Ninja Turtles 1. Prologue

**Ummm. I don't have MUCH of an explanation for this, but I have a teeny little itty bitty microscopic one. Will that work?**

**For some reason, I was reminded of TMNT. I don't remember why, even though it was only like two days ago. My favorite character when I was younger was Leo, hands down. I don't know why, but it was probably his leadership and sacrifice and guilt complex and whatnot. I was a strange child.**

**And since I can't find that old TMNT story I started and never finished when I was, like, thirteen or so, I decided to write a new, better one. And this time I'll include a character I don't really remember but have fallen in love with today - Leatherhead! I have no idea why I don't remember him being in the show. He's freaking awesome! And nice. Very nice... I like sciencey people, okay? But for some reason I don't like Don as much as the others. Huh. Oh well! I still love his technobabble and I still think he's adorkable.**

**So anyway! Hope you guys like this. It's the prologue, and it's written from Raph's POV, mostly from flashback form which is why it's in italic. In the rest of the chapters, it'll be third person though, and the views will jump around quite a bit, depending on which char I feel like writing a chappie about. The next one will have pretty much everyone except LH, I promise. Don't shoot because of that, I'm saving the best for last and you'll see why! (It shouldn't be TOO long before he shows up though, trust me, because I can't hold back writing him for too long, especially since it'll be the first time I've written him.)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em>I met her by chance. It was a dark night, and it my turn to patrol the city. We were on high alert for Shredder and the Foot Clan. And I found one... that was when it got nasty. I guess it pretty much came down to luck. That guy was having a good night, and I wasn't.<em>

_It didn't turn out so good, and I barely managed to drag myself into an alley. Well, what was I supposed to do? I had to stay out of sight. We don't let anyone see us, and that's how we survive. If anyone besides the people who already know us... I think you get the idea._

_Anyway, it turned out to REALLY not be my lucky night. Just a few minutes after I was in the alley, trying to hold in the sounds of my pain, there was this shuffling noise and out came this girl, kneeling on all fours. She looked scared, and there was dirt on her face and arms. She was only wearing a tank top and shorts, but it was a warm night; she was shaking though, like it was winter. She had red hair that was tied back in a ponytail, but she didn't really look like April. Her eyes were blue, and wide, and looking straight at me._

_She didn't scream. She didn't run. She just sat there on her knees, and kept shaking. Her lips were moving in a quivery tremble too, like she wanted to say something to me but she didn't know if she should. Like she was a little kid and I was a stranger, which I was anyway._

_Eventually she started moving, slowly, and crawled over to me. She still looked scared, but she held up her hand and reached down and touched my chest. That was where I'd been hit, where I was bleeding. It wasn't bad, but I was already tired and it wasn't a walk in the park._

_She got closer to my face and blinked at me a few times before saying "Ouch" while running her fingers over the injury. She looked at me for another minute - just looking, right into my eyes. Her eyes were still wide, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but it didn't look like she was really afraid anymore. I could feel her hands shaking though... still shaking._

_That was the first thing I liked about her. It was her hands. Her fingers were jittery on my skin, but they had a softness that reminded me of my brothers and Master Splinter. Filled with care and maybe even affection. I wasn't sure why she'd be feeling affection for me when we'd just met, and when we were so different, but it didn't matter then. Nothing much mattered._

_It turned out her hair was held up by a white ribbon. I know because she took it out and used it to stop the bleeding. It wasn't long enough to wrap around me like a bandage, but at least she could use it to apply pressure and ease the pain a little bit._

_But her hands were still shaking, and they hadn't stopped, and I wondered why._

_A few minutes after she'd taken the ribbon off and put it back in her hair (I didn't think it was a good idea to do that with something you'd just used to mop up strange turtle blood, but hey, what'd I know?), it started raining. So she held out her trembling hands and collected some, which she used to wash off the wound. It stung at first, and I had to grind my teeth to keep from snapping at her. She didn't seem to notice though, and it was probably better._

_Finally, after all that, she scooted herself over and put my head in her lap. Then she started stroking the top of my head. "I'm Jamie," she said absently._

_I remember chuckling without really putting any effort into it. Seemed like the weirdest, most random thing she could've said right then. "Hey, Jamie."_

_She didn't drop it. She kept staring down at me with those wide blue eyes. And she repeated, "I'm Jamie. __**I'm **__Jamie. I'm __**Jamie**__." She did that at least three times, alternating the word she placed emphasis on._

