truck on the mostly empty street below. Seeing Leo coming for him, Eric scrambled to his feet and brought up his fists to defend from the oncoming attack.

"Donnie, Donnie you alright?" Mike fussed over his brother attempting to pull him to his feet.

Don hissed against the sting in his shoulder, as his brother pulled at him. He swayed on his feet for a second trying to use his boa to right himself, the way the world was spinning, however, made that impossible.

"Mikey, don't get bit." Don managed before the canine's venom took a more drastic hold on the turtle turning his world dark.

"Don!" Mike caught his brother as he fell easing him to the floor of the roof top.

The canine had righted itself and mad a wild break for Mikey, saliva and venom trailing from its mouth as it came.

Mike whipped his fist out the nunchuku swinging out, slamming into the canine's nose with fleshy crunch.

The canine yelped then snapped at Mikey's arm, Its attack being cut short by a well-placed strike of a firemen's axe.

Riana raised the Axe over her head and brought it down again on the creature's neck.

It squirmed in a flailing attempt to escape.

She swung one more time severing its scull from its spine. Riana breathed heavily as she looked over at Mike.

"Nice timin' sis." Mikey grinned. The grin was quickly replaced by a worried expression as Mikey looked back to tremoring body of Donatello.

Riana dropped to her knees and started to assess the turtle's state. "Oh, God." She prayed as she looked over Donatello. Her paramedic training telling her that the bite had been venomous and without anti-venom there was nothing she could do.

Leo had Eric by the scruff of his collared shirt. "You're going to tell me where I can find Stockman and Bigley, and you're going to tell me now."

Eric grinned as a couple of stockman's newest creations rose up behind Leo.

Leo followed Erics gaze, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of two fearsome creatures.

Long jagged teeth, in long furry snouts, brown and green scaly skin covering looong lean, muscled bodies, their mains flowing out around their heads like haloes, one's massive main emphasized by the scaly web of skin.

The creature moved with such speed Leo barely had time to flinch. it caught him by the edge of his shell and wrapped him in its body and claws, leaving his katana clattering on the ground.

"Hold" Eric commanded the creature.

"Run." Leo gasped out the order to the wide eyed Michelangelo, as the second "dragon" half stalked and half slithered across the roof top.

Seeing how fast it was moving Mikey new he could not out maneuver it with Donnie in tow. "Shit." Not sure what else to do. He did as his brother had ordered. Grabbing Riana by the arm He bolted for the roof top entrance door slamming it closed behind him then used his body to try and block it.

Riana slid into the wall, and then turned on Mikey. "We can't just leave them!" She immediately felt guilty for berating the poor turtle. The expression on his face confused and terrified.

"I can't stop those things alone." he admitted a panicked tone in his voice.

Riana stepped into firefighter mode her expression becoming even and focused. "Then let's go get it." She gave Mikey a hard tug and leading him down the stairs and through the building's basement through and old coal shoot to an ally and into the sewers beneath the city.

Back on the roof Eric walked over to the turtle that lay barely breathing on the roof.

Leo watched from the grasp of the "dragon" as he struggled to free himself, his shell threatening to crack under the creature's constriction. "Leave him alone." Leo pleaded breathlessly.

Eric looked over the purple clad turtle pulled a vile of anti-venom from his pocket and administered it in a shot. Two more men climbed onto the roof to stand next to Eric as they watched the turtle's breathing slowly return to normal. "wrap 'em up. Cael is tired of waiting."

* * *

**Don't think for a second that Mikey abandoned his brothers. as we know abandoning one another is not what the turtles do. however when Leo gives the order to retreat, Mikey or Donnie are the most likely to do so. Mikey will be back with reinforcements, promise. ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I apparently made Ike, Ivan through this chapter. sorry. It is now fixed. Ike is who was transporting the mutagen and was in a car accident earlier in the story.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Riana and Mikey burst into the layer gasping for breath.

Splinter turned from his soap opera and Raph and Casey ceased their work out to stair and Riana and Mikey as they tripped over each other to get further into the layer.

"Where are your brothers?" Splinter asked. The flushed and gasping state of Mikey and Riana had him highly concerned.

"The, gasp, the, gasp" Mikey tried to explain.

"Dragons." Riana finished, still clutching her bloody axe.

Mikey nodded.

Raph and Casey gave each other doubtful looks

"You two gone loopy or what?" Raphael asked.

Mikey and Riana simultaneously shook their heads.

"Who'd you kill?" Casey asked, referring to the blood on Riana's ax.

Mikey and Riana took a deep breath. Then Mikey started explaining hurriedly, "We got to the," breath, "the roof at Riana's place," breath, "and then this Irish dude," Breath…

Riana continued, "With the mutant dogs and these," breath "things that looked like, umm…"

"Dragons." Mikey interrupted. "They took Leo and Don… and Don wasn't looking so good."

Splinter leaned back as he thought for a moment, taking in what he had just heard. "We will, go back to the roof."

"Back to the roof?" Mikey asked sounding a bit unsure of that order.

"Yes." Splinter said, giving Mikey a chastising look for interrupting. "We will go back to the roof and see if we can find any clues as to who took your brothers and where they were taken."

Within seconds the four were in the armored van. Raph at the wheel tearing down the road as if hell its self was at their heels.

"Look out!" Riana yelped as Raph weaved through traffic nearly hitting an oncoming car and cutting off another. "It's not going to do us any good if we die before we get there."

Everyone in the vehicle was buckled and holding on to their seats. Splinter completely reminded why he never went anywhere with boys when Raph was driving.

"Do you want to fucking drive?!" Raph snapped as he sent the van sliding into the next turn.

"Yes, Raph, I would." Riana snapped back and brought her knees to her chest as Raph whipped around another car. "Shit."

"Well tough!" Raph was stressed, two of his brothers were missing, everyone in the hole city was driving like they were fucking ninety, and Raph hadn't been there to protect his brothers because he was upset over a girl! He was kicking himself hard for not being able to control his feelings for her. Even with her complaining about his driving he wanted her, and that pissed him off even more.

He skidded into the ally way and slammed on the brake getting groans from everyone in the vehicle.

Raph was the first to reach the roof followed by Splinter, and Mikey.

Splinter squatted down and ran his fingers over Leo's katana before picking them up.

Mikey picked up Don's bo and stared at it for a moment feeling lost. Not sure what else to do Mike started walking his sensei and brother through what had happened.

Riana and Casey stayed on the street looking for anything that might be a clue. Finding nothing but tire marks they joined the others on the roof.

The forlorn looks on Mikey's, Splinter's, and Raph's faces said they hadn't found much either.

"I shouldn't have left. I should have… done something else." Michelangelo didn't know what else he could have done. How could he have fought those things and saved Leo, they were huge and more than he could take on his own. But, guilt still weighed heavy on his heart.

"You did exactly what Leo told you to." Riana said hoping to ease Mikey's mind.

He sighed and gave her a week smile. He had done exactly what he was ordered to do and now Leo and Don were gone.

Raph squatted down on the roof scanning it for anything out of place. There were scuffs and scratches but nothing that would have told them where the Bigley Mob would have taken them. He stood slowly. "It ain't your fault Mike. I should have been here. I should have had your back."

"Don't do that to yourself man." Casey said to his friend. "There was no way you could have seen this coming."

It was too much; Raph breathed in feeling like he couldn't hold up any more like the world was closing in on him, Raph snapped and grabbed his friend by the shirt. Wanting to scream something at Casey, at anyone, but unable to find the words, just the painful feeling of loss.

Casey gave Raph a surprised look and then, sure of how Raph must be feeling, He placed a hand on the turtle's shoulder, knowing his friend needed patience right now.

Raph swallowed hard as he regained control of himself and slowly released his friend.

Riana watched the altercation the pained look on his face, of the faces of his brother and sensei. It made her heart ache for them. She also realized something as she perceived Raph in his distress; she wasn't curious or just strangely attracted to turtle. She was falling in love with him. It wasn't just his muscly physique or "bad boy" demeanor. It was his passion and the depth to which it burned. He fought passionately, loved passionately, giving his all into every emotion and conection. This realization shocked her and made her feel stuck at the same time. Raph hadn't exactly expressed any sign of a mutual feeling. She didn't know what she should do, how to comfort him, what he would accept. So she pushed her hands into her pockets as she tried to think of a way to help, if she couldn't wrap her arms around the turtle, she could at least try to make things better… right? "Could they have known that I know you guys?" She asked slowly.

"How the hell would they know that?" Raph asked, sounding more accusatory than he had intended.

"I don't know." She said softly. "I just thought since they were on my roof and were after us earlier that they somehow…"

"The mousers." Raph stated the means.

"Mousers?" Casey questioned a little surprised. "You have got to start filling us in, man."

"Let's check the apartment." Splinter stated then followed the others down the fire escape.

Riana looked at her apartment in shock. It had been thoroughly ransacked.

"Wow." Mikey said as he poked around. "Even the food has been ripped out of the fridge."

Sure enough the kitchen was completely torn apart including all the food from the fridge.

"What were they after?" Riana said as she picked up one of her older, worn fire fighter jackets from the floor and slipping it on. "Nothing is really missing."

"Us." splinter said. "You have been connected to us and so a means to get to us."

Riana frowned. She definitely didn't want to be staying here by herself tonight. "Splinter, can I stay with you guys?"

Understanding the woman's uneasiness, Splinter put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an affirming nod.

Riana grabbed a couple things, including her fire fighter pants and helmet. The ones she had back at the station had been quite helpful in protecting against the Mutant dog's bite in the parking garage. It wouldn't hurt to keep them with her.

It took some arguing with Raph about his driving but, but Riana was able to get herself into the driver's seat of the armored vehicle. She had suggested Mike drive but Raph insisted Mikey didn't drive any better. Apparently Splinter didn't drive at all and Ray ray didn't even ask about Casey. She had to practically pry the keys from Raph's hand but he did eventually give them to her on the insistence that they were wasting time.

She stopped at the third red light from her apartment, an unmarked white box truck in front of her. It was driving remarkably slow, so with a tired sigh of agitation Riana started to pull around it. At the fourth aggravating red light Riana glanced over at the driver of the box truck. "Well I'll be…" Riana breathed, hope filling her heavy heart.

"What?" Mikey asked in an unusually unexcited tone.

"It's Ivan." Ray smiled.

"Ike? Who the heck is Ivan?"

"The guy that dropped the ooze."

Raph suddenly threw himself in between the front seats to get a better look. "You sure?"

"I'm good with faces." Riana said. The light turned green and Riana made sure she kept pace with the truck. Following him through a couple of lights and a turn.

"Your following too close." Raph warned.

"I'm fine." Riana argued. But, she was wrong.

Ike hadn't worried too much about the vehicle behind him till it followed him around a turn, through another light, and one more turn. He eyed it through the rear view mirror. Being followed by an armored vehicle with heavily tinted windows probably wasn't a good thing. Considering how badly he had ticked of Cael Bigley. He had been trying to lay low, but apparently not low enough. At the end of the block Ivan turned the corner and punched the gas.

"I told you, you were driving too close." Raphael griped, as the box van sped ahead "Come on Kick it!"

'If he wasn't one of the worst back seat driver…' Riana slammed the peddle to the floor. "I am kicking it!"

"Ram him!" Raph ordered.

Before she could do what Raph wanted the box truck skidded into another turn.

Riana cranked the wheel. "Will you stop telling me how to drive?!"

She caught back up with the truck, then hit the bumper causing both vehicles to jolt.

"You gottta get around him." Mikey suggested.

"Shut up Mike." Riana and Raph snapped at the same time.

Mike let out a long breath and hunkered into his seat. 'Don't mess with the dueling duo while they are driving. Check.'

"Go around him." Raph told Riana, even though she was already trying to do just that.

"I could have sworn I said that." Mike griped quietly.

"You are about two words from walking Raphael!" Riana warned. She slammed the armored vehicle into the corner of the box truck's bumper causing it to skid sideways and tilt a bit.

They weaved around a couple of cars then the two speeding vehicles slammed into each other, causing them both to fishtail.

"You're overcorrecting." Raph said as he reached for the wheel.

Riana slapped his hand. "I will knock you out, so help me God!"

Raph gave her a doubtful look. "Then do it right."

Riana slammed into the truck again. "Like you drive any better."

"You're so fucking stubborn! Just take the damn truck out already!"

Everyone in the back seat raised eye brows at Raph, as if he had any room to talk about stubbornness.

"You want me to take the damn truck out?" Riana snapped with a great deal of agitation.

"Ya, that'd be great, then I'm driven'!" Raph countered.

Ray ray glared at Raph. His heated demeanor made her unsure if she wanted to slap him or kiss him. "Fine!"

Riana Slammed into the truck again forcing it onto the side walk through a vacant magazine stand and into a light pole. She turned the wheel and hit the brakes. Raph and Mikey were out of the vehicle before it had finished its turn around.

Ike half jumped, half fell out of the box truck. Seeing the two giant turtles running at him he hurried to his feet and started a limped run down the street.

Being faster than Raph, Mikey reached Ivan first, slamming into him in a full on rolling tackle.

Raph ripped the man up from the ground. "Where's my brother!"

Ike didn't get a chance to answer.

"Boys!" Splinter called to his sons. When they looked at him he motioned to the lightening sky. "Bring him."

Though Ike put up a struggle, it wasn't overly difficult for Mikey and Raph to drag him back to the vehicle.

After blindfolding Ivan and placing him under Splinter's watchful eye, Raph got back into the passenger's seat.

Riana frowned at him, feeling a little snarky still. "What you're not gunna try to take the wheel again?"

It may not have been pretty and it may have taken longer than it would have had he been driving but she got the job done. And He kinda liked that stubborn persistence of hers. "You did good, Ray ray."

Riana smiled at him as if she had won some sort of trophy before heading the armored vehicle in the direction of the layer. Little did he know that trophy was his praise.

In the layer Mikey and Casey played cards while Riana sipped on a beer and watched Raph pace like a caged lion, his attention on Splinter.

The old rat was questioning Ivan, trying to pry something helpful from the man. "Where is Cael Bigley?" … "Where would he hold a captive?"… "Is there any information you can give us."

All Ike would do was shake his head, giving nothing of use.

Riana popped the top of another beer and walked it over to Raph hoping to calm the agitated turtle down a bit.

He accepted the drink and took along swig before returning to his pacing.

Splinter took a deep breath then continued to question the man, getting the same head shaking response.

Raph couldn't take anymore. He threw the beer bottle across the room causing it to shatter inches from Ike's head, beer and glass showering over the man. Raph moved across the room with ninja speed catching Ike by the throat and lifting him, chair and all, till Ivan didn't have to look up to see the unbridled anger in Raph's eyes. Raph then slammed his fist into the wall beside Ike's head. The cement cracking a bit under the force.

"Where the hell are my brothers you piece of shit?!" Raph bellowed, making everyone in the room wince, as they waited for the next blow to land on Ike's face.

Lucky for Ivan Splinter placed a gentle hand on his son's readied arm.

Raph looked down at Splinter. "We are losing time sensei. This ass hole needs to start giving us answers."

"He cannot answer if he is unconscious or cannot breath." Splinter informed.

Raph clenched his jaw as Ivan's face became red and lips began to purple from the lack of oxygen.

"Raphael." Splinter said his name firmly, trying to get his son to real in his temper.

After a deep breath Raph let go of Ike. The man and chair slamming to the ground with a hard thud.

"You better start answering him, or I'm gunna start breaking bones." Raph warned in a dangerously low tone. He then took a step back to give Splinter some room to talk to Ike, but only a step.

Ike's eye darted nervously between the giant rat and the giant turtle. He was pretty damn sure he had lost his mind.

"Young man." Splinter spoke to gain Ike's attention again. "It would be in your best interest to tell me where I can find Cael Bigley."

Ike opened and closed his mouth a couple of times having trouble forcing the words out.

Raph responded by pounding a fist into his own palm.

"th..th..th.." Ike stuttered out. "They'll kill me."

"Oh I'll do much worse if ya don't start talking." Raph growled.

Splinter put a hand up to silence him. Then breathed in deeply to maintain his own patience. "Tell me where to find him and I can assure you that you will be able to leave the city tomorrow morning unharmed. Do not and I will leave you in this room with him." Splinter pointed to Raph who grinned. It wasn't a completely idle threat, Raph was a vicious adversary to be sure, but he also knew dead men can tell you nothing, so splinter could trust that Raphael wouldn't kill the man. However, it might be a couple days before the man would be awake enough to talk. Splinter preferred to not have to take that rout.

Ike took a couple more deep breaths. "He typically works out of a factory. An old brick one. Over on uh, uh sev…seventy third."

"What is the address?" splinter asked.

"I don't know, but it's the only one with only three stories. There is a big ware house about uh, twelve blocks east. He has business there too. I don't know what kind though. I'm just delivery. They fill the truck I drive it were they tell me." Ike squirmed nervously hoping he had given the desired information.

The shaky Ike was left by the wall. Splinter made his way to the table, followed by Raph, positioning himself so that he could see their captive and still discuss this new information with his sons and allies.

"What do we do now?" Mikey asked as he sat his hand of cards on the table. He was used to getting his direction from Leo and in his brother's absence looked to splinter.

When Splinter didn't immediately answer, Casey, not being the best planner either, shrugged as he shook his head, he was as lost as Mikey.

Raph sat at the table with his head in his hands trying to figure out how to help his lost brothers. This wasn't the first time one or more of them needed bailing out. But that's what brothers were for. To have your back when you ended up in a tight spot, no matter how you got there. He had a location and that was a start.

"You know what you must do?" Splinter said, as he watched his son struggling to find an answer.

Raph looked up at his sensei, his eyes glowing with the growing blaze of anger. "Ya, I know what I gotta do." But he was doing it his way. He turned to Michelangelo and Casey. "Get your gear. We're gettin' Don and Leo back."

Without another word he stood and walked to his room to get some choice extras from his arsenal of ninja weapons.

Riana watched as the group, except for Splinter who was on guard duty, quickly dispersed and began preparing for… well she really wasn't sure what. Feeling very much that she had missed something she walked into Raph's room swinging the door closed behind here. "You have a plan right?"

Raph frowned at her from over his shoulder but didn't answer. He just continued putting sherikin, and homemade smoke bombs into his belt.

The answer that was lacking did not please Riana at all. "You can't just go charging in there, Raph. You… you have to have some sort of… of an inkling of a plan. Leo…"

Raph turned on her then spreading his arm out to emphasize the lack of anyone else in the room. "Well the great and mighty Leo ain't here." He then pointed to himself as he got into her face. "So we're doing this my way."

Raina wasn't afraid to stand toe to toe with him in an argument. She knew he wouldn't wound her with more than harsh words. "You charge in there like a bat out of hell and you're gunna get someone hurt, or worse."

"I'm a ninja, Ray..."

"And you're pissed off." She interrupted. "When you're pissed off you tend to make an ass of yourself 'cause you don't think shit through."

He couldn't argue with that. She was right, but hell if he was gunna let her know it! "Don't worry about it. I'll get the job done and have your prince charming back here even if it kills me."

Feeling there was nothing left to discuss Raph started to turn back to gathering the necessary gear.

Riana honestly had her mouth agape. Prince? Kill? One made absolutely no sense to her and the other was what she was trying to avoid by having this argument.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" she said as she reached out and grabbed Raph's arm.

He responded by grabbing her arm and hulling her close to him so he could yell in her face again. "Oh don't play fucking stupid! Like I can't see it, the way you're always off talking in whispers and shit!"

Riana was thoroughly confused now. Ya she talked to Leo a lot but only because he was easy to talk to, especially about… and then it dawned on her. Raph was jealous. He had been such a hard ass toward her, so she figured the feelings she had developed for him weren't reciprocated. Apparently she had been wrong.

Her voice became soft like a whispered caress. "We talk about you, Raph."

His grip loosened on her arm as his expression changed from anger to surprise. "Me? What do you mean me?"