_Then I realized what she wanted, and couldn't help rolling my eyes. If that was what she wanted, why didn't she just ask? Most people would. "I'm Raphael. You don't have to call me that, though. You can just call me Raph - that's what my brothers call me."_

_That was when she smiled for the first time, and her petting advanced heavily enough so that it was on the border of "loving". Then she giggled at me. "Raphael. Raphael. Raph. Raphael."_

_I gave up, and closed my eyes. I brought my hand up to rest on my stomach, and the hand she wasn't using to stroke my head grasped it. She held my hand like she didn't want to let go. Like if she let go, something bad would happen._

_I turned my head toward her, and I felt two different textures. One was the rough denim of her shorts, and the other was the ice that was her skin. Her touch, the odd combination, and the sound of rain made me groggy, and I must have gone out like a light._

_When I woke up, she was gone._

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><p><em>I probably should have told Master Splinter and my brothers about the girl... <em>_about Jamie. After all, she'd seen me and I didn't know where she went. She could have raved about it to other people._

_But I didn't tell them. Jamie didn't seem to be in her right mind that night, and she probably wouldn't even remember what had happened. I did - she looked at me without fear, touched me without thinking twice - but she probably wouldn't have any clue what went on._

_Somewhere deep down in me, I kind of hoped that she might remember, that I might see her again someday. Then the reality part kicked in. She wouldn't remember; I'd never see her again. It was just a weird, isolated incident._

_Still, a part of me wished it would grow into something more... something meaningful._

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><p><em>I found Jamie again. It was three days later - my turn to patrol again, since we rotated the duty every four days. The last night it had been Mikey, and I knew he hated it. He got bored with it too easy if nothing happened. After I knew where Jamie was, I would have gladly offered to take up his shift. Only problem, it would have made him and the rest of my brothers and Master Splinter suspicious. Where was I going? Why did I do that? Did I actually enjoy going topside that much?<em>

_If I did that, they would have found out about Jamie. Then I'd have to forget her forever._

_Jamie wasn't homeless. She acted like she was, and I thought she was, but she wasn't. I found her by catching a glimpse of a girl through a window that should have been shut but wasn't. I had to do a double take, make sure it was my Jamie. And it was._

_She was curled up in a corner of some house that looked like it was ready to have a wrecking ball taken to it. This time when I found her she was wearing a robe, but under it were the same clothes I'd seen her in the first night. A black tank top and gray shorts._

_She was still shaking. She was __**still**__ shaking._

_Once she knew I was there, she let me in. The door wasn't locked, which worried me a little. How could she live somewhere where she wasn't safe? Where she __**knew**__ she wasn't safe? That had to grind on her sense of security._

_This time it was me holding her, except she had to check me first. She knew who I was (she practically screamed my name as soon as I called to her from outside), and she wanted to make sure I was healing. I said that thanks to her, I was, and not to take that lightly because I didn't thank people too often. I'm just not that kinda guy, you know?_

_She was broken when I found her this time. Her will was shattered, and she spent the whole time in my arms and against my chest. She actually talked to me this time - really talked to me. The tears never stopped._

_Jamie, my Jamie, had been tricked by something called drugs. I knew what they were, but I didn't know specifics. I just knew they could deal you a lot of damage if you took them a lot. And Jamie took them a lot._

_She showed me her arms, the insides of them. I couldn't see them clearly the first time we met; I was in pain, not paying attention, and I was just concerned with who she was. Her skin was full of holes, where she said that was where she stuck the needles in her veins, to get the drug into her blood._

_She cried against me, and I was sorry for her. She told me how badly she wanted to stop doing this to herself. But she couldn't. She tried, and everytime she tried, she got sick. The drugs weren't in her, and her body wanted them, and it made her sick enough that she went back to putting them in her._

_That was why she'd been so out of her mind the first night I met her. She had gotten enough drugs into her system to be "high"; but she still understood what she'd done for me. She'd known she was helping me, she told me that._

_I held her for a while, then I told her I had to go. The sky was lightening, and I had to be back with my family before sunrise. That was the rule._

_Before I left, she stood up and touched my arm, and pulled me back over to her. She got close to me, and stood on her tiptoes, then she pressed her lips against my cheek. After that she went back over to the corner and sat down, closing her eyes, and told me now I could leave, but I had to come back._

_I didn't say anything, and I left._

_I really should have told my family about her, wouldn't you think?_

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><p><em>I got comfortable with Jamie, and eventually I looked forward to seeing her <em>_when it was my turn to patrol. She always smiled when she saw me, and I liked that. Nobody ever smiled when they saw us, but she did._

_She was always in that house, and she told me it wasn't really her house. The people who had given her drugs, it was where they used to live, but they moved. She couldn't go back and live with her own family because her mother had told her that unless she stopped the drugs, she couldn't live in the house. It turned out she had a younger sister, and her mother didn't want her sister having to see Jamie like this._

_After about the tenth day that I was with her (which I think would have been almost six weeks), she started referring to me as her boyfriend. She gave me the weirdest nicknames, which I hated but tolerated for her sake. She still wasn't really in her right mind, after all, and it would be cruel if I told her to stop using them. They weren't that bad, as long as it was just us._

_She seemed to be a little bit more like a normal person after that day. When I was there, she'd get up and walk around the room. She'd kiss me when I got there and before I left. She laughed one time, and asked me if I really thought I was her boyfriend just because she said so. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I just shrugged. "Yeah. Sure. We can be together... just can't let anyone know, right? Especially not my family or your family."_

_She grinned and agreed. She couldn't make any promises, she said, but she wouldn't let anyone know who I really was._

_Then one day, I went to the house and was ready to greet her, to take her in my arms when she ran at me. Usually I just let her topple me, but this time I was ready to take it seriously. I liked her, even though she was flawed, she was nicer to me than any human ever had been, and I was going to be a real boyfriend to her._

_But she wasn't there._

_I waited for her until my patrol was over. She never came, and she hadn't told me that she was going anywhere. I was a little sad, sure, but I would keep liking her. She probably forgot; she did that a lot. She couldn't keep her memory straight most of the time, but she never forgot who I was and that she liked me._

_Aw man... it's not like me to get all mushy, you know? That's not me. But I still haven't seen her, and it's been six months. Six freakin' months. I have no idea where she went, where she would have gone. I wait for her sometimes, in that same house. Hiding from the world and waiting for her to show up again. She hasn't come yet._

_Hoping doesn't do any good. It doesn't make things happen. But I'm hoping she's gonna show up again, hoping she ain't just gonna leave me hanging like this._

_I'm weird like that, you know? Yeah. You know._

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><p><strong>Well! I hope you guys liked that. I don't have much of a note this chapter, since I wanna get jumpin' on writing the first.<strong>

**Sorry if Raph seemed a little out of character; I'm just trying to picture him away from his bros for a while, maybe he's a teeny bit calmer if Mikey isn't annoying the crap out of him every five minutes. Maybe? I dunno. I think the ending seems a bit more like him, the last three paragraphs.**

**Anyway! Reviews are always appreciated, especially since this is my first TMNT story ever on this site.**

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	2. Chapter 1

**HAHAHAHA story spam!**

**I have no idea how I got this done in a day, seriously. I was slacking off and not writing for a while today, and I was worried that I wouldn't get it up today. But I DID IT.**

**It's a little long for what I usually do, but I couldn't just leave it hanging at a place that didn't _feel_ right. I can't ever do that, and hopefully I ended it at the right place!**

**Okay, so I finally figured out my scale for TMNT crushes. This is my own personal scale of who I crush on, and in order:**

**1 - Leatherhead (I just can't help it! He's too sweet, but he has a dark side! Like too many sugar cookies!)**

**2 - Raphael (ohhhhh, he CARES... he just doesn't want anyone to KNOW it)**

**3 - Mikey (HE'S JUST SO ADORABLE! I LOVE WRITING HIM!)**

**4 - Leonardo (it's funny that he was my favorite when I was a little kid, he's fallen down three spaces now... I still love love love him though)**

**5 - Donny (GAAAAAAH, he's such a nerd it kills me... I should make a vid of him to "White and Nerdy", only he'd hunt me down and gut me like a fish...)**

**SO YES. I don't know why I told y'all that scale, but I did.**

**Oh yeah. And I finally found that old TMNT story I wrote like a million years ago. It was two pages... and it was probably the stupidest thing I've ever written. It was way too random. Although my OC walking into her kitchen yelling at Mikey "Okay, WHAT did y'all break NOW?" was pretty funny. Then she told him he was grounded, and to shut his trap, and Raph said "I could hang with this girl for a while."**

**Sooo, maybe I might use a few funny lines from my old one (that I wrote when I was like 13, yeeeowwwch...) in this one eventually.**