This was it, put it all out there, now or never. And that's when the words suddenly escaped her. So, she decided to show him.

"I mean this. " She said as she closed the space between them, placing one soft, slow, breathless kiss on his mouth.

At first he just stared at her, running his thumb across his lips as he processed what had just happened. She liked him? Not Leo or… that other guy, but him! Here he had been trying so hard to not let her in, not let her affect him and had failed miserably at it. He had carried the misery all for the love of his brother and her, and the doubt he had in his own worthiness. But here, Ray ray had wanted him all along.

His forehead furrowed as he struggled through the questions and emotions that were welling up inside him. Then without another though, not a word he let go of her arm, slipped his hand behind her head and kissed her back.

At first the kiss was tentative, light, and uncertain. As if he was unsure of his interpretation of the first kiss. Then Ray ray's tongue flickered out to dance across his lips, just for a second, delicately tasting him.

It was like lighting a candle with a blow torch. And Raph wanted more.

He wrapped his other arm around her bringing her body against his as he deepened the kiss devouring any and all of her sensibilities.

She moaned and reached around him gripping his shell pulling him tighter against her.

Raph's hand slid down over her backside.

She lifted her leg around him in eager response, hissing as her thigh pressed against Raph's sai.

Without breaking the hungry, burning kiss, he quickly removed his sai. Riana was happy to help with the rest of his gear. He, just as eagerly removed her clothing, perhaps causing the loss of a couple buttons along the way. He half tossed and half placed her on the bed and followed closely not wanting to lose a second not an inch of space between them.

If being nervous had crossed either of their minds it was there and gone before they realized it. All they could think about, all they could feel was the burning inferno of passion that consumed them. Only in a tangle of flesh and sheets would they find what could extinguish the deliciously tortured burning that writhed between them. Release was found and fire was replaced with panting and sweat leaving two souls entangled and reeling.


	12. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

Cael Bigley sat back in his chair and took a long drag of his cigar then leaned forward, so to get the large, blue bandanna wearing turtle to look at him. Cigar smoke spilling from his mouth as he spoke, "It is my understanding, turtle, that you don't want to answer my men's questions."

Leo didn't speak, he simply cleared his throat of the second hand smoke he was being forced to breathe and gave Cael an annoyed glare.

"Hmm…" Cael grunted as he took another puff of the cigar. "Since that is how you want to do it." He turned the cigar around in his hand and pressed the red glowing cherry to Leo's bare leg.

Leonardo couldn't help the involuntary jolt of his bound leg, but he wasn't going to give Mr. Bigley the satisfaction of an utterance of sound.

His face was bruised and bleeding from being worked over by Cael's men. But it didn't hurt too badly, or so he kept telling himself. He was taking slow deep breaths to help keep himself centered, he was refusing to break.

Cael frowned at the turtle's lack of reaction. The old Irish man stood and began rolling up his sleeves. When he was younger he loved this part, forcing answers from people. But as he had gotten older it just seemed to be a hassle, which is why he had sent his men hoping they would get the job done. Thus the old adage; If you want something done right then do it yourself. He pulled back his fist and laid to heavy hits into Leo's face, then pushed the turtles' head back. "I have two of you, and now I wish to finish my collection. So, where are the others?"

Leo just breathed.

Cael brought his fist back and started pounding on the turtle. The smacking sound of flesh hitting flesh resounded through the basement. Again and again Cael hit Leo until his fist started to hurt.

"Anything new to tell me?" Cael asked as he flexed his hand.

Leo spit out the blood that filled his mouth, but gave his captor nothing more.

Cael nodded slowly. 'so be it.' he took a knife, about an in wide and five inches long, from his belt. Considered the best place to put it, so as to not cause his victim to bleed out, then with a single hard jab stabbed it into the outside of Leo's leg.

Leo couldn't stop the pained hiss that escaped his lips. 'Breath' he thought to himself, 'in…out…in…out…focus.' Just as he managed to regain his center Cael started to lean in on the knife. And, dear god, did it hurt!

"Anything?" Cael asked. Upon receiving no answer he gave the knife a sharp twist.

This caused Leo to yelp. The pain temporarily caused Leo's world to go white. As soon as it came back to normal and pain Cael gave the blade another vicious twist.

"Are you ready to start giving me answers now?" Cael asked slowly.

"No." Leo said through gritted teeth.

Cael leaned back in his seat to observe the glaring turtle.

The creature was a mess. One eye was swelled shut his jaw was bruised, and possibly dislocated, cheeks were swollen. A couple of his teeth lay next to him on the floor, he had a busted lip, and a knife was sticking out of his leg. 'What was going to work on this guy?'

"Get some plyers we'll break his fingers." Eric told one of the men.

Cael watched Leo's lack of reaction and thought. "No, bring me the other."

Leo looked up at Cael then, and Cael smiled. That look was all the indication he needed.

"The other one isn't conscious yet." One of the men informed him.

Cael sighed, "Let me know when he is. In the meantime clean this one up. I don't want him all sticky when I'm hitting him later."

'At least Donatello was still alive.' Leo found great comfort in that. 'Hopefully he stays out of it long enough for me to come up with a plan.'

Donatello lay quietly on the cold mettle floor of a cage listening to the chatter and shuffling of men. One voice he recognized as Baxter Stockman's. He couldn't say he was at all overjoyed by the scientist's presence.

Donny was careful to keep his breathing slow and even, even when he was poked with a needle and blood was drawn. He couldn't let them know he was conscious. Not yet. Not till he knew where Leo was and had calculated a way out of here. Perhaps if he had known Leo's plight he would change his tactic but for the moment he didn't and so took the time to let darkness come and have a thoroughly laid out plan.

Raphael lay on his bed watching Riana as she slept, trying to figure out what was supposed to happen next. He had never been with a woman before. He wasn't really even sure how the hell they had gotten this far so fast. The Experience was well beyond mind blowing, among other things, for sure. She was far more fulfilling than anything he had done for himself. The way her lips and skin tasted, the way she moaned against his ear convincing him she had enjoyed herself as much as he had. Slowly Raph ran his ruff fingers over Ray rays arm, the burn marred skin here twisting in small ripples. He hesitated just below her shoulder taking a moment to trace the tattoo of his bandanna, remembering the way her body had arched against him, the smooth swell of her breasts, the warm wetness of… Raph took a slow deep breath. She was by far the sweetest distraction he could have ever hoped for. But dusk was making its way to the surface and he had a job to do.

Careful not to wake the woman that graced his bed Raph got to his feet and went about finding his gear. He reached for the door handle.

"Where you going?" Ray ray asked sleepily.

Raph turned watching her as she stretched out her feminine form. It took a great deal of self-control to not jump back into that bed. "It's almost dark, Leo and Don…"

Riana shot out of the bed. Quickly she pulled her pants on started searching for her bra. "I think we should definitely take the Armored van… thing, cause we don't know what condition Leo and Don are in."

Raph picked Ray rays bra up off a shelf and held it out to her.

She blushed as she took from him and put it on then started to dawn he uniform shirt.

"Ray, I want you to stay here." He wanted her safe, lord only know what else Cael Bigley had up his sleeve.

Ray ray frowned. "I'm going, Raph."

Raph opened his mouth to argue.

Knowing the turtle well enough to know his intention Ray ray beat him to the punch "There is now point in arguing about it. I've made up my mind." Thinking he would take her advice she started to open the door.

It was immediately re-shut by Raph. Had he been Leo he could have probably won this fight with reason and diplomacy… but these were not Raph's strong suits. "You're fucking staying here."

Riana crossed her arms. As she prepared for this battle of will. "I'm not staying here, Raph. So, you can either take me with you or I'll meet you there. Which would you prefer?"

A few moments later Riana found herself locked in Raph's weapons closet yelling for him to let her out. Feeling he had won Raph grinned to himself as he left.

Mikey, Raph, and Casey sat crouched in the ally way adjacent a three story, partially boarded up, brick building.

"Any ideas on how to get in?" Casey asked.

"I say we break down the freaking front door toss a bunch of smoke bombs, take out as many as we can and find Don and Leo." Raph answered.

"Operation smoke out." Mikey said. "We should split up. You and case start down stairs, Ray ray and I start up stairs. Cover more ground and we meet in the middle."

"I like that. Let's do that." Casey looked at Raph. "You ready."

Raph grinned, "Hell ya."

"I hate to spoil things here boys, but I don't want to catch a blindly fired stray bullet right out the shoot. So, I have a similar plan but it won't get us shot at right away." Riana came walking down the back of the all as she started to remove her fire man's coat.

They all looked back at her as she removed her fire man's pant, and started to unbutton her uniform pants.

"What are you doing?" Raph asked as she continued to strip. "and how the hell did you get here?"

"You don't have to stop." Mikey chimed in his two cents.

Raph responded by palming Mikey's face and pushing till he was facing the wall. "Shut up and look that way."

He then turned back to Riana and awaited an explanation, as she removed her uniform pants and stepped back into her fire man's pants.

She tied her uniform t-shirt in a loose knot in the front, so her stomach showed. "Splinter let me out of your closet…"

"Dude you locked her in your closet? That's just mean, man." Mikey said turning back to the conversation.

Raph responded with a glare.

"Then I took your bike." Riana finished explaining how she got there. She had also called into work with a 'family emergency' but didn't feel that he cared about that.

"You what?" Raph growled. It doesn't matter who you are you don't just take a man's motorcycle!

Riana rolled her eyes and stepped into explaining her plan, "We need to get in there and you need a distraction to do so right?" She slipped her fire man's jacket back on. "Two of you go to the roof just like planned. When all eyes are on me, cause I am sure the building full of men won't tell the stripper she has the wrong place, you can slip in and start searching for the Leo and Don." She smiled as she leaned her axe on her shoulder.

Raph was shaking his head half way through her plan. "No. You're not strippin' down and dancing around, absolutely not. "

"It's not a bad Idea, Raph."Casey pointed out

Mikey nodding his agreement. "I'll follow her in."

"Shut up." Raph snapped. His attention went back to Riana. "It ain't happening', Ray?"

His arms were crossed and he wore a stern no nonsense expression.

Riana thought he looked sexy as hell, so she smiled impishly at him then slid close till they were face to chest. "You don't have to get jealous."

"Your game's not going to work." He advised her.

She replied by standing on her tip toes and planting a thorough kiss on his mouth, then hurried out to the street, before he could recover.

He watched her as she walked away. "That ain't gunna get you what you want every time."

"Then I guess I'll have to get more creative." She smiled over her shoulder.

"Did we miss something?" Mikey asked.

"Looks like it." Casey answered with a chuckle.

"Get to the roof." Raph ordered as he walked by, then quickly found his place in the shadows behind Riana.

Riana knocked on the side door of the factory. Feeling she didn't look stripperish enough she tousled her curly hair, leaned against the door jam, and let her coat hang off her shoulder. Which didn't do much considering her t-shirt didn't show off her shoulder any more than her jacket did. Standing there she started feeling kinda ridiculous and was just about to bail on this plan when the door swung open.

A tall thin, freckled, red headed man stared down at her. He gave her a 'who the hell are you look' then asked, "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious I'm here to start some fires, and then put them out." She winked as she stepped into her role.

Raph rolled his eyes over in his hiding spot. He did not like this plan and he liked it less by the second.

The red head raised an eye brow. "You must have the wrong place." He stated as he started to close the door.

Riana put her hand out to stop the door, trying to think on her feet. "Hey, do you have any Idea how far I had to walk to get here?"

The red head gave her a board look as he shook his head.

Riana frowned. "You know what, that's fine. But tell Ike there are no refunds I don't care how much he thinks I over charged. And apologize to Cael for depriving him of what was paid for, ok?"

"Ike sent you?" the red head raised an eye brow as he considered this. He knew Ike had messed up and it wasn't unlike Ike to try and win someone over with gifts of indulgence. "Wait a second I'll be right back."

"Ya well don't take all night." Riana said as waived her hand about with attitude then landing it on her hip.

The red head shut the door.

"You know you're kinda hot when you're pushy." Raph whispered at his Ray ray.

She smiled at him but didn't have a chance to reply as the door suddenly swung open.

In front of her stood Eric, she silently prayed he wasn't as good with faces as she was.

Eric smiled dashingly at her. "Ike sent you, huh? Well alright then." He opened the door the rest of the way and let her in.

Riana's heart pounded as she followed the man down a hall.

Raph used his sai to stop the door, quietly slipped in behind the red head, who was supposed to guard the door apparently. Raph reached up wrapping one hand around the man's jaw and the other around the side of his head and gave a quick sharp twist that resulted in a "crack" sound and the man's body going limp. He drug the body into a utility closet, shut the door and started searching for his brothers.

Mikey and Casey waited on the Roof till Riana had entered the building then Mikey entered the building through the roof access leaving Casey to guard the possible Exit. He made his way down the steps then waited by the door to the top level and listened, waiting for word of the "stripper" to get to the men on this level.

Riana's heart pounded so hard she could hardly hear anything as she stood in front of Cael Bigly. She watched as Eric whispered something in the man's ear.

Cael responded with a soft chuckle, then nodded in her direction. "Well, go ahead then."

Riana nodded and picked a song at random on her phone and pushed play and sat the phone in her jacket pocket. "come together" by the beetles came on. It wouldn't have been Riana's first choice but in all honesty she would have stripped to "cotton eye joe" if it had come on.

She started out by simply swaying her hips to the rhythm. Then slowly shimmied her shoulders and shoulders letting her jacket slip down off her shoulders.

Raph moved from shadow to shadow, using even the shadows that sat quietly against the ceiling, looking for his any sign of his brothers. The men on the floor making their way to a certain doorway in hopes of getting a look at the stripper. Finding nothing on the first floor, Raph hurried down a flight of stairs to the basement, meeting a handful of the mobsters half way down.

They all looked at the turtle with surprise for a second before drawing their guns.

Raph wasn't about to give them a chance to fire. He lunged forward using his shell as a shield and battering ram, knocking the group of men down the stairs. One he hit the bottom he let out a furied series of expertly placed punches and kicks, not stopping till each man lay unconscious. Raph smirked at the men laying on the floor. "Didn't even know what hit 'em." He boasted to no one imparticular.

Leo smiled at the blurred vision of his temperamental brother. "It's about time." He teased.

Raph hurried to his brother and started to untie him, "Leo, where's Don?"

Leonardo shook his head. "I don't know. He's here but I don't know where."

Raph nodded as he helped Leo stand.

Leo winced as pain shot through his leg. The twisted stab wound was not going to treat him kindly.

"Gunna make it?" Raph asked deciding if he should carry Leo or not.

Leo straitened and with a hard push against his jaw put the bone back in its appropriate joint. With a deep breath he pushed the pain to the back of his mind. "I'll live." He answered as he spotted his kattana resting on a car table by the stairs and smiled sorely.

"Good, let's get Don and get outa here." Raph started up the stairs moving a little slower so he wouldn't lose Leo, who was walking with slight limp.

Remembering the tattoo that would surly give away Riana alliance to turtles, she turned her right side to the wall. She rocked her hips and ran her hands down her body pulling the suspenders, that were attached to her fire fighter pants, down as she bent her knees lowering herself close to the floor. she pulled her boot laces loose as she smoothly rolled her body back to standing. Bringing her arms over her head, to help hide her tattoo as she turned, she stepped out of her pants.

Mikey didn't have to wait long for the hall to clear. Quietly he stepped into the hall letting the door close behind him. Its thud and click made him wince. He waited, poised in mid stride for a moment to see if anyone had heard his noisy entrance. Once it seemed he had not raised any alarm he tiptoed his way down the hall.

He opened a door to a dark room. "Donny?" He whispered into it. Not getting an answer he entered the room only to find, by tripping over a broom and knocking several things like buckets and various other items onto himself, did he find it was just a storage closet. With lightning fast reflexes he was able to catch every Item that fell without making a ridiculous amount of noise. He sat everything down and carefully backed out of the closet.

Just when Riana started to lift her shirt her feeling of being a successful distraction was ripped away. She had just started to pull her shirt over her head and was in the middle trying to dance her way through the task when Eric blindsided her.

He grabbed her by the throat and picked her up of her feet just to slam her to the ground momentarily knocking the wind out of her. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't recognize you Mcmurphy? I make a point of knowing what a target looks like."

Riana started to struggle against his grip once she got her breath back. "Then why the hell did you let me in?"

Eric laughed mockingly at her efforts. "I was curious as to what you were playing at." He had had no problem looking her over when she was dancing and could definitely appreciate her figure, minus her fire marred flesh. "You know if it wasn't for your burns you would be an attractive woman."

"If it wasn't for your face you would be an attractive man." Riana snapped.

Mikey opened the opened the door to another room. It was lit by a skylight overhead and the green glow of jars upon jars of mutagen. His eyes widened at the contents of the room.

"There is enough ooz here to mutate half of New York." Mikey guessed aloud.

Four men who had been emptying boxes looked around shelves with almost comical simultaneous timing.

"I seem to have interrupted you. I'll uh… just be going." Mikey said as he starting backing back out the door. His retreat quickened as the men opened fire on him. Not taking the time to dally about in the hall. He charged into the next room, knocking over Baxter Stockman and another man in his less than graceful exit.

He locked the door then turned on the, thankfully, only two people in the room. It wasn't exactly hard to take out the one guy that was armed and when Mikey turned to face stockman he found that the man had locked himself in a cage beside Donny's.

Michelangelo hurried to the cage to check on his brother that appeared to be out of it. "Don?!" he called out in hopes of waking his brother only to find he was faking rest.

Mikey put his hand to his chest. "Oh, man you had me worried."

Don smiled at his brother. "Get the keys from Stockman."

Mikey looked at Stockman cowering in his cage and held out his hand. "Keys, dude."

Stockman shook his head. "Absolutely not."

"Man." Mikey hated having to do things the hard way.

"What do you want me to do with her?" Eric asked as he hulled Riana up by her hair.

Cael looked over the woman. "Take her to the basement; we'll see if we can get some answers. I'm sure the other mutants aren't far behind."

Eric nodded then shoved the half dressed woman into the arms of one of the men that had come down to watch. "Take her stuff too."

Riana stumbled as she was shoved down the hall by three men. One of which carried the rest of her cloths and her axe, all three trying to make her uneasy by talking about the different things that might be done to her.

She was grateful when they finally shut the hell up. Then she was grabbed by the arm and pulled to a stop. Anticipating the any number of atrocities that could be coming she decided she wasn't going to let it happen without a fight. So, as she was pulled back she spun around bringing her hand around in a stiff right hook.

Raph straitened himself from the surprise hit and rubbed his cheek, frowning at Ray ray. "Well that's one hell of a way to thank me."

Riana had never been so happy to see anyone ever. Except for when Raph had saved her from those dogs. Over joyed and almost knocking the poor turtle off balance she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him till he made her take a step back.

"Ok, focus." Raph said more to himself that to Ray ray.

Leo stood there with his arms crossed shaking his head at the two.

Riana gave Leo a hug that made him groan. "Careful." He smiled weakly as Riana stepped back. "I'm not a hundred percent."

"We'll get you fixed up." Riana promised before looking back to Raph. "Where's Don?"

As if on que Raph's phone began to buzz.

It hadn't been overly difficult for Mikey to get the keys from Stockman. All Mike had really had to do was shake the cage till the man thought he was going to be sick. It helped that Stockman was a bit of a coward. So now Mikey and Don Stood with their backs against the door to the main stair case trying to keep the men, that were trying to break down the door, at bay. Mike pushed back against the door with his phone to his ear hoping Raph had his on.

"Where you at Mike?" Raph asked on the other end, to Mikey's relief.

"In the stair well I found Don but no Leo." Mike explained.

"I got Leo. We're on our way."

Before Mike could warn him about the number of adversaries that were coming out of the wood works Raph had hung up. "I guess they are coming this way." Mike told Don.

Don nodded. Then both of them ducked down a couple of steps as someone opened fire on the door. Then jumped back up to try and keep it in place.

Leonardo instinctively took the lead, followed by Raph, and Riana, who was attempting to pull her clothes on as she jogged to keep up. They hurried down the hall in one direction only to find it led to an armory of sorts filled with pretty much everyone that had bothered to come to the main level for the strip tease.

"Wrong way." Raph stated.

"Yep." Leo affirmed.

They turned on their heels and ran, which Leo's injured leg didn't care for, in the opposite direction.

"Look." Riana pointed to a sign for stairs by a door.

A couple of armed men came busting around the corner in front of them guns blazing. Raph moved to guard Ray ray as he threw two shurican out to meet their foes. Raph's aim was true hitting one man between the eyes and the other in the arm.

Leo finished of the second man with knockout punch to the jaw as he ran by his focus on getting through the door to the stair well.

More of the Irish Mob were at their tails, firing off their guns.

Leo slammed through the door, once all three were through Raph forced it to close faster than the hydraulic door closer wanted to allow.

Riana used the chincy stopper on the hydraulic mechanism to "look" the door. "It will only slow them down.

They ran up the stairs past the second floor to where Don and Mike were holding up what was left of the door to the third floor.

Mikey threw a couple of punches through a large hole in the door.

"Move!" Raph bellowed as he charged up the stairs and rammed into the door snapping off what was left of its hinges, using it to push the enemy backwards slamming them into a wall. Those that were still able to move where quickly pummeled by Mike and Don.

"Which way to the roof, Mikey." Leo asked

"Third door down on the left." Mike answered.

They were cut off and could no longer go down. So, the Roof was their only chance of escape.

Leo hurried down the hall and slammed into the for mentioned door, hard, but the latch didn't give. Sounds of yelling came from both ends of the hall, apparently there were more rooms around the corner. 'Shit' they were surrounded. Leo drew his swords, ready to fight.

Mikey reached out and turned the handle. The door swung open. He chuckled and pointed the way through the door.

Leonardo rolled his eyes and then led they was to the roof. The turtles and Riana burst onto the roof only to be met with Casy against more of the mobsters. He was taking some down while dodging bullets from others. He was using the roofs skylight and air conditioners and various other structures as cover.

"Oh goodie, more!" Raph growled before joining the fight, flying forth like hell's vengeance.

Riana swung her axe with all the accuracy of a firefighter. She wasn't used to the way it felt when it hit human flesh instead of wood or wall. It made her cringe. But she powered through the feeling determined to not let the others down. They needed a warrior to have their backs not a helpless woman to protect.

The turtles definitely had an advantage with their built in armor and their skills as worriers, especially when working together, were very impressive.

Mikey may have been a show off and at moments a bit clumsy simply because he had a hard time not trying to respond to everything at once, but he was fast and his gymnastics were amazing. It didn't matter if it wasn't the ground, if it was solid he could and would jump off it or run along it as if the laws of gravity didn't apply to him. If asked, one of the mobsters might tell you trying to fight Mikey was like trying to fight an armored monkey on speed.

Don used his brains and bo to outdo his enemies, tricking them into situations of friendly fire or other means of causing them to take each other out. And those that didn't fall for it then became victim to his honed skills with the bo. Once an opponent was out of ammo the long reach of Don's weapon put him at a fantastic advantage. They couldn't get anywhere near him for any sort of hand to hand combat.

Leo's swollen eye made him blind on his left side for this fight. And he was grateful for splinter's thorough training of him and his brothers. He kept Casey on his left knowing he was covered there for the most part he could focus on his right. The only time he would have any issues was when Casey would fail to communicate, causing him to take a hit to his already sore body. But, upon realizing he had left Leo, Casey would return to help his friend.

"Hasn't marriage taught you anything about team work?" Leo complained.

"Hey I came back didn't I?" Casey fired back as his hockey stick slammed into another foe, the rush of the fight flowing through him. "Woo!"

Raphael stayed close to Ray ray in case she needed a hand. He was occasionally taking out multiple opponents by picking up one and throwing him into the others. Which wasn't really a ninja move but it was effective, as was using his size to simply plow through some of the opponents. Kind of like a ninja linebacker. Both skilled, forceful,… and effective.

Raph swung knocking another to the ground. "How you doing Ray ray?"

She was behind him swinging her axe and not doing a bad job holding her own. "I'm fine." She growled. "Worry about yourself."

Raph chuckled, as he swung again, his fist making contact with a man's jaw. "I love your enthusiasm." He performed a split kick hitting two more mobsters in the chest.

"I love you, too babe." Ray grinned, not realizing she had miss hear him. As she knocked a gun out of a man's hand and then introduced his face to the butt of her axe.

Her admission through him off guard a bit. 'Love him? Did she just say she loved him?' They had slept together for sure but,…He didn't get a chance to contemplate it further. One of the bullets found its mark in his shoulder while he was in mid kick. The hit knocked him off balance enough that he fell back running into Ray ray, her Axe flying up into the air.

He hit the ground and she landed on a sky light. He recovered his feet and reach for her. Their finger's just touching as the Axe came down hard on the glass.

She only had time to gasp before the glass shattered and Riana fell through. Raph reached as far as he could, almost falling himself, but she slid through his fingers crashing down into the room below. Boxes full of glowing jars busting open under her, the jars shattered, covering Riana with glowing green ooz.

A whispered "No." was all Raph could manage. It was like time stood still for him as he looked down at her. Blood dripping down his arm into the mess bellow, and the fight whirling around him.

Riana groaned as she came to. She rolled cutting herself on the broken glass as she tried to get up. She managed to get to her knees only to be met with pain so intense it took the breath out of her.

Then there was a sudden cracking as her shoulder blades lifted and turned, her ribs dislocating and spreading. She felt as if she was being ripped apart! Riana cried out a sound so pained and filled with agony it caught the attention of everyone conscious on the roof.

Her shoulder blades slid through her Rib cage. Her ribs themselves began to increase in width and thickness, tearing through her flesh. She could no longer hold herself up the pain was too intense. Tears, she couldn't even attempt to hold back, streamed down her cheeks.

Raph began to climb through the broken skylight, thinking to somehow help her.

Leo caught hold of his shoulder. "You can't go down there, Raph."

Raph gave Leo a steely glare. "Try to fucking stop me."

"There is mutagen everywhere." Leo explained. His own concern, for Riana, evident in his voice.

Raph looked down at Ray ray as she writhed in pain. Tears of guilt and anger stung his eyes. "No! We have to help her."

"Break open the sprinkler system." Don pointed out where the piping came into the room.

Riana cried out again as the growing bone suddenly burst through her skin. Scoots forming down her spine, her ribs turning into scoots of their own, long and wide, with twelve jags along the edge of her forming shell.

The mobsters suddenly left the roof through the door way, locking it behind them. Their original objective abandoned.

The turtles could have cared less about them at this point. They needed to help Raina.

Raph swung into the room cutting his hands on the broken edge of the skylight. He swung hard giving himself enough momentum to reach the ceiling, pulling his sai out as soon as he let go of the skylight edge. One sai implanted into the ceiling for anchorage the other into the sprinkler system.

Water sprayed into the room collecting blood, ooz, and glass, pushing it to the outer sides of the room.

Riana's ribs continued to spread over her belly waist and chest then up over her breasts. The water raining down upon her, washing away hair and skin, she couldn't handle the pain that was coursing through her body. It was the feeling of being turned inside out. She lost consciousness as she watched her former self drift away in the water.

When the mutagen had been washed away and all seemed clear, Raph released his sai from the ceiling then dropped down to Ray ray. Carefully he brought her into his arms.

"Ray ray." He whispered. He watched as the bones in her face moved and changed under dark green skin.

She was no longer recognizable as ever being human. The life she had known was now gone. Not even a shadow would be able to remain. Now no hair, her skin dark green with speckles of brown, and red marking the back of her head, arms, and legs. She had grown a tail, a shell that was black and brown, and a light brown carapace also marked with red at the edge of what used to be ribs.

Suddenly the Door swung open 20 or more Irish mobsters filtered in, followed by Cael Bigley.

"Well isn't this an interesting development." Cael grinned.

Raph glared at Cael as if trying to bore a whole right through him.

With an even thud, three more turtles and a masked vigilante came down like God's vengeance from above.

Cael's smile faded. "Bring her to me."

Without another word he stepped from the room.

The mobsters drew their guns and began to advance.

Raph gritted his teeth against the pain of his bullet wound as he lifted Ray ray and brought her to his chest.

"Clear a path." Leo ordered. "Raph, out the window."

Raph nodded, and without hesitation leaped out the nearest window, glass shattering and raining down on the lot bellow. Landing first on a truck then, tucking Riana close to him, rolled off to land solid on the ground. His brothers and Casey, who had remained in the building only long enough to ensure Raph could escape with Riana, followed out the window, Casey less gracefully.

Leo grimaced as pain shot through his leg, the bullets that buzzed overhead gave him the incentive to keep moving.

They dove into the sewers and made their way back through the tunnels to the armored vehicle and motorcycle.

Raph, clutching Ray ray to his chest, mounted the bike and took off. The others drove close behind, leaving Cael's men to shoot into the night.

* * *

**I totally went there by mutating Riana. sorry, but it just seamed right. Now I am struggling with whether or not to bring in female caricatures for the other guys or if I should just focus on Raph and Riana for now. let me know what you think. **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

April hurried about the layer making tea and food and playing nurse, and mom. She leaned over Leo's leg, as he lay propped up on the couch with cold compresses on his face, and looked at the nasty gash. It had been kind of cleaned, messily stitched, and terribly bandaged before she had gotten to it. She felt terrible for having to pull the stitching out and make it bleed again. First aid wasn't her something she had known until after knowing the turtles for a while. When it had become apparent, with their and Casey's vigilante pass time, that it was a good skill to put under her belt.

It pained Leo but he bore against it without complaint knowing it was necessary. He attempted to sip at the tea, April had given him, while she cleaned the wound. He made the tea his focus, breathing in the familiar scent of chamomile, a hint of mint, and green tea. It danced its way into his senses lingering, calming. He brought the cup to his lips to take a slow sip. A sudden jab to his leg snapped him back into the pain he was trying not think about. He groaned in response.

"Sorry Leo." April gave him a worried look as she applied even pressure to the wound while giving her daughter a stern look. "You can't jump on mommy right now."

Marie sucked on her thumb as she blinked at her mother. The dark haired, green eyed, little girl was absolutely adorable.

Leo gave her a soft smile and sat his tea on the tattered coffee table. "Come here cutie." He smiled at the little girl and opened his arms to her.

She tottled around her mother, tripping once, then climbed onto Leo's stomach and started drawing circles with her finger on his plastron.

Quietly he sang a soft, Japanese lullaby, grunting occasionally as April stitched up his knife wound.

Mike, Casey, and Don had blind folded Ike and taken him to a safe distance from the layer to do as was promised, releasing him to escape the city.

Raph sat on the floor with Splinter taking care of his bullet wound. He grimaced and clenched his jaw when splinter dug out the bullet with a long pair of tweezers. He breathed in sharply at the prick of the needle that Splinter began to stitch him with, but otherwise seamed to stair off into space. He was worried about Riana and felt guilty for letting her stay when she had shown up in the ally. He never should have let her enter that building. He frowned as guilt slowly turned into anger. The pricking at his shoulder wasn't improving his mood either. He gritted his teeth trying to keep from snap something cruel at Splinter.

They had definitely come home from fights in better condition, but they had probably come home in worse too, All except Riana.

Riana woke up in darkness. The feeling of a worn but thick blanket rested heavy against her skin. The room smelled like a mix between male musk (like how a man smells just after a workout before the se sweet goes stale), pizza… and leather? She started to stir and stretch but the soreness in her body caused her to groan and recoil. She tried to take a deep breath but the restriction across her chest and abdomen prevented it, like she was synched into a corset. Slowly she moved to sit on the side of the bed, a great weight on her back like she was wearing all her fireman gear. She took a slow shallow breath then moved unsteadily to her feet. She turned trying to find her way through the dark room. Thud! "Owe!" She didn't know what she hit her foot on, but it hurt, and it knocked her off balance, the weight on her back didn't help. Matter of fact it pulled her backwards until she crashed into some workout equipment, pulled over a shelf, and slammed into the wall causing a great deal of crashing and banging. Sitting beneath the mess, she whimpered.

Raph threw open the door flipped on the light. "Ray ray, you all right?" he hurried over to her and started moving things off of her. "What were you doin'?"

Riana closed her eyes against the sudden burst of light. "Trying to find the door." She looked around the room at the mess she made and frowned. "I'm sorry Raph."

"Don't waste your breath apologizing to me." He said as he helped her up.

She leaned against him, breathing in his leathery musk in short breathes. "Why am I so sore? Did I get my ass kicked as bad as I feel like I did?"

Raph gave her a puzzled look. "You don't remember?"

Riana started to shake her head but it hurt too much. So she grunted instead.

Leo, April, and Splinter were all looking in through the door, Marie still in Leo's arms.

"Are you alright?" Splinter asked.

"I think so." Riana answered.

"You sure?" Leo asked

"Ya." She said a little firmer puzzled as to why they kept asking her.

She looked up at Raph with the intention of letting him know he could let her go, but then she saw a green hand where HER hand should be. She stared at it for a long moment, then moved her fingers. Her eyes widened, It IS her hand.

"Ray…" Raph said as he watched her examine her hand.

"What happened?" she whispered.

Raph swallowed hard. He didn't want to tell her how he had failed her. "I, I um…" he cleared his throat as her gaze turned on him. "You fell, I tried to catch you, but I…I couldn't" He let go of her and took a step back. "The room you fell into, it, uh, was filled with mutagen…"

Her eye brows furrowed as she tried to process what he was saying. The possibilities started racing through her mind, and on top of it she could hardly breath. She ran her hands across her waist the feeling hard, cool bone caused her to look down at her plastron below that were green legs and green feet. She wiggled her bare toes. Her eyes shot back up to Raph, they were wide with shock. Raph's apologetic, please don't hate me, look didn't help her feel any better.

Suddenly she ran out of the room past Leo, April, and Splinter, catching the edge of her shell on the door jam knocking herself off balance again, she stumbled along the wall and tripped into the bathroom. With an oof, she caught and steadied herself on the bathroom sink. She took some shallow breaths then slowly looked up into the mirror.

Someone she had never seen before looked back. The reflection had her bright green eyes, but that was all that was familiar, what looked back at her… was a mutant turtle.

Suddenly the room began to spin as shock sank in. her legs suddenly went week and she stumbled to the side trying to steady herself with the toilet only to end up sitting on the floor in front of it. With her breathing unable to keep up with the demands of her rising adrenalin she fainted. Luckily Splinter had gotten to her in time to catch her head before it hit the edge of the shower.

Cael stood looking over his me, at least the ones that could fit in his office, in disgust. If it would have served any purpose other than making him feel better he would have put them all out of their misery and tossed them in the east river. However, he needed lackeys to fulfill his plans, even if they apparently needed some work… and you typically try not to kill family. "Bring me the girl. It should have been an easy task."

"They jumped out of the third story window." Eric explained. "And they don't fight like us."

Cael grabbed his son by the back of the head. "That's what guns are for."

"They can out maneuver them." Eric replied, trying to stay calm.

"Then use bigger guns." Cael let go of his son walked up to the wall behind his desk and pulled an old tommy gun, complete with a drum, down.

"1200 rounds per minute. Let's see them out maneuver that. Silent Jim!"

Cael turned to the quiet little man. "Get me guns, bazookas, rocket launchers, grenades, ARs, oozies, If it shoots I want it."

Silent Jim nodded then limped out of the room. The gunshot to the knee still pained him.

Cael turned back to Eric. "We are moving forward with our plans. Those creatures will show themselves eventually and when they do, you put them down. Now send me stockman." He turned to the rest of his men. "The rest of you get to work, cause if you fail me again I'll be sending you back to emerald isle in pine box, got it!"

Grateful to all still be standing everyone in the room left to do their Boss's bidding.

Cael sat at his desk and rubbed his temples, trying to ward off his oncoming head ache. He only got a few moments peace however.

Stockman quietly hurried into the office to stand in the middle of the room.

"Update." Cael ordered as he placed his elbow on the desk and leaned on as he pulled a cigar out of a wooden box, which sat on the desk, with his other hand.

Stockman shifted then approached the desk as he started talking. "We have plenty of the dogs about twenty. There five of the rihnosorus alligator mixes…"

Cael lit his cigar. "Why so few?"

"Your men only brought me three rihnosrus and three alligators; I assume it was what the zoo had." Baxter Stockman explained.

Cael nodded. "Continue."

"We have only three of the Lion lizards. But we have about thirty of those weird monkey things you wanted."

"Hmmm, the monkey things." Cael scratched his head. "Double it. Tell my men what you need and we will get. Also, I will send you some men. Make them…. more interesting."

"Are you sure you want to mutate your own men?" Baxter wasn't sure of what Cael was asking.

"If it will make them better equipped to handle those fucking turtles, yes."

"Very well." With that Stockman turned on his heels and headed for the ware house. He would have the needed, scientific help there.

Slowly Riana found her way back to the awake and looking up at Mikey's smiling face. He smelled like candy, some sort of corn chips, and pizza. Why had she never noticed their sent before?

"Hey welcome back, and welcome to the family babe." His smile Broadened.

Raph's face came into view as he gave Mikey a shove. "Knock it off."

"I'm just trying…"

"Well don't." Raph snarled before leaving Riana's view.

Mikey waved a hand at him dismissively and looked back down at Riana and took notice of her labored breathing. "You doing alright?"

"I feel like someone is sitting," breath, "on my chest."

"The plastron and carapace aren't as flexible as the rib cage she is used to." Don explained from somewhere behind Mikey, which explained the smell of chemicals and motor oil.

"Oh, no problem." Mike said in a chipper tone that made, the pained, Riana want to punch him. "All you gotta do is let your shoulders move when you breathe."

She gave him a thoughtful look as she tried to stretch. The new immobility she was experiencing was extremely frustrating. She couldn't arch her back, she couldn't breathe right, and her shell was so HEAVY.

Mike shook his head at her. "Just relax your diaphragm."

"She probably no longer has one." Don interrupted

Mikey rolled his eyes at Donny's interruption, "aaaand let your stretchy parts do the work. Like this." He took a deep breath letting his upper chest and shoulders stretch. "Moving your arms and stuff around helps too."

Since he could breathe fine she should be able to too, right? She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. It took a couple of tries but she finally managed a deep breath and then another one.

"There you go." Mikey praised.

Raph popped back into view. "How you doin', Babe?" he asked as he offered her a beer.

She smiled at him, then used Mikey as leverage as she sat up on the couch so she could accept the beer. She took a long drink then pressed the cold bottle to her head as she tried to just stop everything for just a second.

"Ray ray?" Raph didn't like that he hadn't got an answer from her. it worried him despite the fact that she was sitting up and breathing better.

She looked at him tiredly. "I'm as alright as can be expected Raph."

"Ray, I'm…" Raph started.

Ray ray reached up and cupped Raph's cheek, "Don't apologize again."

"I haven't yet." He frowned. As he took her hand in his.

"Then don't start." She took another sip of her beer.

"But,"

"It's not your fault." Riana gave Raph's hand a squeeze as she forced a small smile for him.

Than why did he feel so guilty? Raph swallowed hard.

"Well if it is any consolation you're totally the hottest turtle I've ever seen."

This earned Mikey a death glare from Raph.

Riana couldn't help but laugh at both Mikey's comment and Raph's reaction.

Don came over and sat on the end of the couch. "I think it would be a good idea to let you in on a few things to expect, because there are many arias that humans and turtles differ."

Riana just stared at him as she sipped her beer. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this. "You know Donny I think I am going to get drunk first." With that she stood up adjusted the extra fifty plus she was now carrying around on her back then walked to the kitchen as she finished off her beer.