**Also... sorry about no LH this chapter! He'll come soon, I promise. Once the girls get comfortably settled in, WEIRD things will start happening... and I'm hoping to make the first one their meeting with LH and a, uh... surprising lemony-lime twist.**

**Well, enjoy the first OFFICIAL chapter! 'Tis crazy at the beginning, random and facepalm-inducing at the end, and here bad jokes abound. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

**If you still wish to read this... proceed with caution.**

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><p>The turtle brothers and their master rarely got visitors. And when they did, it was either April, Casey, or another mutant. So it was an unusual event when there were a few knocks on the door that evening.<p>

"I got it," Raphael muttered, seeing as he was already up. "Yo Donny, it's probably Doc Croc. Let's get ready for another science lesson, everybody. Get out ya notebooks and start writin' or you'll get detention."

"Owwww!" Michelangelo dramatically fell over on the couch, kicking his legs. "It hasn't even _started_ yet and my brain already hurts!"

Don sighed and Raph just rolled his eyes. "Can't you ever be serious?"

Mikey sat up and crossed his legs up on the cushions. "Hey. It's not like I don't love the guy to death, but seriously, Donny's the only one who can stand him for more than half an hour at a time. If I'm with him for too long, it feels like I'm that dumb kid in math class. Or intro to bio. You know, that moron who sits in the back texting under the table and always partners up with the smart yet hot girl sitting next to him?"

Leonardo brought his hand up to his face and shook his head. "Alright, Mikey. You've been watching too many teen dramas. If I see _Degrassi_ or _8 Simple Rules_ or anything like that on TV one more time..."

Mikey snorted. "I don't watch any of that stuff, bro. I just know how it works. Just like horror movies, where-"

"Shut up, Mikey. We already know, buddy system, and don't run toward the killer, especially if you're the one with the chainsaw and he's just got a knife." After Raphael voiced what they were all thinking, he proceeded to turn his attention back to the door and opened it.

"_Raphieeeeeee_!" Not even two seconds after opening the door, a girl with red hair jumped on Raph, her arms around his neck and one leg up in the air. "I missed you so much!"

"_Duuuude_," Mikey snickered, standing up. "Raph, you dog!"

"You know who she is, Leo?" Don whispered.

"I have no idea," the older turtle whispered back. "But it looks like she and Raph know each other."

"Oh yeah. But where from?"

"I'm hoping there's an explanation coming."

"Jamie!" Raph was busy shouting at the girl and trying to pry her off of him, but it wasn't working the way he probably wanted it to. "Get offa me! For God's sake, where'd you come from!"

"That is what _I_ am wondering," Splinter spoke up, stepping forward.

At last the girl, Jamie as Raph had called her, seemed to get the picture and ended her assault of Raphael. She hopped down, letting go of him, and took a step toward the rat. She slowly, deliberately pressed her palms against each other, and bowed at the waist. She didn't even keep her head and eyes up. "Master Splinter, it's an honor." She came back up, lowering her hands to rest folded at her waist. "I've heard so many good things about you, and I'm privileged to meet you in person."

It was clear that Splinter appreciated this show of respect, considering she had bowed in a way that completely exposed her and so displayed that she had an immense trust in him, though they'd never met. Even so, he raised an eyebrow and looked skeptical. "You know me, yet I know not who you are."

She bowed her head again. "I'm sorry, I should-"

"I do not blame you for this." Splinter looked over at the red-masked turtle sternly. "Raphael. Can you explain this?"

"No he can't," Jamie interrupted, once again stepping forward. "This wasn't his idea." She gestured back to Raph. "He had nothing to do with me showing up." She glanced over at Raph longingly before turning her attention back to Splinter and focusing entirely on him. "And I owe you an explanation. But first, there's one more thing you should know-"

"Hey sis!" Another girl, this time with light brown hair, walked in. "Are we allowed to stay?"

She was followed by two blondes about the same age, and a middle-aged woman with black hair. The older woman grabbed the brunette's arm. "Taylor, what have I told you about barging in like that? Jamie told us to stay out... side..." She looked up at the room full of mutants. "Until..." Her grip slipped from the brunette's arm. "Oh my _God_."

Jamie facepalmed. "Oh my _God_, Mom! Stop staring, seriously! Way to kill it!"

The brunette, Taylor, nudged the woman in the side with her elbow. "Look at that, Mama, third party this month you've put a fork in. That's gotta be, like, a record. Oh, hey, also a record - the quickest you've made people feel like freaks."