Riana reached for the fridge door but was stopped when Leo placed a hand on the door face. His sent Chamomile, musk, and soap.

Riana narrowed her eyes at him.

"Alcohol is a dangerous crutch, Riana." Leo started.

'Was he seriously going to lecture her right now?' Raph frowned as he made his way across the Dojo to the kitchen. "Hey Leo, get your hand off the fringe and leave her the hell alone."

"Raph, drinking isn't a good way to deal with this." Leo said as he motioned to the entirety of Riana.

Riana ran a hand over her head with the intent to run her fingers through her non existing hair, then sighed. "Leo, you guys are awesome, but since I have started hanging out with you I have been chased, almost eaten, I have stripped for strange men, shot at, nocked through a window, and mutated. Tomorrow I will deal with this in an appropriate manner, but right now I'm drinking all of the fucking beer in that fridge." She crossed her arms in a no nonsense stance.

"You can't argue with that, Leo." Raph had reached Riana's side and was pulling open the fridge as Leo dropped his hand out of the way.

Leo could have but he decided it wasn't worth upsetting Riana any more right now. But he wasn't going to be a part of it. "Whatever you want to do, I'm going to go get some rest." Tired and sore the blue bandannaed turtle limped his way to his room.

Raph handed Riana a beer and opened one for himself.

"Hand me one too." Mikey said as he entered the kitchen.

"Me too." Casey chimed in. he and April had been watching the exchange from the kitchen table.

April gave her husband a kiss then headed Mikey's room where they had put Marie to bed.

Raph popped a couple more open and gave to Mikey and Casey, then over the course of the next few hours the four laughed, sang, and argued, and let Riana cry, their way to the very last beer.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Stockman pushed his glasses up his nose and stared at the woman in front of him. "What do you mean we need more animals? Why?"

The woman sighed. "It is the way the genetic altering plasma works. I can't create something out of nothing Dr. Stockman. It combines the genetics of the existing it doesn't create new." Mia was more than fed up with Stockman and his boss Mr. Bigley. The small statured woman was Japanese by dissent and a budding geneticist that had been showing a great deal of promise in the field. She was not working for stockman by choice, and was now subjected to creating and administering mutagen to animals instead of working on things that would someday save lives. Or so her plans had been.

"Then we will just have to get more animals. However Mr. Bigly wants us to extend the experiment." Stockman motioned to one of the guards.

Mia turned her attention to a young bouncy blond that was walking along the cages singing and dancing to whatever was blaring through her head phones, followed closely by a guard. Emily, who was studying to be an architect, had been Mia's roommate and best friend since Mia had come to America. Thanks to a roommate wanted add at the college. Emily's life was also why Mia stayed to work on mutating whatever they brought her.

Mia turned back to Stockman as the mob guard walked away to do Stockman's bidding. "Extend the experiment how?"

"There will be more animals here within the hour. I will choose a number of men…" Stockman said.

"Men? I am not mutating humans Stockman." Mia drew the moral line.

Stockman just grinned. "Andrew, remind Mia why she is working for me."

Emily's guard pulled a knife from his belt, caught Emily by the hair and pulled her head back placing the knife against her exposed neck.

In response Emily yelped and gripped the arm that was connected to the hand that held her hair.

"Wait. Ok, I'll do what you ask." Mia frowned.

"Good, walk me through the inventory." Stockman motioned for Emily to be released.

Emily kicked Andrew in the shin earning herself a glair, then fixed her head phones and returned to feeding the animals.

"Tell her to keep her hands out of the cages." Stockman motioned to Emily who was reaching a small hand through the cage bars to scratch a younger Canine behind the ear.

Mia ran a hand through her short hair. The pixie cut was much more efficient than having long hair. "They like her, that's why she feeds them." 'and she won't listen anyways.' Mia's thought continued.

Mia then began to walk Stockman through the maze of cages updating him on how the experiments were going, and giving him data specific to each new species.

The whole program was going better than expected.

A colorful spider monkey (not spider+monkey) jumped at the wall of its cage and screeched at Stockman, who immediately jumped back.

Emily quickly came running up and gave the little monkey a piece of fruit. It took it, screeched at Stockman again and flew off to another part of the cage.

"Look at that, it likes Stockman as much as the rest of us." Emily said sarcastically then skipped to the next cage to feed the animal with in.

Andrew rolled his eyes as he jogged to keep up with her. Following her around was exhausting! The girl never quit moving she even walked the around the cages in her sleep! If they didn't get this plan in motion soon he was going to lose it as strangle the girl with his own two hands. Instead he took satisfaction in knowing that the Emily and Mia were both loose ends that would eventually need to be tied up…. And drowned… or something. The guard smiled to himself as he entertained the possibilities. It wasn't so much that there was anything wrong with the girls they were pretty to look at and all but he could think of a thousand other things he could be doing besides following either of them around.

Riana sat on the Edge of Raph's bed quietly enjoying the dark listening to him breath as he rested. She found herself very much enjoying the solace of his dark room quite a bit over the last couple of days. There was no one, other than Raph, to ask her how she was doing or tell her how to do something. No reflections of her unfamiliar face, nothing other than the inability to leave to remind her of how much she had chainged.

Raph ran his hand up the back of Riana's shell sleepily feeling the ripples and curves of her scoots. Slowly he sat up and scooted next to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey." She said softly as she laid her head on Raph's shoulder.

"You alright?" he asked as he rubbed her arm gently.

"Ya." She lied. She didn't him to think that being a turtle, like him, was upsetting to her, even if it was part of it. Yes it fixed the complications that might have occurred between her and Raph before but so much had been lost for that. But she didn't know how to morn it all without him.

Having accepted her answer Raph found himself very much enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. He cupped her cheek bringing her to face him then, taking his time, he kissed her slow and deep, trying to coax embers into flame. Riana had been distant the last couple of days, and understandably so. But Raphael couldn't hold back his want for her any more. Especially now. He had thought she made an attractive human, sure, but she made one hell of a turtle! Never mind the fact that she was the only female mutant turtle in existence, she was his.

He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close so that their plastrons rubbed, then he let his fingers trail down her carapace till he could catch hold of the back of her shell.

When his desire became clear Riana broke the kiss. "I'm not ready Raph." She said softly as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

'What did she mean she wasn't ready a couple days ago she had been all over him!' Trying to keep his frustration at bay he slowly asked. "What do you mean?" as he nuzzled her neck, trying not to lose the moment he was trying to start.

Desperately needing to put some space between them Riana stood and backed away from the bed. "I mean I'm not ready."

Raph frowned, feeling confused by her change in attitude. "But the other day…"

"A lot has changed since then, Raph." How could she explain this to him? What this was like for her. This body was completely different from her human form. He had always been a turtle. Riana concentrated on taking a deep breath to try and help herself think.

"Like what?" He began to shift his weight the heavy weight of rejection beginning to ball up inside of him. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he glared at her with his piercing eyes. Angry with her for making him feel like a relationship was possible, for telling him she had loved him. Something she hadn't repeated since her mutation.

"Like what? Are you serious? Look at me. I needed breathing lessons for crying out loud. I don't know how anything works or where anything even is anymore." The lack of knowledge about her body was extremely frustrating. Especially right now when she would love to wrap up in Raphael's arms and forget just for a little while how much everything has changed, and how much she has lost. Riana had been able to hold herself together for the most part aside from her first night as a turtle, but she could blame that on the beer. She still needed to give the fire station some excuse and what would she tell her father? She doubted the truth would settle in well.

Riana took another deep breath as she fought back the urge to cry.

Raph shook his head statement. "It probably hasn't changed that much. If anything we're more…" he waved his hand around as searched for the word, "compatible."

"I have a tail." Ray ray said flatly.

"So do I." Raph was really not understanding the problem. But then again he wasn't new to being a turtle.

"But you've always had one. I don't know how anything works anymore." She reiterated. "By being compatible does that mean I can get pregnant…. or whatever turtles do."

Raph was taken aback by the thought. Have children? He could possibly be a father? Sure the thought of what it would be like had crossed his mind one or twice around the time Casey and April had Marie but he had known better than to entertain the impossibility for more than a second.

"Eggs." He informed.

"What?"

"Turtles lay eggs."

Riana paled at the idea. "I'm not laying eggs." She stated then noticing Raph's thoughtful expression asked, "Do you want any?"

Raph shrugged. "Never really thought I had the option. But a lot of things have happened that I never thought would."

Riana sighed and leaned back against the dresser. "Tell me about it." She needed the 'how turtles work' talk from Don as much as she dreaded it. "Let me talk to Don and figure some of this out, ok?"

Raph frowned but nodded. As bad as he wanted to lay her down in his bed he wasn't going to push her. Besides, she was right, there were definitely new 'complications' to consider.

Riana gave the disgruntled Raphael a quick kiss then hurried out the bedroom door determined to finally have the conversation, with Donatello, that she had been avoiding for the last two days.

In The main layer the T.V. flickered silently as Mikey played a video game, he was attempting to keep somewhat quiet for his brother who occupied the couch.

Riana slowed as she passed the couch where Leo was resting.

Though a lot of the swelling had gone down in his face a great deal of bruising had surfaced. He looked like he was in less pain but still needed to heal. Between Leo's and Raph's injuries the group had decided to take some time to heal, and allow Riana to get used to her new form, before following up on Cael Bigley, who seemed to have gone unnervingly quiet.

Riana placed a gentle hand on the turtle's forehead to check for fever, earning a tired and incoherent mumble from him. When she was satisfied than Leo was doing as well as could be expected Riana removed her hand and moved on toward Donnie's lab.

"Hey Don." Riana smiled softly as she started to come around the table.

"Hey." Don answered the greeting without looking up from what he was doing at his computer. He had hacked into New York's security cameras and was watching for anything that might pertain to Bigley and his men.

"Umm…Don, can we talk?" Riana said as she tried to make her way around the table. But she miss guessed the size of her shell, for the umpteenth time, andnocked into a shelf sending a cascade of books down on herself.

Don jumped up and began righting the shelf before it gave way completely. "You alright."

Riana nodded and picked up a couple of the books. "I'm sorry Don, you would think after carrying around an oxygen tank all the time I would be able to handle a shell fine, but it's a bit bulkier" As Raina turned to put the books on the shelf she bumped the table hard.

Both Don and Riana winced at crashing and shattering sounds as a portion of Don's chemistry set fell to the floor.

A pathetically apologetic look crossed Riana's face as she looked up at Don, who was letting out a slow deep breath. All the noise had also gotten the attention of everyone else in the layer.

"Oh man." Mike could be heard from his spot on the floor of the living room area.

"Is everything alright?" Splinter asked as rounded the corner.

Don nodded and started to answer his sensei when Riana interrupted him.

"I am so sorry, Don. I'll help you clean it up." Riana said as she started to move further into the lab.

Don quickly put his arm out to cut off her path. An action he immediately regretted.

Riana's tried to stuff her frustration down to where she had stuffed most of her feeling toward her new form but apparently she couldn't hold down any more. Her lip started to quiver as she tried swallow down the over flow of emotions that were threatening to erupt.

Feeling guilty for getting upset Don reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's just glass." He said, not wanting to be the one that brought everything, she wasn't talking about but was undoubtedly feeling, to the surface. "I'll get it, but I think we should talk…"anywhere where there wasn't so much breakable stuff… "in the kitchen." He tried to give her a reassuring smile.

Riana took a deep breath and nodded, then slowly and carefully turned around and guided the way to the table.

Don took a look at his partly demolished lab, sighed as he tried to contain his own frustration, and followed Riana to the table.

Riana sat at the table for a moment with Don staring patiently at a tea cup, splinter had left when the lab had crashed, while she found the gumption to ask him about what she needing to know. "I need to know how my body works." She finally blurted out.

Don blinked at her. "Oh. You're ready to know now?"

"Yes, that's why I brought it up."

He had been ready to explain everything before simply because they were all in the moment of the change but suddenly he felt verry unprepared. "Um, well where you would like me to start?"

Riana thought about that for a second, as she let her attention drift to Raph, who was working off some of his pent up tension in the open Dojo, then with a sigh looked back to Don. "I don't know where to start, Don."

"Ok, I'm going to assume you know something about human biology and anatomy, and give you some of what I know about turtle biology. Now my brothers and I are more on the turtle side of this spectrum cause we were originally turtles and our DNA was never mixed with human DNA. How we are is just how we mutated so If you want more information on us…"

"Don, let's just start with how I've changed ok." Riana interrupted.

Don shifted in his seat and leaned on the table. "I don't know how you have changed Riana. Without studying you I can't know."

Riana started shaking her head. "No offence to you as a scientist, or what ever, but I don't want you all up in my business, Don."

Don nodded his understanding on that matter. "Then all I can do is give you some information on turtles. Your changes will fall somewhere in between the human/turtle spectrum, so to speak. Probably more on the human side but I don't know at this point."

"Ok." Riana leaned back in her chair. "Give me what you got."

He knew he was capable of giving her a lot more than she could take in in one sitting so he decided to keep to the basics. "Well, we aren't tortoises, we are turtles. I'm not sure exactly what kind but we were origanaly some genus of river or pond turtle. Some basic information, your shell is made from your spine and ribs, it's all one piece…"

"That explains the lack of flexibility." Riana griped.

"Yes." Don Continued. "The belly side of your shell is called a plastron the back is a carapace. The sections of the carapace are called scoots…"

Riana nodded as she tried to follow Donnie's lengthy description of the different 'basic' parts of a turtle's body. His explanation had taken nearly the hole afternoon, and Riana had honestly only grasped half of what he had said… maybe. She hadn't realized there was so much information on turtles.

By now Mikey was bustling about the kitchen making dinner with Raph fallowing behind him picking at things as Mikey prepared them. Leo had found a seat at the table and was half listening to the information Don was giving while Splinter made tea.

Donnie's explanation continued about scales, shedding, and so on then he got to the tail, which is what Riana counted as the greatest mystery on her new body. She had learned firsthand, via Raph, that it was where the boys' reproductive organs were hidden.

"A turtle's tail is kind of a multipurpose organ." Don continued over the noise of mike and Raph scuffling over dinner's ingredients. "Females have shorter tails than males. Both have what is called a Cloaca."

Riana raised an eye ridge having never heard the term before.

Leonardo, having no desire to be anywhere near a female during Donnie's undoubtedly in depth description of the birds and the bees for turtles, got up from the table and limped his way to the kitchen. It wasn't so much that he couldn't handle the conversation it was more that he didn't want to think of Riana as an option. Already, having only one female turtle among four males was bound to cause problems on it's own, no matter where her heart sat on the subject. It would with any species. So, Leo busied himself with washing dishes as Mikey dirtied them, glancing over his shoulder to catch the grimace on Riana's face obviously not overly excited about some of the information.

"Everything comes out of the same place?" Riana asked, her expression telling Don she wasn't thrilled about this aspect of being a turtle.

"Well, ya. I mean sort of." Don rubbed the back of his head as he tried to figure out a way to make it sound more aesthetically pleasing to her. "Everything converges in one general area like humans, turtles just converge internally."

It didn't help.

Riana tried to wrap her head around what that meant as far as intercourse went. Then decided to move on to her next concern before Don got going on some long tangent in regards to the parts of her she didn't want him thinking too much on. "So turtles have eggs right?"

Don nodded.

"Like chickens?" Riana grimaced at that idea as well.

Splinter sat the steaming tea pot on the table then made his way back to the table to get enough cups for everyone.

"No not really like chickens. Turtles don't cycle quite the same. And honestly, Riana, I am not sure you would lay eggs." Don reached for a plate from where Raph sat the stack before pulling out a chair next to Riana.

Leo, Mikey, and Splinter also took their seats at the table bringing with them food, cups, and silverware.

Don got himself a helping of food as he continued. For once dinner didn't consist of pizza and pizza alone, but instead it was some sort of rice casserole. "You may have retained enough of your human genetics that you may still carry internally if you are genetically compatible enough and saying that the mutation of you or Raph didn't leave either of you sterile, which is highly possible. And if you don't lay eggs and do still carry internally your plastron wouldn't expand, even if it is hinged, to be able carry a fetus to term, at least not to nine months. However the gestation of a turtle is shorter. Again I have no way of knowing about gestation of a turtle like us. I can say that if it is possible the offspring would not be a mutation so much as a new species."

Riana sat there for a moment letting the information sink in as everyone around her filled their plates. She watched the four turtles and the old rat as the conversation moved on to things she wasn't listening to. Her mind so full from the information, her heart so heavy from the loss of the life she had known, and her body so tired from all the change. She needed a break from all this, Mikey's busy noise, Don's wealth of information, Leo's insistence that she takes the time to get used to her body before she goes back to the surface for any reason, Splinter's agreement on the matter, and even Raph's attempts at gaining her attention and affections. It was all too much for her right now. Suddenly she stood up, she wanted to run, but she forced herself to take much slower steps toward the garage.

"Where ya going?" Raph asked.

"For a walk… around the garage." She said softly giving his shoulder a squeeze as she walked past.

Raph sighed as he watched her leave. She hadn't been her firey self lately, matter of fact she had been distant, quiet, and cold. And he had no idea how to help her. He moved to follow her but was stoped when Leo caught his arm. "Give her some time to sort through things Raph."

Raph started to shake his head.

"I'm not suggesting forever. Just long enough to digest everything Don just told her."

Raph watched the ladder that led to the garage for a moment then decided he would give her ten minutes. But after that it was time for her to learn how to move forward in her new life.

* * *

** this was kind of a bridge chapter...I don't like writing bridge chapters but we have to have them. **


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

He gave her a little longer than ten minutes when all was said and done. Then he fixed a plate for her and went to the garage to coax Riana into eating. However when he got there she was gone, as was his motorcycle…again. He was momentarily pissed about the motorcycle, then the worry set in.

"Damn it." He cursed before he turned and hurried back into the main part of layer. "Ray ray took off I'm gunna go look for her." He said to the room in general as he placed Riana's dinner on the table.

Leo gave Raph a puzzled look. "What do mean took off? Where did she go?"

Raph stopped mid turn to return Leo's look with and irritated one. "I mean took the fuck off, and if I knew where I wouldn't have to look for her."

Leo shook off his surprise. He and Splinter had told Riana several times that she needed to stay below ground and she had said on each occasion that she understood. "Sorry, we'll help you look."

"How the hell you gunna help me look, Leo? You can hardly walk." Raph shook his head as he walked toward the exit. Running his hand over his head as he tried to think of where his Ray ray would have gone… and why. "Nah, I got it."

"Hey, three heads are better than one, man." Mike said putting a hand on Raph's shoulder. "We'll check April's then split up if she's not there. Ok?"

Even Don had to admit it was a good plan. He picked up his bo and slipped it into his belt as he stood up, and joined two of his brothers as they headed for roof tops.

Casey had his feet up on the coffee table and an Iced Coke in his hand as he laid back on the couch watching some pointless T.V. about worst crashes, and he loved every minute of it. This was the little bit of time, between work and family, he got to just relax and do whatever he wanted. Then in the next couple seconds his wife would have their daughter to bed and she would slip into the living room and snuggle up with him to watch whatever he had on. Sometimes he would just rest his hand on her waist and enjoy her presence other times that hand on her waist would find other interesting things to do.

Tap tap tap…

But apparently tonight wasn't going to be a night for either pastime. Casey let out a little sigh then stood up to greet the three green, worried faces at his window.

"Hey guys what's up?" he asked as the turtles climbed through the window.

"Is Riana here by chance?" Donatello asked as he straightened up.

Casey shook his head. "No, I haven't seen her. I don't know if April has heard from her though."

Casey started down the hall as April stepped out of their daughter's room. "Have you heard from Riana, Babe?"

"No. Why?" April said after quietly closing the bed room door and walked into the living room to find her unexpected company standing around her coffee table.

"She's missing." Raph explained in almost a growl.

"We were hoping you might know where she went." Mikey said with a shrug.

"Well," April took a moment to think. "If I was her I would be pretty upset I would probably want to go somewhere I felt safe, like home or I would maybe just try to get out and clear my head."

"I'd go kick some ass." Casey mumbled.

Raph nodded. "Mike, you take the roof tops close to the layer that we haven't already crossed. Don, check around Bigley's. If you see anything call Mike and I. We'll get our tails over there."

"Why aren't you taking Bigley's? Going to where there are people to beat up is kind of your thing." Don commented.

"I'm hoping she's as smart as I think she is and went home." The worry in his voice betrayed his tuff demeanor.

Don nodded. "We'll find her, Raph." He tried to encourage his brother who was already hurrying out the window.

Casey glanced at April.

"Go on then." April said crossing her arms in mock agitation as she answered the unspoken question.

Donatello quietly made his way to ground level across from where they had fought Bigley. He scanned the building looking for some evidence of life. But, there seemed to be no one. No vehicles anywhere and all was dark.

He checked for human presence before he quickly crossed the street sliding to a stop at the next best hiding spot. Looking up he could see where they had all jumped out the window.

Ducking from shadow to shadow Don made his way to a fire escape and pulled the ladder down. It was easier to pull down than he had expected thus coming to the end of its self in a loud crash. Not waiting to be discovered Donatello dove behind a dumpster and waited for someone to investigate the noise.

He hunched himself low and forced himself to breath slow, deep and quiet, as he listened beyond the sound of his own heartbeat.

A minute passed. Then five minutes passed. Yet no one came.

Slowly Donnie moved so he could see the rest of the way down the alley.

No one.

In a much quieter fashion Donnie hurried up the fire escape. At first he was taking the stairs then deciding it wasn't efficient or quick enough he ninjaed his way up the rest.

Once on the roof he looked down through the broken sky light. The room below was dark so Donnie pulled out a small LED flash light and shown it about the room before hopping down. He swept the room with his flashlight to find… nothing. The room that had stored hundreds of jars of mutagen was now empty. Not one jar was left.

"Hmmm.." Don said out loud. He moved through the third floor in much the same way, only to find nothing. He relaxed considerably as he made his way through the building finding it completely empty.

'Since I'm in the aria, I'll scout out that ware house Ike was talking about.' Donatello thought to himself, fully expecting it to be as empty as the building he was in.

Mikey had found well, about as much as Donnie did. So he whistled as he walked across roof tops and poked around alley ways looking for Riana. In one of which he found half a bag of perfectly good jelly beans!

He looked around to make sure they didn't belong to anyone before popping a couple in his mouth. His whistling changed to muffled humming as he poked behind some garbage before moving on to the next alley where he sat on the roof edge munching his jelly beans and watching some of New York's homeless meandering about bellow.

Things were actually sounding rather peaceful in this side of New York City. Mikey popped another jelly bean in to his mouth then immediately spit it back out. "Yuck, coffee flavor."

He was just about to hurriedly pop another flavor of jelly bean into his mouth when a crashing sound, which was followed by some cussing, came from across the street.

Intrigued, Mikey walked to the edge of the building to try and see what was going on. But since the noise had come from the alley beside the building opposite him, he couldn't see much except the white box truck that blocked the entrance to the alley.

"Well, nothing better to do." He said to the night. Then using his nunchuku slid down a cable to the smaller building. Voices could be heard as he got closer to the edge.

"Go left. LEFT!"

There was a thud then a curse. "Damn it man, is it your left or my left?!"

"My left you idiot."

Michelangelo looked over the edge and watched as two men were loading an aquarium of lizards into the back of the box truck.

"Come on. We need to get this done and get the hell out of here."

The two picked up their pace as they hurried back into the shop.

Mikey jumped down on to the roof of the van as stealthily as possible. Then, laying on his belly leaned himself over the edge till he could see into the box truck.

Inside the floor was covered with cages and tanks of assorted animals. A black lab puppy whined in its kennel as it sat amidst a few other puppies. There were box turtles, and ferrets, a parrot, cats, and other assorted animals that can be found at a pet store.

Mikey looked up as the door to the pet store opened. As the men argued their way out of the door, carrying a cage of genie pigs, Mikey gracefully swung himself down to the street in front of them.

"A little late for pickups don't you think boys." He grinned as got his nunchuckus swinging.

Donatello looked down on the ware house from the rafters above, not at all pleased with the view bellow.

At the back of the ware house were the cages upon cages of mutant animals with a blond girl bouncing around among them, being followed by a disgruntled looking man. The number of mutants that was made wasn't a pleasing sight in its self. At the front of the ware house a man sat in a chair as he breathed deeply trying to stay calm. Baxter Stockman filled a vile of glowing mutagen, as another scientist, a lovely, short haired, Japanese woman, filled a syringe with something clear.

Don scanned the well light space below for some cover so he could get closer to what was going on. Crates of animal food gave him what he needed. Carefully he swung down from the rafters above to the stacked crates marked dog food. 'Whatever it is they are trying to pull off, it can't possibly be cost effective.' He thought to himself as he climbed down the crates and stealthily made his way as close to the scientists as he could safely get.

"Just a little poke." Mia said to the man that was seated before her as she positioned the needle on the man's arm. She hesitated for just a second. A second for remorse for what she was about to do the man in front of her. 'I'm sorry' she thought to the man. Press. Push fluids. "DNA is in the bloodstream, Dr. Stockman."

Donatello's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. Thinking, quickly sorting through the possible reaction options, Don scanned the aria for items that might be use full in a plan.

Mikey moved like lightening, his nunchuku whipping about like a whirlwind as he showed off his skills with the weapons.

The two men looked at each other then, both thinking on the same wave length, threw the Ginnie pig cage, complete with ginnie pigs, at the giant turtle.

Mike dove out of the way as the cage flew by landing safely in the truck. The ginnie pigs only slightly frazzled.

"Not cool." Mike narrowed his eyes at the pet shop thieves, then shifting his weight he lunged at the two men.

Who ducked and scrambled for their weapons as they ran for cover inside the pet shop slamming the door behind them.

"Do you think we can take him?" One thief asked.

The other looked through the skinny door window as he turned the lock. "I don't know. Maybe if it's just the one. But did you hear how they trashed the hide out?"

Mikey walked up to the door and tried the door knob. It didn't work. So he knocked on the door and waved at the man peering out at him.

The man shook his head at the turtle.

"Hmm." Mikey placed a hand on his chin as he thought. "Now what would Leo do…" He said as he looked around himself for an idea.

Baxter Stockman prepared to pour his vial of mutagen on the subject seated with his back to him, only to have the vile knocked from his hand by a flying shuriken. "What the…"

The attention off all three went to the food crates.

Don had thought up five different courses of action that would have had the same outcome and given him a better escape plan, but they all would have taken more time than what was aloud.

"Guards!" Stockman shouted. Within seconds a good number of Bigley's men started flooding the Isles of the ware house.

"Time to go." And it was looking like up was the best out. Taking a few quick steps Donnie used his bow to launch himself up onto the crates just in time for bullets to start whizzing by his head. he took a couple evasive maneuvers the slammed himself into another stack of crates sending it crashing to the ground.

Bigley's men scattered and then ducked under the explosion of dog food that burst out of the crates.

Mia watched with pure scientific fascination as the turtle in purple, belt, and spinning bo out maneuvered bullets and defied both gravity and the resistant stiffness of his shell as he almost flew into and across the rafters. His slim features and toned lean body moved with such purpose without a single miss step. Mia gasped at his magnificence. "Where did he come from?" she asked as another thought occurred to her. "Cause I didn't make him."

"Of course you didn't." Stockman frowned as he watched the turtle swing himself out the window he most likely had come in.

Mia blinked at him. "Well as long as you know."

Stockman turned back to the man that had been in the chair and was now standing with his weapon drawn and hot. "Where were we?"

Emily had watched the excitement from the cover of one of the cages, and was just now venturing out. She shared a worried look with Mia but when Mia pulled her gloves on and motioned for Emily to make herself scarce. Emily gladly did what her friend thought was best. Quietly she took full advantage of the distraction to her guard and slipped out a side door. Making a silent promise to her friend to be back to help her. A quick moving shadow drew her attention as the chaos maker made his escape down the alley. Emily's tennis shoes padded softly under her petite size as she followed after the shadow, If she hadn't been one who enjoyed running regularly she never could have kept up with him. And by keep up with him, it was more like she was just barely able to keep from losing him.

Raph entered the apartment through the kitchen window and looked around, followed by Casey. There was a shoe box sitting on the folding card table, that sat by the kitchen wall, with pictures strewn around it. Raph walked up to the table and pushed around the pictures as he glanced over them. They were of family outings and what not. In some of them Riana as a young girl, before the fire, being with her mother and father, other photos were of after the fire when her burns were fresher. A school dance, outings with friends, a barbeque, the fire station crew, little snippets of Riana's life, evidence of her existence and imprint on humanity. Raph sighed as he looked over the rest of the apartment. Not much else was out of place except the couple of beer bottles on the counter. The apartment was mostly quiet except for the sound of the shower running. So he followed the sound.

Casey picked up one of the beer bottles to see if he could tell how long they had been there. He didn't have a chance to comment as Raph was already heading down the hall.

The mirror on the bathroom door was shattered. Raph's heart began to pound as he slowly pushed open the door, terrified of what he me might find behind it, terrified to the point that when Casey put a hand on his shoulder he jumped. Raph shot Casey an annoyed look then turned back to the bathroom.

Condensation dripped down what was left of the bathroom mirror on the wall, glass littered the counter and floor like a reflective mine field. Carefully Raph stepped slowly through the glass picking his way so not to cut his bare feet. They were thick and callus, but not impervious.

Casey waited by the bathroom door as he watched his friend hesitate and then reach for the shower curtain.

Raph took a deep breath as he pulled back the shower curtain.

Riana sat at the bottom of the tub with her knees drawn up to her chest and her face buried in her arms. She seemed unscathed for the most part, except the fact that her skin appeared to be scrubbed raw and the water that was washing over her had gone cold leaving her color a mix between green, and underlying shades of red, and blue.

Raph reached in and turned off the water. When he looked back at her, Riana was watching him with red rimmed eyes.

"You alright, babe?" It was a stupid question, he knew it, but it came out anyway, almost involuntarily. He shook his head at himself, then asked what he really wanted to know, "What's going on, Ray?"

"I don't want you to hate me." She said, her voice soft and pitiful. Not her typical stand her ground, don't back down self.

The statement its self was hard to hear. God, this mutation had done a number on her. Still she had tried to bare it on her own. Raphael wanted to scoop her up out of that bath tub, he wanted to make her hurting stop. But he didn't know how. Being comforting wasn't something he was good at and he didn't think telling her to 'man up and deal' would be the best choice either. Maybe if he got her talking she would be able to work through it a little. "Why would I hate you?"

"I'm not exactly embracing this." She sniffed. Ashamed, she hid her face in the crook of her arms. How do you tell a man that part of your upset is because you are like him. The last thing Riana wanted was to make Raph think any less of himself. Because she thought he was amazing.

Raph nodded to Casey giving him the clue to leave the bathroom. Which Casey happily did to avoid the awkward place he found himself and to go find a spot on the couch in front of the T.V.

"Well, it ain't exactly like you asked for it, Ray ray." Raph stated as he looked back to Riana. Careful to avoid the broken glass on the floor Raph climbed into the tub and sat in front of her. It was a standard sized tub so with their shells leaving little space Raph had to maneuver his legs around hers. He gently placed a hand on the top of her head. "Talk to me Riana. Don't try to carry this by yourself."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she listed to him. He was right. This was far more than she could bear alone. "Do you know what it is like to not recognize your own reflection?" She asked from behind the cover of her arms.

"No." Raph thought about her question for a moment. "But, I know what it is like to not like what I see."

Riana looked up at him then, her green eyes bright and moist from tears. "I have always thought that you and your brothers were a lot of things…" She swallowed down the frog in her throat. "Interesting, fascinating, fantastic, beautiful, but I never once thought of you as a monster."

She relaxed her grip on her legs and whipped away tears and water from her face with the back of her hand. "But I think I am starting to understand what it is like to feel like one."

Raphael frowned deeply. That was the last thing on earth he would have ever wanted her to feel like, the way he felt every time he was under the scrutinizing gaze of a human. Not sure what to say to ease the feeling he reached out and pulled her to him wrapping his big arms around her and laying her head down against his chest.

Riana didn't fight him or insist that she was fine any longer. Instead she buried her face in his hard, ungiving chest and curled up in his arms. "I feel like a ghost. I wouldn't be surprised if my father or the fire station already had a missing persons report out on me. And when nothing is ever found they will have a funeral… I am dead, Raphael, dead to everyone I knew, everyone I loved, everyone except you and your family."

Raphael ignored the pain in his shoulder as his arms tightened around Ray ray and his chin came to rest on the top of her head. He was beginning to understand just how much she had lost, and all she had gained was him.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way." He whispered Horsley as he fought to hold back his own emotions coaxed out by his empathy for the woman wrapped up in his arms. The one he knocked into the skylight, the one he didn't catch. "I am so sorry."

Riana adjusted herself in Raph's arms so she could see his guilt ridden face, new tears trailing slowly down her own. "It's not your fault." She said firmly. "It just happened."

Raph didn't agree but he also didn't say so. He simply nuzzled her neck as he pulled her close.

"If anyone is at fault it's me. I should have listened to you and stayed behind. All you have tried to do is protect me. I have been so stubborn." She looked back up at him again. "I love you for that, Raph."

Raph closed his eyes as he soaked in her words. "I love you too, Ray ray."

Don caught finally came to a stop in front of Mikey who sat against the back door a pet shop. He looked between Mikey and the box truck of animals as he caught his breath. "What are doing?"

Michelangelo grinned up at his brother. "I caught these two guys robbing the place of its animals. When they saw me they ran back inside and locked the door. So, I thought I would do what Leo would do."

Donatello blinked at Mikey. "And you thought Leo would… sit down in front of the door?"

"Well, no." Mikey started. "But you called so I figured I would guard the door till you got here. Cause you have a lock pick and stuff."

Don rubbed his temples. "Mike this place has a front door right?"

Mikey shrugged. "I'm sure it does."

"Then don't you think if they can't get out the back door they would go out the front."

Mikey thought about that for a moment. "Shit."

"Yep." Don sighed then gave his brother a hand getting to his feet, not that he needed it.

"What about the animals," Mikey gestured to the box truck. "and the girl?"

Donnie gave Mikey a confused look. "Girl?"

Mike pointed to a young blond woman leaning against the box truck gasping to catch her breath.

"Shit." Don said as he recognized her from the ware house.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Riana carefully placed an old, wooden, jewelry box, which did not hold any jewelry, into a duffle bag nestling it between her box of pictures and some jerseys from her favorite sports teams, somewhere in the bag was also her tooth brush among some other things she wasn't sure would need now that she was no longer human. She let out a long sigh as she looked around the bed room. Most everything else was no longer any use to her.

"Anything else you want to take?" Casey asked as he leaned against the door jam.

Riana shrugged, "I don't know what they need."

"He didn't ask what we needed." Raph said as he pushed his way past Casey and tossed another full bag onto the bed and turned to Riana. "What do you WANT to take?"

Riana looked down at the two duffle bags that rested on her bed. "You got my computer, and my camera?"

"And a few other things that looked important." Raph said as he zipped up the one open duffle bag.

"Then I guess we're good. I don't think I will need much else."

Raph nodded and tossed one of the duffle bags to Casey. "I'm gunna give her a ride back on my bike. You mind taking that bag to the layer."

Casey slung the bag over his shoulder. "Sure not a problem."

"Thank you Casey." Riana gave the man a smile.

The three made their way out the window and down the building. Riana looking back one last time to tell herself that everything that had been left was just stuff.

Casey headed out to walk the streets of New York back to the layer as Riana positioned her duffle bag and climbed onto the back of his motorcycle.

"Ray," Raph looked over his shoulder at her, "You gotta stop taking my bike. It's gunna piss me off."

"Funny, I thought it already had." Riana tried to tease.

"No, I'm taking it easy on you, and that is only cause of all the shit that's been going down."

Riana leaned wrapped her arms around Raph and rested her head against his shell. "Then I guess we will just have to talk Don into building me one."

Raph Smiled at the feeling of having her close as he pulled on his helmet, which did little to cover the rest of him, and fish tailed out of ally to get Riana to hold on just a little tighter. He stuck to the less used roads and darker back ways as he took the long way round.

Riana watched the buildings go by breathing in the smells of city and change as she let go of her past and held tight to her future.

Emily frowned at the turtle that stood in front of her, thinking that it would have been a much better idea if she had gone to the police. The turtle in front of her was shaking his head, his blue bandana tails flipping about behind him.

"Are you serious Donnie?" The turtle said as he motioned to Emily.

Emily felt like she was a kid in the principal's office. Slowly she brought her knees up to her chest, her bright blue eyes taking in her situation. She bit her lip as her gaze moved to an elderly rat that was also frowning down at her and appeared to be taking slow, calming breaths.

"Well, you see… she kind of followed me, and then Mikey had this idea..." The turtle with the purple bandana tried to explain.

"You let Mikey talk you into this?" The turtle with the blue bandana sounded exasperated.

"Leonardo."

The rat spoke too! Emily's eyes widened for a second. This had definitely been the weirdest last few of months ever!

Splinter turned to the fidgeting, orange clad turtle, "Explain yourself, Michelangelo."

"Well, Don said she had been at the place they have all the animals they are mutating, sooo, I thought we could get some information from her." Mike said with a nervous smile.

Emily chirped up then. "I will tell you anything you want, just pleeeease don't let the rat eat me."

Her statement got a chuckle out of Mikey, an eye role from Leo, and a look of surprise from Donnie and Splinter.

"Rats don't eat people." Donnie informed.

"Yes they do! I saw bone collector, thank you very much." Emily's voice shaking more than she had intended.

Don blinked at her, "…. They don't typically eat people."

"I will not eat you." Splinter attempted to assure the girl. "What is Cael Bigey planning?"

"I don't know." Emily said as she shook her head.

Leo sighed and took a couple pained steps closer. "What do you know?"

"Well, I know that when they are done with the sciency stuff Mia and I are gunna be getting to know the fishes at the bottom of the east river, if you know what I mean." Emily nodded to emphasize her point.

"And who is Mia?" Leo asked as he crossed his arms.

Emily shifted her weight nervously, under Leonardo's scrutiny, then looked down at her bright pink tennis shoes as she put her feet back down on the floor. "Mia, is the scientist that they made create the mutagen." Emily looked back up at Leo, his steely expression hadn't changed. "She didn't want to. We were taken by the dudes in the suits. At first she refused. And then… then," absentmindedly Emily ran her fingers over her throat. "they threatened to kill me. Mia wouldn't let that happen."

"I thought Baxter Stockman was Bigley's scientist." Donatello voiced.

"He is head scientist I think. Mia is a geneticist. I guess they needed one for what they are doing."

"What is the point?" Leo asked as limped his way to chair. "What are they going to do with all the mutants?"

Emily thought about that for a second. "Well, I overheard Jeffry, my guard, say something about turning them out on the city. I don't know what Bigley is trying to accomplish by that though."

The sound of the hatch door opening pulled everyone's attention.

Emily turned on the couch to watch the slightly disheveled and dark haired man climb down the latter.

"Did you find Riana?" Splinter asked.

"Yep." Casey answered as two more turtles climbed down the latter behind him.

Emily's eyes widened at the one in red. She could honestly say that between his size and heated demeanor, he scared the hell out of her, even more than the rat. The female was much smaller, more delicate in appearance. All though, a prison looked more delicate than the turtle in red, in Emily's opinion.

"Who's the blond?" the turtle in read asked gruffly.

Emily ducked down till only the top of her head and eyes could be seen over the back of the couch.