The woman glared at Taylor. "You are just _asking_ to be grounded again, _for, like, the third time this month_."

Raphael reached over and took the redhead's arm. "Jamie, you've got some serious explaining to do. First off, why don't ya tell me why you disappeared for six months and didn't tell me where you were goin'?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Raphie." She grasped his hands and grinned big at him, her whole face practically glowing. "I didn't know how long it was going to take, but I'm finally done. Raphael... I'm clean."

Raphael blinked a few times, and looked down at her with an expression of disbelief mixed with amazement. "You... You're what?"

"I got clean, Raphael. For you." She wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her cheek against his chest. "I checked into rehab, and I don't need the drugs anymore. Look." She let go and displayed the insides of her forearms to him. "I haven't used needles for the past five months, two weeks, four days."

At first, Raph looked speechless. He scanned Jamie's body up and down, then picked her up in a giant hug. "Jame, that's great! I can't believe this, I really can't. Why didn't you tell me? I been waitin' for ya."

"I didn't wanna worry you, Raph." She hugged him back, pressing her lips to his cheek. "I just wanted to surprise you, because you're the reason I did this."

"Wait wait, hold on one second." The black-haired woman stepped forward, hands on her hips. "_This_ is your boyfriend? The one who had you singing 'I'm on my way to go to rehab, now I know, know, know'? He's... a... a, um... a little... different than I imagined."

Raphael scoffed. "You can say it, lady. I'm a giant turtle. It's a little shocking, I get it."

Jamie giggled as she wrapped her arms around him again. "Hey, babe, _I_ wasn't shocked."

"Am I getting an explanation before I join Izanagi in the heavens?" Splinter entered the picture again, not quick to be forgotten.

The woman cocked an eyebrow. "... Can anybody translate that? I don't speak haiku."

Mikey chuckled, and Leo smacked him on the back of the head. "He asked if anybody was gonna tell him what's going on."

"Okay, okay!" Jamie turned to look at the master. "So this one night, I was on a really bad trip, and I was coming down from it. I was in this alley, and here I saw this guy lying on the ground." She snuggled cozily up to Raphael, who put his arm around her. "It turned out to be Raphie, and he was hurt. So I stopped the bleeding and sat with him. Then he fell asleep, so I had to leave. The cops were coming, so I put the trash cans that were there in front of him and left."

"I was on patrol that night," Raphael continued. "She prob'ly saved my shell. Then the next night I went on patrol, I found her in some old abandoned house, so I went in to see her. We talked a lot, and she told me that a while ago she got in with the wrong crowd and started shootin' herself up with drugs. She tried to stop a buncha times, but stoppin' made her sick 'cause she didn't have it. I saw her a lot... everytime I went on patrol, I'd stop by for a while." He shrugged. "And, y'know... one thing led to another..."

"And we were a couple," Jamie giggled. "Still are, right, Raphie?"

"Yeah, I... I mean, I guess. I didn't know, what with you disappearin' on me... but now that I know what it was for, yeah. Yeah, we're still together." He glanced up. "I mean, as... as long as you're okay with it, Master Splinter."

There was a long silence, during which everyone's eyes were on the mutated rat. It looked like he was thinking deeply, staring at Raphael and Jamie. At last, he closed his eyes and lowered his head a little. "I do not disapprove of your relationship with her, Raphael. I wish you would have informed me when you first met her, however."

"Be honest," Raph countered. "You wouldn't have let me keep seeing her, would you? You woulda been paranoid 'cause she's human."

"_You_ be honest as well, my son," Splinter shot back. "Even if I had forbid you from seeing her, you would not have stopped, would you? You would have done as teenagers do and gone behind my back."

Raph looked down, clearly embarrassed. "Yeah, well... she's a great girl. 'Course I wouldn'ta stopped."

"That is what I thought."

Jamie patted Raph's chest, then looked at Splinter. "Look, um, Master Splinter... I know you've just met all of us. But I have a really big favor to ask."

He raised an eyebrow. "Based on what this young woman said earlier..." He gestured to Taylor, who giggled. "I am under the impression that you wish to remain here, with us." He glanced at the other girls and the woman. "I will get an explanation for this as well?"