As Leo explained the situation to Raph, Feeling sorry for the obviously shaken woman, Michelangelo slid onto the couch next to her. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you, ok."

Emily couldn't say she believed him entirely, but the warmth in his smile and sweetness that danced in his eyes did bring her a great deal of comfort. "You promise?" she whispered softly.

"Promise." Mikey vowed.

Officer Ebersark stood in front of a layout of pictures of evidence and bodies with a deep frown marring her otherwise lovely face. She was on duty and so was dressed in her uniform, which complimented her fit form nicely. Her long sandy blond hair pulled back in a tight bun and her hat tucked under her left arm. Some might say she took her job too seriously, putting in so many hours that she honestly couldn't say she knew anyone outside the force, but in all truth she simply loved it. Serve and Protect, chasing down the bad guy and bringing him to justice. That was the entire point. To bring the misguided to justice and hopefully rehabilitate. However, with the rising death toll rehabilitation was no longer in the cards for the villain they were looking for.

"Nothing new?" She asked detective Loza.

The older detective looked at her over his reading glassed. "Well, there was that pet shot robbery. Though nothing was really taken…"

Eberstark refrained from rolling her eyes. "I know I was first on the scene and brought in the evidence myself." She wasn't sure how old Loza was but she was sure retirement was in his near future. She had done most of the work on this case he had mostly organized the paperwork.

"It takes time for these things to be processed and it might have nothing to do with this case."

"But the finger prints off the door handle. Similar ones have been found on some of the crime scenes and many others in the past."

"Ah, is that why you are helping me with this case? You catch word of the unusual and you are right there ready to lend a hand."

Officer Eberstark sighed. "I want to catch whoever is sicking these… monsters on people. And I want to know who it is that seems to think I need help doing my job."

Loza smiled knowingly, "I thought so." He handed Eberstark a piece of paper.

Eberstark looked over it then smiled. "The larger, three fingered prints match some of the others that have been found."

"MMhhmm." Loza nodded.

"I have found no less than four different sets of prints like these from varying scenes, as well as three different blood samples..."

"Only one of which is human, I know. You have told me countless times."

Her frown crept back across her features. "The human's lack of record and insistence on generic everything makes finding out who HE is immensely frustrating."

"Liedin." Loza smiled at the officer. "Let's focus on who is using these bazar dogs as weapons. You will find your unusual vigilantes in good time. In the meantime how about you go shake up the worlds of these two men." The detective handed Officer Eberstark two more pieces of paper.

Liedin looked over the papers then back at the display of evidence. "Have a good night Detective." She said as she put her uniform hat on her head, adjusted it slightly, then made her way back out to the streets to see if she could turn up anything more.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Emily sat at the table being grilled by the turtle's questions for hours, up until her answers became a redundant "I don't know."

"So you've been held by these guys for months, walking around a ware house full of everything, and you don't know." Raph stated skeptically.

Emily answered by simply putting her head down on the cool table and groaned.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" Raph snapped, making the poor woman jump.

Riana reached out and put a hand on Raph's shoulder. "She is tired. We have been at this all night and a good part of the day."

Before Raph could argue splinter interjected. "She is right. We could all use some rest if we are going to do anything more about Bigley."

"What about Mia?" Emily asked, worry weighing heavy in her muffled voice.

"What about her? She created the problem in the first place." Raph glared.

His lack of empathy didn't sit well with anybody, but Donnie spoke first. "Not cause she wanted to, Raph. Jeeze."

"We'll get her out." Mikey tried to assure Emily as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We are kinda good at that sort of thing."

Emily turned her head toward Mikey without lifting it off the table. "What if they have already killed her? They can't threaten to kill me now that I'm not there and I am pretty sure she hasn't been overly cooperative since."

"Then we'll bring back her body." Raph grumbled.

"What is wrong with you?!" Riana exclaimed. Raph had switched from being comforting and caring to a complete ass since they had gotten home.

"She isn't one of us and neither is her friend. She shouldn't even be here." He turned his attention to the rest of the room. "We need to stop Bigley that should be our focus, not some rescue mission of someone we don't even know."

Emily sat back up and shot Raph a rather pathetic glair. "I know her! She and what she did is the only reason I'm alive. I have to help her and if you won't help me then…" Emily's eyes darted around the room as she searched for a plan to save her friend."…Then I'll do it myself."

"Knock yourself out." Raph growled.

"I wasn't one of you. You still came after me." Riana crossed her arms determined to sway the ever stubborn Raphael, this was currently not her favorite side of him.

"Yes you were." Raph argued.

Riana raised an eye ridge. "Why, 'cause I slept with you?"

Raph clenched his jaw as he tried to fight the flush that crossed his face. It wasn't that it was already obvious that he and Ray were together. But, that he had no intention of discussing the details of the relationship in front of his brothers. "No." he growled out through clenched teeth.

Leo sighed the situation was getting out of hand… and Emily looked like was going to burst into tears at any second. "No one is going anywhere by themselves." He looked at Raph. "We are going to go face Bigley." He waited for Raph's nod before turning to Don. "At the same time as rescuing…"

"Mia Nomura." Emily reminded the turtle in blue of her friend's name.

Leo nodded. "Mia."

Don nodded and turned to Emily. "Where would they be holding her?"

Emily looked over at Donnie as she answered; a small smile brightened her features as the situation became a little less grim. "They kept us at the ware house with the animals. If she isn't there than… they will be taking her to where ever they are going to… get rid of her. But they won't do that till it is good and dark… I hope."

"Agreed I would like to ask her about her delivery system in regards to the mutagen as it seems to work on a genetic level."

"Well, she'll tell you all about it. She loves talking about sciency stuff." Emilly said as she wiggled her fingers at the word sciency.

"Then we leave at dusk, just before it gets good and dark. There will be lots of shadows to hide in but we will need to be careful because it will still be reasonably bright out." Leo decided.

"Or," Mikey smiled, "we could just take the truck, since it still kinda hurts you to walk and all."

Leo nodded. "Or we could take the truck."

They spent the rest of the day getting together a plan and the needed gear then they took what time was left to rest. When dusk came they left the layer intent on bringing an end to Bigley.

Liadin stretched and yawned. The stiff car seat had long since become uncomfortable. She looked down at her watch, it was 8:30. She had been there twelve hours and then some, just watching for one of the men on her list to show up. She took a small sip of her cold coffee and frowned.

"Well this sucks." She grumbled to the empty car.

She loved her job, but stake outs were not her favorite part of it. And this was technically Detective Loza's job, but what was the old man supposed to do if someone actually showed up... granted Liadan was only supposed to knock on the door and try and get some answers if someone had been home. No one had been there however, and when do the villains ever just answer questions? So she waited…. And waited.

A black sedan stopped in the middle of the road, pulling Officer Eberstark's attention.

One of the men from the paperwork jumped out of the car and ran into the building. The black sedan sat running, the driver sitting with his hand out the window a cigarette glowing in the darkness.

After a couple of minutes the man that entered the building came running back out and hopped back into the sedan.

Liadin started her car as the men pulled away, keeping an inconspicuous distance, she followed them across town to what appeared to be an old ware house.

She parked across the street and peered across the street at the bustling ware house. This case wasn't really making much sense. "So, what do monster dogs, dead bodies, a zoo theft, a pet shop theft, two missing persons, a three fingered vigilante, and these two men with Mob ties have in common…" Liadin thought out loud.

An armored vehicle slowly made its way past her view and pulled under the burnt out street light in front of her car.

Liadin sighed as she watched a dark haired man, wearing a hokey mask, climb out of the passenger side of the vehicle, 'How many people are a part of this.' She picked up her cell phone to call for backup, sure she was going to need it, but stopped at the giant turtle that climbed out of the vehicle next followed by a blond woman and three more turtles.

"What the hell?" Liadin asked out loud as she leaned closer to the windshield. Given what she was seeing she wasn't sure if she should follow or if it would just be wiser to stay in the car.

Leo watched as his brothers, Riana, Casey, and their newest problem Emily climbed out of the vehicle. "So you guys know the plan? Donnie and Mikey take Emily to find Mia. Raph, Casey and Riana…"

"We got it Leo." Raph snapped. Not happy about having Riana in another hairy situation, that she refused to back out of, and also not happy about having some girl he didn't know or trust along for the ride. And worse Leo's plan had them splitting up.

"You only went over it five times on the way here." Raph grumbled as he motioned for Riana and Casey to follow him into the shadows.

Mikey grinned back at Leo. "No worries bro, we got this." Then, after giving a thumbs up, the turtle did a couple flashy back flips into the shadows to follow Don and Emily.

Leonardo sighed as he watched his brothers disappear into the darkness. Sitting there stuck in the vehicle, he couldn't help but feel a bit useless.

Using his bo, Donnie swung himself up to the top of the chain link fence, that surrounded the ware house. He perched there for a moment making sure the coast was clear before jumping down behind a stack of large crates.

Mikey and Emily stayed put for a few seconds as a couple of mob men hurried by focused on whatever tasks they had been given.

Once they had passed, Mikey jumped up and caught hold of the fence and swung himself over landing silently next to Donatello. The two checked to make sure things were still clear. Since it seemed most everyone was occupied, Don motioned for Emily to follow over the fence.

Emily climbed over in a much less graceful manner catching her jeans at the top of the fence. When she tried to untangle them she slipped. With a gasp and a stifled yelp she ended up in a half split trying awkwardly to pull herself back up.

Mikey shook his head at the poor girl then looked at Don. "How exactly did she keep up with you?"

Don face palmed, he honestly had no idea. "Just get her down."

Mikey got to Emily just as her pant leg ripped, catching her in his arms, he smiled down at her. "Have a nice trip?"

"See you next fall." Emily smiled as she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Come on." Don said as he led the way across the momentarily quiet lot.

Riana hurried to keep up with Raph and Casey. They had gone to the opposite side of the ware house of Donatello and the others.

Riana gripped her axe and frowned as she watched Raphael make getting over the fence look easy, and Casey climbed over it like a man that had out run the police way too many times.

"What are you waiting for?" Raph asked in a horse whisper. "We have to keep moving."

"I can't jump over that." Riana motioned to the fence.

"Good, then go back to the car." Raph pointed the way.

"No. I'm not sitting in the car with Leo."

"What's wrong with Leo?" Casey asked.

"You want a list." Raph answered.

Riana sighed. "There is nothing wrong with Leo. I just don't want to wait in the car."

"You'd be a hell of a lot safer there and I would be a hell of a lot happier." Raph stated.

"I'm not waiting in the car." Riana glared at Raph.

Raph glared back. "Then your gunna have to get over the fence."

"I don't like you right now." Riana stated as she started to clumsily climb the fence and hold on to her axe at the same time, swung her feet over, and dropped to the ground. She noted to herself that she needed to come up with a belt like the boys had for their weapons.

Raph pretended to applaud. "Good job finally making it over. And I think you might have alerted only half the mob with all your noise."

Riana narrowed her eyes at Raph as she walked by him "Guess who's not getting laid in the near future."

Raph straitened. He had been so focused on being mad about Don bringing Emily down to layer and then being annoyed by Leo's plan that he hadn't even thought about how his attitude toward Riana might affect things outside the current situation. "I think that's a little uncalled for."

Casey chuckled at the two as his attention was drawn to a handful of mob members that were coming to investigate Riana's noise. "Get ready guys."

Raph drew his sai and Riana lifted her axe.

Liadin brought her radio to her mouth for the third time. She needed back up but how the hell was she supposed to ask for it without sounding crazy… should she split hairs and just leave out the giant turtles that she had just witnessed walking to the ware house. She hated having to lie, because she wasn't good at it. "Shit."

She brought her radio to her mouth again. "Dispatch, this is officer Eberstark. I'm going to need back up at…" 'What the hell was the address?' she looked around for a street sign but didn't see one. 'The city needs to put some money into this side of town.' she frowned to herself. "whatever my GPS says."

"Hold tight officer Eberstark. There are no units available but we will have one to you as soon as possible."

"Shit." Liadin said as she put the radio back in its designated spot. She looked out at the armored vehicle in front of her. 'might as well not waist time.'

Liadin opened her door and climbed out of the car, gun drawn, and mag light in hand. She scanned the shadowed street for movement as she shuffled her way to the side of vehicle.

It was the sound of the car door that had alerted Leo to the cop. Her reflection in the vehicle's side mirror sent him into a slight panic. He dove for the floor only to be held firm by seat belt, he hadn't bothered taking off after parking. "Owe, shit."

Quickly he unbuckled the seat belt then dove for the Vehicle floor again, then crawled behind the front seat just as the officer flashed her light in the window.

Leonardo's heart pounded as he tried to plan an escape. His leg screamed at him as he crawled to the back of the vehicle. There was no way he could out run the cop right now, at least not if she was in good shape. Leo stiffened as the door handle clicked and the hinges squeaked as the door was pulled open.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Don, Mikey, and Emily hurried from shadow to shadow till they got to a stack of crates that sat by the ware house wall. Windows ran along the top of the wall to let light in during the day.

"Mike." Don whispered, "I am going to see if I can see Mia's location. Stay here and keep watch. Emily you're coming with me to point her out."

Emily nodded, and with Donatello's help, climbed the boxes. Really any other normal day the brothers would have weirded her out big time. Even now Don's hand felt strange in hers as he pulled her up to the next crate. Only two thick fingers and a thumb attached to a ruff, scaled hand and they were way quicker than she felt a turtle ought to be. She had been able to keep up with Donetello the night before thanks to the collage track group she was a part of, and excelled at, and a lot of luck.

Once on the crate, that brought them even with the windows, Emily made the mistake of looking back down. The height made her feel unsteady and she stumbled back against Donny.

Don steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Ya." She nodded before glancing back down, seeing Mikey bobbing about humming the mission impossible theme song to himself as he watched for any unwanted attention. The silly turtle brought a smile to Emily's lips. He was so weird and… well freaking adorable.

"What does she look like?" Don asked as he looked through the window.

Emily hurried to his side and looked through the window. She didn't see her friend… matter of fact she didn't see much of anything. "Why are the cages empty?" she thought out loud.

Don frowned. "I was wondering the same thing."

"Hey guys." Mike whispered up at Don and Emily, "Does Mia have short dark hair and wear a long white coat?"

Emily nodded.

"They're putting her in a car, and she doesn't seem too pleased about it." Mikey informed as he pointed across the lot.

Don ran to the edge of the crates to see what Mikey was talking about. Sure enough there was the scientist kicking and ranting as two men and Stockman tried to push her into a car.

"Let's go." He said before leaping off the crates, his main goal to get across the lot before the men succeeded in getting Mia into the vehicle.

Without hesitating Emily leapt down from the crates into Mikey's arms… again. "Thanks." She smiled.

"Sure." Mikey smiled back before setting her down and following after Don, Emily close behind.

Mia had one foot planted on the door of the car and anther on top of the door jam. Her hands were tied behind her back and the men that were pushing against her were definitely stronger than she was. But she was determined not to get in that car. She pushed against them till her legs shook from the strain. Just when she was sure that she couldn't take any more there was a sudden "Thwack!" and all the strength that she had put into keeping herself out of the car forced her back into something … or someone hard and tall.

Don hadn't expected the scientist to come flying back at him after taking down the two mobsters, but she did. Her head and shoulders hitting him square in the gut and the rest of her tripping him up sending him back to role on his shell.

The scientist struggled to gain her feet, her knee landing hard on his sensitive tail smashing some rather vital male parts, then her head coming up to knock into his jaw.

"I'm sorry." Mia said to the groaning turtle as she managed to gain her balance by straddling him, placing her knees on the edge of his shell. Her eyes widened as she looked down at him. "You!"

Mikey couldn't stifle his laughter. "She got you good huh Don?"

Don just groaned about his sore nethers.

Emily helped her friend the rest of the way to her feet. "It's ok they are here to help."

Mia started to shake her head. "It's too late."

Donatello took a couple of deep breaths as he found his feet. "For what?"

Mia didn't get a chance to answer. She was cut short by gun fire and bullets whizzing by.

The guys quickly grabbed the girls and ducked for cover on the other side of the car. Where they found Stockman crouched with his hands covering his head.

Stockman leapt forward in an attempt to escape but a well-placed nunchucku brought him crashing back down to the pavement. "Not so fast, stocky." Mikey mocked.

The five, one forced, ducked down behind the car waiting for the mobsters to have to reload.

Raph wiped blood off of his sai as he returned Riana's disapproving frown. "What? He'll live."

Riana rolled her eyes. "Come on." She said as she started out into the lot.

Raph reached out and grabbed the edge of Ray ray's shell spinning her around to face him. "I am leading."

Casey chuckled. "You guys remind me of what it was like when April and I first started dating."

Casey only laughed more when Raph shot him a glair.

Riana's stubbornness was currently getting on Raph's nerves. Inwardly, he wondered if this was how Leo felt when he felt the need to second guess everything Leo ordered. "Let's just get into the ware house."

Riana motioned for him to lead the way, in an over exaggerated manner.

Grumbling about stubborn women Raphael took the lead.

Using different levels of cover, including a moving box truck, they made their way to a side door on the ware house. When the door didn't open easily Raph used his sai to force the lock to pop. Slowly he pushed the door open and peered around the door jam.

The coast was clear.

Raph hurried quietly to the cover of a stack of boxes. With the isles seeming empty Raph motioned for Riana and Casey to follow.

They stealthed about for a few moments, but it soon became apparent that everyone was bustling around outside leaving the ware house void of people… and apparently the animals.

"Aren't these cages supposed to have mutants in them?" Casey asked.

"That's what Don and Emily said." Raph answered. A thump sounding on the box next to him making him jump into a defensive position, sai at the ready.

A spider monkey yawned at him, showing off its mouth of sharp teeth. The monkey stood up and stretched out a pair of colorful wings.

Raphael relaxed his stance and chuckled. "Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore."

Riana smiled and shook her head at him.

"Where's the witch of the east, little guy?" Casey smiled as he approached the winged monkey.

The monkey tilted its head as if considering something then, with an ear piercing screech, leapt at Casey.

"Shit." Casey ducked. The monkey missed him and landed biting, swinging its fists, and flapping its wings, on Raph.

"Get off me, you little monster!"Raph grabbed at the monkey only to get his hands bit and scratched.

Thinking quick Casey pulled out a baseball bat and swung. "Batter up."

Raph pushed the monkey away from him just enough for Casey's bat to make solid contact sending the monkey sailing across the room till its wings caught the air. Flapping hard the monkey screeched angrily down at them as it found a perch in the rafters.

"Son of a bitch." Raph cursed as he inspected the bites and scratches the little assailant had left.

"Let me see." Riana said as she ran her hands down his arms as she looked over the wounds.

Raph blushed from the attention over his mild injuries and pulled his arms back. "I'm fine. Ok so Emily said if we put explosives on every other support beam the building should collapse inward."

"But wasn't the idea to get rid of the dangerous mutants and get rid of the mutagen?" Riana asked.

"Ya." Raph answered impatient with, what he deemed, the ridiculous question.

Riana let out a frustrated breath. "The cages are empty."

"I see that." Raph frowned. "We still need to get this place set up to go down. We follow the plan. Then we will figure out where the animals all went and how to get them all back in. Give me the dynamite Don gave you to put in your bag, Case."

Casey gave Raph a blank look. "uhh, I don't have the dynamite."

"What?" Raph grabbed Casey's bag and dumped it out. There was a variety of sports equipment but no dynamite. Things were very much not going to plan. "Damn it, Casey."

Gun shots, muffled by the ware house walls, came from outside on the other side of the ware house.

Worried for his brothers Raphael took off in the direction of the gun shots as he yelled over his shoulder. "Find a way to take this place down. I'll be back."

Riana and Casey watched him disappear among the cages. Slowly the two looked at each other.

"Now what?" Casey asked.