The woman stepped forward, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah. I'm Kathy Henson. Jamie and Taylor are my daughters, and these two are Kim..." She pointed to the shorter blonde. "And Maria." Then the taller one. "They're part of my daughters' group or whatever, I don't understand the inner social workings of the whole thing. But anyway, they've been living with us since their parents have been on vacation in Europe - they won't be back for a while. I let Jamie back into the house when she went into rehab. Then a few days ago some people from the city came and told us my house was condemned because they were building something-or-other over it. So we had to move."

"And I told her that Raph might let us move in with him - just for a little while," Jamie continued, once again hugging her boyfriend. "And funny story! My mom works with April O'Neil. You guys know her, I presume? Well, I mean, you have to, because I talked to her. Once I found out she knew you guys, that's how I found out where you were. And... well, here I am!"

"You mean _we_," Kim mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Someone hit you with a forget-a-ray or something," Maria agreed.

Taylor snickered and held out her fist in Maria's direction. "Nerd burn, girlfriend!"

Maria denied the fist-bump, instead putting both hands on her hips. "I don't think so."

Jamie shot them a look, then looked over at Splinter. "So... what do you say, Master?" She cuddled up to Raphael, leaning her head against the chest part of his plastron and putting her hand over it as well. "Can we stay, just until we figure something out? Please?"

After a few moments of silence, there was a sigh from Splinter. "Very well, I will let you stay. But only because you are friends with Raphael." He held up a hand and smiled slightly. "Enjoy your night, my son, Miss Henson... but do not enjoy it too thoroughly."

Raph rolled his eyes, and let go of Jamie. "Alright. I'm goin' to the training room."

"Ooh!" Jamie clapped, quickly following behind him. "I'll come too, Snugglebuns! I want to watch you pound the fudge out of a dummy!"

Mikey pouted. "Heyyy, that's not nice!"

Raph groaned. "Aw, here we go with the nicknames! I put up with it when you were high, Jame, but seriously, you're clean now so knock it off!"

Jamie grinned as she grabbed his arm and looked back at everyone. "If anybody needs us, my Snickerdoodle and I will be in the training room!"

"I said stop callin' me all that weird stuff!"

With that (and more echoing of the same), they left.

Leo blinked around at everyone before stretching and heading for the door, probably eager to get out of the now-rather-awkward environment. "Well, uh, it's my night to patrol, so... I better get on that."

"Mind if I come along?" Kim asked, walking over towards him. "I don't really have anything better to do. Besides, I'd feel like a lump just sitting around on my first night here. Not to mention, the others are probably gonna hang out, and I'd feel like I was intruding."

Leo raised an eye ridge, but shrugged as he picked up his swords from near the couch. "Sure, I wouldn't mind you tagging along. Just try to stay out of sight, okay? Wouldn't want you getting hurt."

She scoffed. "I wouldn't. And even if something came at me, I'm sure you'd be strong enough to handle it. Not that I wouldn't be kicking and screaming of course."

Leo sighed. He didn't even know her; unless she barely spoke and stayed in the shadows the whole time, this was going to be a long night. "Let's get going."

As they exited out the door into the sewers, Mikey's voice floated out after them: "Heyyy Leo! Good _luuuuck_!"

_Slam._

"Do not tease your brothers, Michelangelo," Splinter admonished.

"Yeah, mind your own beeswax," Don added. He looked around the room to see who was left. Maria, Mikey, Taylor, Kathy, and Splinter. "It was nice to meet you guys and all, but-"

"This is so _weird_." Before he knew what was happening, Maria had come over to him and started circling him like a hawk. "I mean, in the most completely, awesomely once-in-a-lifetime scientific finding way." She ran her hand down his carapace, poked his beak, and rapped her knuckles lightly against the lower part of his plastron. "Fascinating! I've never seen anything like this before..."

"Hey hey!" Don grabbed both her wrists and held them away from his body, eyeing her warily. "Didn't anyone ever teach you about personal space? I have a bubble." He put his foot out about three feet. "This is my bubble. I respect and value my bubble." He let go of her. "Please stay out of my bubble. I'm not your senior bio project. Kindly keep your hands to yourself."

Maria crossed her arms. "Sorry. It's just that I've never seen anything like you before."

"Yeah, sure, I get that. And you're just dying to vivisect me, aren't you?"

"Eww, gross!" Maria recoiled, making a face. "That's a horrible thing to do! I'd never do that! The only cutting open I do is online, where it's a virtual simulation and not a living creature. Yes siree Bob, you won't find one scalpel, knife, or frog in _my_ lab. I'm not _that_ kind of scientist."

Don perked up a little. "Wait, _you_ have a lab? That's an weird coincidence, I have one too." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "It's crazy, we're supposed to be regular teenagers and I have a laboratory." There was a slight heat that rose in his cheeks, but it was gone just as quick as it had come. "You, uh... you wanna come up to my lab? You know, to compare equipment?"

She clapped. "Sure! I bet you have stuff I don't. Lead the way."

Once they were gone, Michelangelo fell back on the couch with a sigh, letting his arm dangle over the side. "Man. It's like everyone else paired off and now I don't have anyone to hang with. _Dude_, my life's not fair." He got up and ventured into the kitchen, unknowingly being watched by Taylor. "I guess I'll just do what I do every other night. Grab some leftover pizza and watch _Friday the 13th_ a few more million times while rereading my comics."

Almost immediately Taylor was beside him at the refrigerator. "Are you _serious_?" she squealed. "You just, like, totally said my three favorite things in the whole world! What kind of pizza you got?"

Mikey looked wide-eyed at her as he pulled a box out of the fridge. "Uhhh... I dunno if you'd like it. I think we have mostly pepperoni and extra cheese."

"Are you kidding? The _only_ way I eat pizza is extra cheese and pepperoni straight from the fridge." She waved her hand. "I mean, sometimes I put it on a sandwich, but that's only if I haven't eaten all day." She leaned over the door to peek inside. "Got any sodas?"

Mikey blinked a few times in disbelief, then a wide grin split his face. "_Wow_!" He yanked two boxes and a few cans of Coke from the fridge. "Dudette, I think you're, like, totally my dream girl. You're not spoken for, are you?"

She giggled. "Nah! Everyone thinks I'm immature. Mind if I chill with you?"

"Are you insane? I've been waiting weeks for someone to join me. Haven't had company for one of my _Chez Mike_ nights in forever." He piled the sodas on top of the pizza boxes and jerked his head toward the stairs. "C'mon, little dudette, it's right up this way. Hey, do you like the Silver Sentry?"

"Tubular!" She laced her arm through Mikey's and struggled to keep up with his ninja speed. "That's only, like, my favorite comic _ever_! How 'bout Madame Mercury? You ever read those?"

"Shoosh! Would you, like, totally think I was a nerd if I told you I drew a comic where she _partnered up_ with the Silver Sentry?"

"_Dude_! You've gotta show me! I bet that's, like, _super epic_!"

Their laughter and enthusiasm faded away as they reached the top of the stairs.

Kathy scowled. "Great. First night here and they've all deserted me."

Seeing her tentativeness, Splinter offered his hand to her. "Henson-_san_. Perhaps you would like to join me for tea? It would give us time to discuss matters."

She sighed, glancing around the now empty room. "Yeah. I guess it would." She shrugged, pushing her bangs back. "Alright, count me in. I doubt any of them would want us anyway."

"My sons or your daughters and their friends?"

She snickered, following him through the door. "I didn't think you knew how to crack a joke, but that was a doozy. And both. I don't think _any_ of them would want us around."

Splinter nodded and smiled just a little. "That is exactly what I was thinking as well."

* * *

><p><strong>Hehe. I love Don's little speech about his bubble. "Don't touch me!"<strong>

**And Raph. Oh Raph, getting all hot and bothered over Jamie's stupid little nicknames. Although they ARE pretty stupid.**

**Awww Leo. He wants to be alone on patrol and Kimmy wants to tag along. Poor guy. I wonder if she'll get in trouble...?**

**Heehee, Mikey and Taylor. They're just... perfect for each other. Mikey's reaction when she says she loves comics, horror flicks, and pizza... just win.**

**Well! Hopefully LH will be showing up soon, and I think you may be surprised at who's with him...**

**Hope you liked! If you did, leave a review 'cause I love those little suckers!**

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	3. Chapter 2

**WHOO. Sorry, couldn't manage to get everybody into this chappie. But I did get Raph and Leo. ^^**

**I think the next chapter is going to be really funny - it's Mikey and Don plus the beginning of Splinter's friendship with Kathy. How is that NOT going to be funny?**

**Well, anyway, I should get on with the chapter then. Hope y'all like!**

* * *

><p>Jamie watched, enthralled, as Raphael hit the punching back over and over, so hard she was afraid (but in a good way) that it would burst through the ceiling. She was sitting on the stack of extra mats, legs crossed, and a hand holding each cheek. Her elbows rested on her knees, and she couldn't take her eyes off him.<p>

Raph knew it too. He could tell by that warm feeling all over his body that her eyes were on him, never looking away. He could feel it whenever she was staring at him. It was actually better, because he was trying to impress her now since he knew she was looking. She'd never seen him fight or train before, and he wanted to let her know exactly what she'd hooked up with. She needed to know that he could protect her, so she'd always feel safe here.