Riana looked around for an answer. Then she lifted her axe above her head and brought it down on an unmarked crate. "Help me pry it open." She pushed against the axe. The crate nails groaned under the pressure. "These guys are mafia, or whatever, there is bound to be something we can use in one of these."

"Right." Casey grabbed hold of the axe and helped push. The nails squeaked against the wood as they gave way and the lid popped up and slid to the side.

Riana placed her axe over her shoulder and peered into the crate, reached in and pulled out a jar of mutagen. "Not exactly what we are looking for." She said as she held up the life changing substance against the light.

"Next crate?" Casey smiled.

"Next crate." Riana agreed as they moved on.

Liadin flashed her light around the front of the armored vehicle. It was an older vehicle and there was a small tare in the passenger seat. An open soda can that still fizzled with carbonation was in the cup holder.

Slowly Leonardo slid to the side of the vehicle wall, and carefully stood as the officer shone her light into the back of the vehicle illuminating the wall opposite Leo.

Liadin's eyes widened at all the tech gear. Blinking lights, monitors, speakers, and things she couldn't even begin to recognize, lined the wall. Two swivel and lock seats were bolted to the floor. Focused on the gear Liadin carefully stepped into the back of the vehicle, unaware of the turtle standing, quietly watching in the dark. 'You are crossing a legal line, Liadin.' She thought to herself.

Leo positioned himself, if he knocked her out he could place her back in her car and change his position without her knowing any more than she had found, and without putting the plan in jeopardy. He took a careful step forward, wincing a little at the pain in his leg, unable to stifle a softly breathed hiss.

The hairs on the back of Liadin's neck stood on end as she became aware of another presence. Whipping her gun from its holster she spun around bringing both the gun and her Maglite up in front of her.

The light in his face was momentarily blinding, but Leonardo had expected that. He brought one hand up pushing the gun and light out of his face, his other hand coming up to her elbows, his intent was an arm hold. He would have then followed through with an elbow to the officer's face, which would have accomplished his goal. However the officer surprised him when she relaxed her arms and brought her knee up into the tender spot between Leo's hip and the edge of his shell.

Leo grunted at the jolt at he stepped back to avoid the foot that was meant to take out his knee. She was not as fragile as she looked.

Officer Ebirstark took a step back and reminded herself that she hadn't collected any evidence to show the turtle anything more than a vigilante. Which cornered, could still be dangerous so, gun on target …again, she said what she knew. "Put your hands above your head, you're under arrest!"

The look the turtle gave her said that he had no interest in going quietly.

There wasn't room in the vehicle for Leo to fight effectively with his swords so it would appear he had only fists to bring to this gun fight, which really didn't faze him a bit, he didn't like the fact he was going to have to knock out a woman, and a law keeper at that. He shifted his injured leg behind him so the only weight that would be put on it would be for support and to protect his stab wound, he brought his hands up ready for his next attack. Breathe in, breathe out and…. gun shots. Not from the officer but from the direction of the ware house. He needed to get to his brothers.

It would appear that the gun shots had drawn the officer's attention as well. Without a second thought Leonardo lunged forward knocking the officer into the side wall of the truck grabbing hold of her weapon and twisting it out of her hand and onto the floor board at the front of the vehicle.

Liadin hit the wall hard enough that the blow knocked the wind out of her.

"Stay there!" the turtle ordered the gasping woman. He then jumped into the driver's seat and cranked the armored vehicle.

Liadin attempted to get to her feet but was thrown back to the floor of the vehicle when it lurched forward, then again as it was driven threw the fence around the ware house. She was then tossed around the back of the vehicle as the turtle dodged a moving box truck, that over corrected and turned on its side.

Raphael turned toward the crashing sound of the overturning box truck and readied himself for the armored vehicle. As his brother drove by Raph leapt, grabbing hold of the side view mirror and landing his feet on the running board. He then motioned to Leo to gun it forward toward where Don and the others were being held under fire.

The mobsters ducked out of the way as Leo spun the vehicle around between them and the bullet riddled car, delivering all the fury the was Raphael.

"I was wondering about how you got the mutagen to work on a genetic level." Don stated to Mia over the sound of the gun fire.

Mia gave him a surprised look. "Now?!"

"Well… I'm not sure we're going to get out of this."

Mia blinked at him.

"Woo!" Came Mikey's sound of joy. "Here come's Leo!"

"Or maybe we will." Don brought Mia around in front of him with Emily.

Michelangelo waited for the cover of the armored vehicle then led the way to the back pulling open the back door. "Come on, come on." Mikey hurried the girls in before joining Raph among the fray.

Don climbed in to the back. "Got a plan B, Leo?"

"I'm working on it."

"Who's the cop?" Emily asked.

"I don't know." Leo answered as he pushed down the emergency break and reached across the vehicle to open the passenger door for Raph and Mikey.

"Then why is she here?" Don asked.

"I don't know."

"What the hell is going on?!" The officer in the back demanded.

"I DON'T KNOW." Why can't they stop asking questions and let him think! "Raph, come on!"

After placing a finishing blow to a foe Raph turned to take on the next opponent. A rampaging Rihnogator was not what he had expected. "Oh shell, Mike move!" He yelled as her grabbed Mikey by the arm and pulled him against the side of the armored vehicle in time for the Rihnogator to come thundering past. Their attention moved the ciaos at the front of the yard.

There were now a few turned over trucks and a large amount of angry, confused mutant animals wreaking havoc on the men that now were shooting at them or running for their lives.

"Well, that sucks." Stated Mikey.

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sorry it is taking me longer to get chapters in. life is busy and trying to bring all this part of the story has proven to take a lot of work. hope you all are enjoying the story. I promise to have the next chapter up asap.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Bigley watched as his plans and men unraveled into chaos, the mutant animals wreaking havoc on it all. He would have had human animal hybrids had it not been for the escape of that skinny little bitch Emily, because of her his captured scientist, Mia, had ceased all cooperativity. And this, this was the icing on the cake.

As he marched back to the ware house, Bigley's fist landed squarely on the face of a venomous dog as it moved to lunge at him, then he fired two shots putting it down permanently. He needed to regain control before it was unobtainable.

Another of Bigley's bullets found its mark in the middle of a man's forehead as a rihnogator and a few canines fought over whether they should get heads or tails of the man. A mercy killing that would leave him with having to explain to his cousin's wife why there was little to nothing of him to be found. One of the setbacks to being in the family business.

Bigley reached the side door of the ware house. To his displeasure the broken door swung open freely and the hushed whispers of a male and a female could be heard talking to one another somewhere among the cages. Bigley checked his clip then satisfied he had a sufficient amount of bullets made his way toward the voices.

Riana stuck another square of C4 to one of the structural pillars with some silver duct tape, while Casey slowly rigged the charges.

"Be really careful Casey." Riana advised.

Casey shook his head at the female turtle, "As if I wasn't with all the others."

They had rigged four of eight pillars. Their goal was every other pillar with a total of six pillars.

A gun fired followed by a bullet that pinged off the pillar just above Casey's head.

Casey, feeling somewhat torn between avoiding getting shot and keeping the C4 from exploding prematurely, did a half duck and brought his hands up to cover his head.

Riana leapt behind a crate for cover.

"What do ya think ya doin' there, lad?" Bigley frowned at dark haired man, wearing a hokey goalie mask.

"Well, that's kind of a… a…" Casey tried to think of a way out of the precarious position of a gun pointed to his face and C4 ready to go behind him.

Riana gripped her axe in one hand and the jar of mutagen in the other, watching as Bigley's shadow drew nearer ready for the attack.

Out of patience, Bigley aimed the gun.

Riana spun around the corner and threw the jar of mutagen as hard as she could.

The glass hit Bigley solid in the head knocking him back as it shattered against his skull, mutagen spilling down over him. "Stupid freak!" He bellowed as he righted himself and raised the gun again.

"Move!" Casey yelled as he pushed Riana back behind the crate. Bullets flew past, one embedding itself in the edge or Riana's shell and another skimming Casey's shoulder.

When flying bullets were replaced by pained yells and groans Casey and Riana slowly peered around the crate watching as Bigley began to take on a new form.

"Oh Shit." Riana frowned at the forming monster.

"We should go." Casey said as he took Riana by the arm and started to hurriedly pull her across the ware house.

Four turtles, a cop, a scientist, and an architect sat in an armored vehicle… It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke. But the two Rihnogators slamming themselves into the heavy vehicle were no laughing matter. The flying monkey that was relieving itself on the windshield Mikey found rather amusing.

"Mikey focus!" Leo demanded as he tried to figure out what to do now.

The Rihnogators had pushed the vehicle up against the fence and in-between a couple of other over turned trucks. The armored Vehicle rocking with the monster's attacks.

"Aw come one man, it's funny." Mikey's statement earned him a smack upside the head from Raph.

"Where are Riana and Casey?" Leo asked Raph as he looked out the window for an escape route.

"Rigging the ware house… hopefully." Raph Grimaced as a couple mutants fought over a body. "How the hell were they going to get these creatures back into the ware house?"

"I have an idea." Mia chimed in. "But we are going to have to distract the…umm."

"Raph and I can handle the Rihnogators." Mikey grinned and Raph nodded his agreement.

"Ok, as for the rest of us, see the fuel truck and gas barrels beside it?" Mia pointed to the vehicle parked a good run away and on the other side of mass of mutants. "We get to it we open get it draining, one of us takes it for a spin to spread the gas around the perimeter the rest of us pop open those barrels and roll them into the animals then we light it." Mia turned to Raph and Mike, "you guys get the loading door on the ware house open. Hopefully the fire will push the mutants into the ware house."

"Worth a shot." Leo agreed.

"What about the mutants that have gotten out through the hole in the fence?" Emily asked.

Officer Eberstark listened to the plan making from her corner of the vehicle, while half listening to the chatter on her walkie talkie. She was torn between following procedure and the realization that these "vigilantes" were honestly helping… well definitely attempting to, so she made her choice. "They are sending animal control and other officers. So if you are planning to not get caught up in that, we better hurry."

Leo nodded. "Let's move." Never mind that the plan was only half thought out.

Raph jumped up through the roof hatch first, followed by Mikey. Step, step, jump… Raph came down hard on the head of the first Rihnogator, forcing the beasts head to the ground before leaping to the side.

The monster snorted and shook its head then with a bellow of anger as it began to charge at its assailant.

"That's right, come on." He antagonized the Rihnogater getting it to turn from the vehicle.

Mikey hit his Rinogator upside the head with his nunchaku then took off in a run spinning out of the way just in time for the monster to crash into the ware house wall.

Mikey grinned and snapped his fingers, "Ole'" He continued to grin as the creature struggled to regain its feet.

"Stop messing around Mike!" Raph yelled as he dodged another attack from the Rihnogator.

Leo waited till both Rinogators were preoccupied before giving the signal to move. When he landed, he winced at the pain that twanged through his leg.

The officer landed next to him, noticing his discomfort she asked, "You alright?"

Leo glanced at the woman as he straitened and nodded. He didn't think he could trust her ultimately but for now she seemed to be on their side. "Alright officer, you lead the girls. Don and I will clear a path."

"Liadin." The officer put out her hand. Police chatter coming in over her radio, mostly requests for back up as fear stricken mobsters and a few stray mutants began to hit the city.

Leo thought it was an odd time for introductions, but it was a sign of commodity so he shook her hand. "Leo."

Liadin nodded then made sure she had a mostly full clip as the others got to the ground.

They split off. Leo and Don headed straight for the mix of mutants. The girls skirted around the outside of the mess, which was mostly fighting mutants at this point.

Still on the outside there was a fair share of monsters. The girls dodged and rolled out of the way of flying monkeys as Liaden shot at them, followed by Mia and Emily who had armed themselves with a pipe and a crow bar. Both were more than happy to finish off any creature that hit the ground but was still moving.

Leonardo muscled past the pain in his leg and forced himself into a painful lope as he advanced on the mutant animals, his swords drawn and ready.

Knowing his brother was no doubt struggling with his injury, Donatello stayed close to Leo but not so close as to hinder either of there lengthy weapons. He also made sure he kept the blue banded leader in his peripheral, just in case.

Don swept his bo low bringing it up into a canine's jaw then brought the other end of the bo back slamming it into the nose of another. Then with the bo moving balance and smooth in his hands he spun knocking a number of monkeys out of the air. Spin kick, thrust, block the gnashing teeth.

Don loved his weapon of choice it made it so he rarely had to use his fists; it kept his enemies at a distance giving him time to think, to calculate. He didn't love to fight as Raph seemed to, but he did love the way he did it.

He locked eyes with the last of the Rihnogators, it snorted, drug its hoof against the ground and charged forward. Donatello's weapon of choice, though his favorite, would do little to detour a creature of the Rihnogator's design. He would need either his brother's blades or a more… creative means to victory.

The monster thundered forth, Donatello ran toward the beast waiting for the last possible second then placing the end of his bo on the ground he used it to launch himself into the air, performing a perfect ariel summersault, the beast snapping at him as he passed overhead. Don landed in a half squat, bringing his bo backward with the momentum of his jump shoving it down the throat of an attacking canine.

He watched as the Rihnogator slid and tripped as it tried to turn its self around. Taking his eyes off it long enough to spin around and grasp one of the dead canine's long venom filled fangs and with a stiff yank, removed it from the dog's jaw. Then, as the Rihnogator charged at him again, he tied the fang to the end of his bo with his bandana pulled the other end from the mouth of the canine and supported it against the ground.

The beast didn't even know what hit it. The fang broke off in the creatures chest as Don layed back on the ground letting the rihnogator thunder over him. He rolled out of the way of the monster's feet and watched as the venom began to take effect.

The beast began to seize and foam at the mouth, death would soon follow, the only rinogator's left would be taken care of by mike and Raph.

Donatello checked on his brother. Leonardo was favoring his sore leg but holding his own. There were however some dragon like monsters that had not yet made there where abouts known.

Liaden tossed her pocket knife to Mia, then after using her night stick to knock loose the gas nozzle on the tanker she ran for the driver's door and climbed inside.

"Key?" she asked the empty cab as she searched around for them. Thankfully they were under the floor mat. She turned the key and to let the diesel's glow plugs warm up. "Come on, come on."

Finally the "wait to start" light went off and Liadin cranked the engine. With a deep rumble the semi rolled forward and around the yard.

Mia Used the pocket knife to pop open the barrels as Emily defended her friend from an on slot of "The witches henchmen", as Emily had decided to dub the monkeys, by using her crowbar like a baseball bat.

"Emily, help me push these." Mia called to her friend.

Emily took another swing at a flying monkey then ran to help the scientist push the barrels over.

The two girls couldn't help but feel rather accomplished as they watched the barrels role, spilling their liquid contents, into the mess of mutants.

"Who has the lighter?" Emily asked.

The two girls looked at each other. Neither of which had any reason to carry a lighter.

"Donatello," Emily called, "We have a problem!"

Their plan to leave the ware house had been cut short by the presence of a fanged dog that paced by the closest exit.

"Still have the detonator?" Casey asked as he watched the creature pace.

Riana swallowed hard as she nodded. She watched Casey get ready to move on the mutant dog, and tightened her grip on her axe. Bigley's pained yells had stopped and the silence behind them made her nervous. "What do you think he turned into?"

Casey had been ready to attack when Riana asked her question. He paused and looked back at her, the woman turtle's worry was obvious in her expression. "I ain't planning on sticking around to find out."

Casey gave her a reassuring smile then moved quietly ahead raising his hockey stick above his head.

The canine looked up just in time to meet the first blow head on.

Casey raised the hockey stick up again, but before he could bring it back down he was blindsided by a massive amount of fur and muscle.

Casey hit the floor with an "ooff." He looked up at his attacker with just enough time to get the monster's fist in his face, breaking his hockey mask in two and making him dizzy.

The mutant canine wasted no time in trying to get in on the action it lunged at Casey as the other mutant beat down on him.

Using her shell Riana slammed herself into the dog nocking the animal into the wall.

It yelped but it was not subdued.

Riana moved to help Casey, but the mutant Canine lept at her. Its teeth catching hold of the side of her shell then yanking her back to the ground. She slammed the butt of her axe into the animal's face as it started to drag her into the rows of cages.

Finally she managed to land a blow to the side of the creature's face, its eye socket giving way under the adrenalin driven blow.

The canine yelped and released its pray and began to fuss about its eye.

Riana scrambled to her feet and brought the head of the axe down on the upset dog's head, yanked the axe from the animal's scull and ran back to aid Casey.

She rounded the corner to find the furry mountainous creature standing over the unmoving Casey Jones. Riana's eyes widened as her gaze made its way up from Casey's slowly moving chest to what she could only explain as a large ware wolf, with long fangs that dripped venom, puffing on a cigar.

Bigley turned toward the wide eyed mutant turtle as he stepped over the motionless man at his feet. He took a long slow drag of his cigar and grinned as smoke slid through his dagger like teeth.

Riana couldn't believe it, was this really Bigley that stood before her? It had taken her days to feel even remotely normal and here he stood as if he had always been this way. Never mind that most of his mutation consisted of massive hair growth and apparent facial disfigurement. Riana slid her fingers along the smooth handle of her axe, her hands moist with nervous perspiration. Still stubbornly she glared down the grinning monster as he squared off with her. "Well, what are you waiting for ass hole?"

Bigley growled low as he hunched down readying for his attack. "Run, bitch,"

She didn't waist another second. She ran. Her goal was to take Bigley away from Casey as she dove between cages and crates Bigley tearing through the ware house behind her.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Raph slid his sai from the back of his rihnogator's head. One down, one more to go. Of course he did have the advantage of a sharp weapon, which Mikey lacked. So, Mikey had been focused on what he was good at, being a distraction.

Mikey flipped about dodging the increasingly frustrated Rihnogator, the turtle landing quick, solid strikes, with his nunchucku, as he did so. They would have been more than sufficient to take down most opponents but against one as thick skinned and as large as a Rihnogator proved Mikey's weapon of choice to be ineffective. He was going to have to get creative…

Raphael had no problem taking the fight from Mikey as he ran in throwing one sai which embedded itself into the side of the animal's neck pulling an angry roar from the creature as it turned to snap at its attacker. Raph ducked and spun up against the animal grabbing his sai and ripping from the Rhinogater's flesh, then used his momentum to slide under the monster's belly throwing his arms up in a few well-placed jabs on his way through.

The creature hit the ground hard and whimpered pitifully.

"Mikey, get us a way out. I'm gunna get that door open." Raph gestured to the large garage door as he ran to the ware house hoping to find that Riana and Casey had figured out how to get things ready to blow.

Mikey watched his brother for a moment, but was quickly brought back to his own situation as the injured Rihnogator started to regain its feet.

Michelangelo hot footed it back to the armored vehicle, his own slew of curses and complaints, about being ditched, trailed behind him.

Raph didn't slow down for the door, He just rammed into it. Which didn't work quite as well as he had hoped and sent a surge of pain threw him due to the healing bullet wound that still graced his shoulder. He delicately rubbed his sore shoulder as he glared at the large dent he had left in the door. Grumbling he reached out and tried the handle. The latch gave, but due to the damage Raphael had done, he had to force it the rest of the way open.

The ware house was not how he had last it. There were over turned cages and crates broken and scattered about. Raph's jaw clenched as worry started to set in. With his sai drawn he began to quietly pick his way through the mess listening for any sound other than his own thundering heartbeat.

He leaned over a dead canine. It's cause of death… an axe. Raph scanned the messy isle for Riana but did not see her. His heartbeat increased in its thundering rhythm. "I never should have left her." he growled to himself.

Suddenly a movement, on the other side of a cage, caught his eye.

"Riana?" Raph called softly as he hurried to the rising form.

"Not quite, man." Casey groaned as he righted himself, his friend sliding to his knees beside him.

"What happened?" Raph said as he looked over Casey's injuries. "Where's Riana?"

Casey rubbed his soar head and swollen face. "I'm not really sure of either of those things."

"Damn it, Casey." Raph growled. He was about to berate his friend with an on slot of curses and rebuke on the matter but a yelp followed by a crashing of crates stopped him.

"Get the big door open." Raph was up and running before Casey could answer his compliance.

Don leapt over the stream of gas as he pulled a spark lighter from the wealth of 'just in case' items he kept in his belt. "Why am I the only one that thinks of this stuff?" He complained as he squeezed the tool to get a spark.

An on slot of flying monkeys put a kink in his plan as they flew down on him. This caused him to drop the spark lighter. "Damn." He cursed as a monkey sunk its teeth into his arm.

"Could use a hand!" Don shouted as he swatted at the furry, feathery, little balls of teeth that swarmed, snapped, and scratched at him.

Emily was already on her way swinging her crow bar. The first blow landing solid in the center of Don's shell, the resulting vibration that was sent through Donatello's shell left him with a surprising feeling similar to one someone might feel after being electrocuted. "Watch where you swing that!"

"Sorry." Emily apologized even as her next swing caused the tall turtle to have to duck and cover before making contact with a flying monkey, causing it to go flailing into the fence.

Don blocked Emily's next swing with his bow. "Thanks, but I have it from here." He attempted to make his point clear as he moved to fight off the rest of the monkeys.

"Hey I'm hitting them aren't I?" Emily retorted as she continued swinging, but a little further away from Don.

Meanwhile Mia slid to the ground behind the two, scooping up the spark lighter giving it a few quick squeezes over the stream of gasoline. The sparking flint finally lighting the fuel. "Whoo!" Mia yelped excitedly then frowned as the quickly igniting gas began to follow the trail left by the fuel truck, which Liadin was still circling toward the ware house.

"Leo!" Mia yelled for the turtle valiantly fighting mutants while trying to keep as much weight off his injured leg as possible.

Leo brought a solid slice into a canine depriving it of a leg as he turned to see what Mia was yelling at him about. He didn't need to give her his full attention to figure it out. The racing flames were more than enough of a hint. Leonardo took off like an armed, ninja, running back weaving and dodging through the mutant's teeth, intent on warning the woman that was driving the rig.

Officer Eberstark had, however, been paying attention and seeing the flames catching up to the rig wedged her night stick against the gas pedal and pulled on the door handle, which snapped off in her hand.

"Really!" Liaden exclaimed in a slight panic. Then, wasting no more than a second, leapt for the passenger door, swung it open and without even looking, and jumped.

What she landed on didn't have the give that would have been nice to hit when jumping out of a moving vehicle, but he did role with her in a tangle of limbs and shell.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked the sandy blond that lay beneath him, finding himself momentarily lost in her and the awkward position they found themselves in. Her gun scraping along his plastron as she drew it from its holster was greatly sobering however. The turtle leapt back as the officer brought the weapon over her head and fired the last of her rounds into a few canines that had followed Leo in his rescue attempt.

Leo finished the last attacking canine by bringing his sword up its belly as it leapt into the air. Then smoothly, he stepped aside letting the dying animal hit the ground behind him. He then reached out and offered the officer a hand up.

Liaden took it and allowed the stern-faced turtle to help her. "Thank you." She said softly as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Leo's stoic expression shifted into a soft smile. He was about to tell her 'you're welcome', but the words didn't have a chance as the big rig behind them exploded, throwing Leonardo into the officer. The force slamming them to the ground hard, and sending the dwindling number of mutants in to a stampede in the opposite direction.

Riana crouched down and pressed her shell against a crate. She held her breath as she desperately tried to still her pounding heart, straining to hear Bigley's movements. It wasn't working. All she could hear was the deep internal thumping. Lifting her axe to her chest, Riana, slowly brought herself to her feet cringing against the sound of her shell scrapping against her shell.

Cael Bigley's claws scraping against the concrete floor cool against the pads of his feet. He sniffed the air. He could smell her and everywhere she had been and everyone she had come in contact with. Though the number wasn't high. He could hear her as well. His ears twitched at the sound of her scraping about. Bigley growled low as he located the woman. Quietly he moved forward his clawed hand wrapped around the edge of the box. Slowly his jaws opened wide.

She could feel his hot breath on her shoulder. she spun in response intending to bring her axe around. She had to change tactics however as the mountainous mutant bounded at her snapping his teeth down on the handle of the axe.

Whipping his head about Bigley ripped the axe from her hands knocking her back into a mess of cages. He turned his head to the side and spat out the axe. Then, before Riana could regain her feet, Bigley's was on top of her. His hand snapped out catching her by the neck and lifting her off the ground. Slowly he brought his other hand up to her throat and began to squeeze. "I am going to rip you from your shell." Bigley threatened.

Riana kicked out desperately trying to loosen the grip on her neck, her nails digging into Bigley's arm, Thick fur protecting him from any real damage.

"Then," Bigley continued "I'm going to rid myself of the rest of those pests one piece at a time."

"Not on my watch!" Raphael slammed into Bigley lifting him off his feet and throwing him to the ground and sending Riana sliding across the floor coughing and gasping trying to push air down her injured throat.

Raph threw his fists into the growling monster beneath him, again and again. His anger at the sight of Ray ray, his Ray ray, dangling from the monster's claws, driving his fists refusing to let them stop even as blood began to spray with the momentum of each swing.

Bigley's surprise quickly wore off as his snout was pummeled by the oversized turtle. Pained and raging he roared as he shoved the turtle with all his might, knocking Raph off balance just enough to slam his fist into the turtle's jaw knocking him to his shell.

Raph rocked back to the top ridge of his caripace then using his legs for momentum quickly threw himself back to his feet. Fists up and sai in hand, he was ready for round two.


	21. Chapter 21

Scarletknight17: thank you for your review. the encouragement is greatly appreciated.

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Chapter 21

Riana pulled herself to her feet, leaning heavily on a cage. Raphael's angry roar drawing her attention. She watched as the impressive turtle exchanged blows with the larger furrier version of Bigley, unsure of what to do or how she could help. She scanned the ground for her axe. To her disappointment it was on the other side of the struggling duo.

Bigley lashed out at the angry turtle his claws sinking into the flesh of Raphael's blocking arm.

Raph hissed but let the force of the strike add to his momentum as he ducked down and spun into to a sweep kick catching the man-dog off balance and knocking him to ground.

Riana took the opening and ran for her axe. Picking it up as she spun around ready to lend Raph a helping hand. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat, for poised at the top of a cage was a sleek, beautiful terror. A green and brown "dragon" mutant rolled it's shoulders as it prepared to pounce.

"Raph." Riana choked out as she tightened her grip around the handle of her axe.

Raphael slammed his fist into the man-dog's gut before sparing Ray ray a glance. The terrified look on her face caused him to follow her gaze to the lizard lion cross. Raph let go of the hand full of fur letting Bigley fall back to ground as two more dragons climbed up on the cage. One sleek like the first the other larger, all sported mains but not like the third one. The male was almost twice the size of the females.

Raph would have continued his slow retreat taking carful steps backwards, had Bigley not taken the opportunity to sink his teeth into the distracted turtle's arm. The act, however, was very possibly also his undoing.

Raph let out a surprised yelp and yanked his arm away dragging Bigley back with him as the mutant man-dog refused to let go!

The first dragon pounced. It was only when the great creature bit into Bigley's shoulder and sank it's long claws into his sides that he let go of Raphael's arm with a pained scream as the dragon proceeded to tear at him.

Raphael scrambled back, grabbed Riana by the arm and began to run. The two unoccupied dragons snaked after them quickly gaining.

He stumbled as his head began to fuzz and his breathing became labored, Raphael's heart fiercely pumping the venom, from Bigley's bite, through his system. Fighting the foamy substance that bubbled up into his mouth and nose, he Squeezed Riana's hand tighter as he forced his legs to keep moving each step hitting heavier than the last.

Riana could feel the bones in her hand slip painfully under Raph's grip, but she didn't cry out. She just kept moving. Her role changing from following to pulling as she desperately tried to keep Raph on his feet.

The two dragons moved up on the crates and cages on either side of them.

Raph hit his knees, foam dripping to the floor as his eyes rolled back. Riana's fingers slipping from his hand as he hit the ground with a deafening crack.

"Raph!" Riana cried out as she tried to stop, sliding into a crate just a breath away from the snapping jaws of one of the dragons. She brought the head of her axe up knocking the dragon in the tip of its snout. She didn't wait for the creature's reaction as she spun and hurried to Raph's seizing body bringing her axe down into the shoulder of the other dragon.

"Leave him alone!" She screamed at the creature as it retreated back a couple of steps and hissed. She widened her stance and raised her axe again, tearing up at the pain in her hand and the desperate situation. "You can't have him!"

Getting the garage door open had been the easiest part, dodging the stamped of venomous canines and flocking, flying monkeys being chased by fire and directed by an armored van, driven by a hooting and hollering Michelangelo, was not the easiest not. Casey did not hold back his complaints.

"Heads up would have been nice." Casey griped as he smacked his hand down on the hood, the scared animals scattering among the cages behind him.

Mikey opened his mouth to give back some quick thought quip but was cut short by Riana's cry. The fear in her voice…and it was his brother's name she screamed.

"Don, come on!" Mikey yelled, the desperation in Riana's voice driving him as he jumped out of the van and into the mess of cages and crates.

Don and Casey followed close behind.

Riana swung her axe at the scaly monsters cornered, scared, and unable to spare even a second to check on her lover, as he lay on the ground behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see the third dragon slinking up on her right. He hissed as he flared out his great golden main, blood dripping from his jowls. They weren't getting out of here. Not this way.

Canines could be seen and heard making their way down the isles and through the cages.

Riana took a step back to put some distance between her self and creatures only to trip over Raphael. The dragon in front of her lunged. In a last ditch effort to hold off death just a moment longer, Riana brought her axe up, flinging it at the creature. The ax cleaving into the dragon's scull as its cohorts moved in with their jaws agape and ready.

To avoid the canines that now wondered the isles, Mikey, Donnie, and Casey had kick flipped their way onto the crates, jumping the isles and moving quickly. They saw the lion, lizard hybrids moving in for the attack, they saw Riana's ax bring down the middle one.

Mikey leaped first, out to the right, his nunchucku landing soundly on side of the male dragon's head. To his glee, blood began to gush from broken skin. This creature was not as thick skinned as the Rihnogator's had been. Mikey didn't love the fight like Raph did, he didn't strategise like Leo, or think his way through it like Don, he just moved. Strike, dodge, strike. Each movement, each block and attack, every whip of his weapon just… instinct. Instinct to protect his family.

Don took on the last female lizard-lion cross, choosing strikes to vital organs to effectively slow the creature down, while Casey lifted the limp body of Raphael, Riana helping him to drag the large turtle further from the fight.

Monkey's preened their wings and watched from the rafters as canines scattered further into the ware house running from the armored vehicle that now pushed its way through the cages and crates. As soon as he saw his brothers Leo slammed on the breaks while simultaneously cranking the wheel and laying on the horn swinging the van around. "Open the back!"

Liadin, and Emily pushed open the back doors and reached out to help pull Raphael into the vehicle.

Donatello laid another debilitating blow into his dragon then took advantage of the opening to make a break for the vehicle. "Come on Mike let's go!"

Mike didn't hesitate, dodging the dragon's next strike and landing one of his own before following Don to the vehicle slamming the doors closed behind him. Leo punched the gas driving back out towards the large garage door.

"Do you have the detonator?" Donatello asked Riana as he made his way to Raphael, placing a finger on his brother's jugular looking for a pulse. It was faint but to Don's relief, it was there. "What happened?"

"Bigley bit him." Riana whipped away her tears, her worry for Raph weighing too heavy on her to keep it in. "Bigley had been mutated into something like one of those dogs."

"Here." Mia moved from her seat to the ground next the red banded turtle and pulled a syringe from her lab coat pocket.

"Its and anti-venom." Mia explained as she injected it into Raph's arm. She then looked up at Riana and the others, "I don't know if it will work, there may be too much damage done."

There was a moment of silence as this muddle of fear and hope was processed.

The heavy thump of Leo crashing through a crate brought everyone back to the task at hand.

"The detinators?" Don asked again.

Casey dumped four detonators from his golf bag and handed them out to Mikey, Don, and Liadin. "Give us the all clear, Leo."

Leo put the pedal to the floor and soon as the van burst through the large door way shouted, "Clear!"

There were four initial explosions followed by many more as munitions and chemicals exploded. Causing the support beams to shatter and the roof and walls to fall in the building and every monster with in ablaze.

The armored vehicle didn't slow as it blew through the surrounding flames and fence. It's escape covered by thick black smoke and booming explosions.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Leonardo slowed the vehicle as they reached a dark underpass then, not wanting to gain any unwanted attention, parked in a dark corner. He waited quietly for a moment and watched to be sure there was no one around, then turned in his seat to take in what was happening in the back.

Riana sat on the floor, Raph's head in her lap. Two of her fingers wrested on the underside of his wrist as she desperately tried to hold back tears as she counted every slow and staggered beat of Raphael's heart.

Donatello knelt at his brother's side as he counted the duration of each breath and the space in between.

Mia made herself busy testing the unconscious turtle's reflexes while saying something about the possible neurological damage.

Emily wrapped a sympathetic arm around Mikey as he sat trying to remain hopeful in the fact that Raph was still breathing, even if each breath was shallow.

Liadin standing with her arms still braced against the ceiling, from stabilizing herself during the ride. She watched the sein before her not entirely sure how to feel or what to do about any of it.

Leonardo's eyes wandered from the officer, which presented a hole other problem, back down to his sleeping brother. Frightened, heart aching, and unsure of what to do he slid to the floor of the armored vehicle and sat with his head in his hands. Taking slow deep breaths, he tried to clear his head of the emotions that were drowning him. He wanted to go home, he wanted to get them all safe. But with the police sweeping the streets hunting monsters, Leo could not risk discovery. For now they would have to wait.

Blue lights and sirens flooded the streets. An occasional fury of gun shots would sound when a panicked officer would come across one of the mutants that had escaped the ware house yard.

Eric Bigley hissed as he tightened a strip of fabric from his shirt around a gash he had received during his escape from the ware house yard. A deep frown marred his usually handsome features as he inspected the mash up bandage.

"Fucking freaks." He cursed as he stood, being careful to keep himself hidden in the darkness of the shadows.

He then brought a shiny brass dog whistle to his lips and blew, the sound reaching the ears of long fanged monsters that had managed to evade their death.

Eric waited as a hand full of his venomous pets crept from the shadows. He them led the creatures threw the underbelly of the city to a place of hiding.

Dawn's approaching light shined, in hues of orange and red, through the vehicle's windows. He dizzily watched dust floating down through the beams of light. The heavy breathing of the others sleeping gave the moment a serial feeling. With half open eyes he looked down at the female turtle that slept on his chest, the red and brown markings on her green skin brightened by the morning sun. 'She has no idea how beautiful she is.' He thought to himself as he lifted his hand and gently cupped her cheek.

Riana's eyes fluttered open at his touch. "Raph." She smiled as she sat up.

Donatello opened his eyes at the sound of his brother's name. A grin spreading across his face as he watched Raphael prop himself up on his elbows.

"Hey," Don said as he made his way to Raph's side waking up a few more of the occupants of the armored vehicle. "How are you feeling?"

Raph didn't get a chance to answer. As soon as he had opened his mouth it was covered by the arm of the ever excitable Mikey.

"He's alive!" Mikey exclaimed as he squished his brother's head against his chest in a tight hug.

"Alright." Raph grunted as he shifted and pushed his brother off of him. "Keep it up and one of use won't be."

Leonardo gently pushed his way in to the group around Raph. "Glad to have you back."

Raph sat the rest of the way up and rubbed his head. "Glad to be back. What happened?"

He was answered by an overwhelming on slot of female voices, each simultaneously telling what they had experienced or witnessed in the last few hours, leaving Raph with a headache and wondering if his question was ever actually answered.

Casey put a hand on Leo's shoulder, "Maybe we should take them back to my place. Aril and I will get the girls home from there."

Leo looked out at the light soaked city then back to Casey. "You should probably drive."

Casey nodded and jumped into the driver's seat and cranked the engine.

"Remember we are trying not to draw attention."

"I know." Casey said as he put the vehicle into gear and pulled out from under the overpass. The car he cut off honking angrily at him.

Leo sighed but turned his attention back to all the chatter in the back and smiled.

It was a whole day and a half later when Liaden finally walked through the precinct doors. Convincing Leonardo that she would keep the turtles' secret had not been an easy task. She could picture him his shoulders rising and falling with each deep breath, wondering if he had made the right decision in trusting her, his swords drawn but hanging at his side as he paced the roof.

She crossed the lobby and made her way down the hall to the office of Detective Loza.

The detective greeted her with a smile as he stood. "Liaden, I was worried about you. No one has heard from you since that ware house blew up." The old man placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her over noticing the tattered and disheveled appearance of her uniform. "Are you alright? Do you need a hospital?"

Liaden shook her head and returned the detective's smile. "I'm fine. Can I have that box of evidence? You know the one."

Loza's eyes widened. "Did you find something new? I've seen pictures of them… those animals they found. Did your vigilantes interfere again?"

"They had a large hand in bringing this whole case to a head." Liaden answered simply.

"Did you make arrests?"

"The opportunity evaded me." Liaden frowned hoping the old man wouldn't pry farther.

"Hmm…" Loza made his way to a stack of boxes behind his desk and pulled one off the top.

"You know, Liaden…" He said as he held out the box. "Sometimes the right thing is breaking the rules."

Liaden gave Detective Loza a surprised look. "You've seen them."

The old man tapped the side of his nose and smiled. "Wouldn't be here without them. Why do you think I have never taken this box down to the evidence locker… or did you not notice."

She hadn't noticed! "But, when?"

"That is a story for another time." Loza placed the box in Liaden's hands. "I know you will do the right thing."

Dumbfounded Liaden gave a slow nod then turned and made her way back out of the precinct and down the alley where she found the fire escape.

On the roof Leonardo was certainly pacing. Mikey mimicking his brother as he followed his steps across the roof and back again.

"Jeeze, Leo. You're making me dizzy. Sit down will ya?" Raph suggested.

Leo answered with an irritated look.

"She's coming." Donatello said as he took a step away from the edge. "She's alone."

Leo visibly relaxed as he watched Liaden climb onto the roof carrying a box.

"Here you go." Liaden held the box out to Leo.

He took it and inspected the content. "Is that all of it?" With all the tight spots they had been in one light box wasn't too bad… of coarse the police having any evidence of their existence wasn't good either.

"Yep." Liaden answered. She held a card out to him.

Leo handed the box to Donatello as he took the business card and looked down at it.

"In case you ever need back up… or help covering your tracks… my cell number is on the back." She shifted nervously under Leo's surprised gaze. Not sure what else to do she stuck out her hand.

Leo eyed it for a moment then slowly he grasped it. "Thank you."

Liaden gave Leo's hand a solid shake then smiled. "Keep up the good work."

Leo nodded then gave the 'time to go' signal, then with a series of quick movements disappeared into the shadows.

The four watched the officer make her way back down to the alley.

"So you gunna call her?" Mikey grinned.

Leo flipped Liaden's business card over in his hand, a small smile snuck across his face. "You know Mikey, at some point I just might."

"Oh, thank god, cause Don and I are totally swinging by Emily and Mia's tomorrow night."

Leo raised an eye brow at Don.

"We were going to talk about the differences in the chemical compounds of the…" Don started to explain

Leo put a hand up to stop him. "Do me a favor, Don. Don't tell me."

"We going home or what?" Raph called from the next roof top anxious to get home and show Riana his favorite parts of her new body.

Leo smiled. "Come on guys let's go home."

With that the four brother's vanished into the night.

The end.

* * *

thank you everyone that read and every one that left a review. hopefully you enjoyed the journey. :)


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