After a few more hits, Raph stopped for a break, wiping the sweat off his face and flexing. "Hey. You ain't gettin' tired yet, Jame? It's kinda late."

"I don't mind." She laid down on the mats and sighed happily. "It's been so long since I've seen you. I don't want to miss anything."

He chuckled, walking over to her. "I guess I feel like that too. I ain't seen you in so long." He swung one leg over the other side of the mats, so that he was basically sitting on top of her legs. "It's like... I been in the dark so long since you left. And now... all the sudden... the sun came out and there's light all around me." He leaned down, reaching up and pushing a stray piece of crimson hair from her face. "Y'know?"

She smiled back at him, reaching up to press a hand against his chest. "Yeah, I know. I battled that addiction for a long time, Raph. Almost a year. It was like I was walking in a tunnel. It was cold and dark, and I was alone. Then I met you... and it was like, out of nowhere, there was this light at the end of that tunnel. And it was you." She lifted herself up so that their noses were touching, and closed her eyes. "You saved me."

"Nah." He could feel heat, and it wasn't the warming glow he felt whenever she was staring at him. It was _heat_, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "Ya saved yourself, Jamie. You just needed a little push."

She opened her eyes and laughed. "Thanks for pushing me, Raph. It was the nicest thing anyone's ever-"

She didn't get to finish, because his lips took hers captive. All at once she leaned back, onto the mats again, and reached up for him. One hand pressed against his plastron, fingers curling. The other found its way on his shoulder, around his neck. She craned her own neck as Raph held her down.

Raph had one arm locked, hand on the mats and supporting himself. The other hand was on that borderline between Jamie's waist and hip. His hands weren't pinning her down to the mats; it was just their bodies pressing against each other, his body physically restraining her, even if not purposely.

They broke for air, and Jamie made Raph meet her eyes. Her hand slid down from his neck to his cheek, tracing above his lip with her thumb. "I missed you so much, Raphael," she whispered. He realized she was crying. "But I had to do it. For us."

"I know. I know you did." He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to cry. He was the strong one. He was supposed to protect her, and he wasn't going to cry. But hell if he didn't feel like it though. He'd missed her too. "And you did it, and you did right by me. I didn't want you to go through that no more. You did good, Jame."

She took in a few deep, sobbing breaths, then swallowed and looked back up at him. The corners of her lips quirked up. "I thought about you every day while I was in rehab. I drew pictures of you and put them up in every room. I even had one on the mirror in the bathroom."

He laughed. "Really? That's what you did?" He kissed her cheek, this time more gently than their first kiss had been. "Whatever works, I guess."

"There was one time... it was like two in the morning." The tears flowed faster now. "And I was in the bathroom getting sick again. I flushed the toilet and got up... I was shaking so bad, even worse than when I was high." She sniffled, and leaned up to put her head against his chest. "I sat on the toilet, and I just cried. I wanted to quit so bad. I wanted to pack my stuff and walk out of rehab. I wanted a needle so damn bad." She closed her eyes again, her breath catching in her throat. "Then I looked up, and saw that picture of you on the mirror. And I just... I thought... 'I have to do this for Raph.' I knew that if I told you I'd been in rehab, but I was still using... you would be so disappointed in me."

"Damn right I woulda." He stroked her hair, running the softness of the random tangles through his fingers. "And I'da kicked your ass too. I knew you could do it, Jamie. If you came back to me and told me you tried again but couldn't do it even though I was supporting you, I woulda given you a lecture that'd make Master cry. Because I knew you could do it. Even back then, I knew you could do it. You just needed to know..." Damn it, he was _not_ going to cry in front of her. He wasn't going to cry at all. But his voice broke as he continued. "That someone was there for you. Someone to do it for. Someone who wasn't gonna give up on ya." He forced her back down, and kissed her lips. "And I'm never gonna give up on ya, you hear me?"

She nodded. "I know, Raph. I know." She reached both arms up around his neck, pulling him down toward her. "I missed you, and I love you."

"Love you too."

"You missed me?"

"Like shell."

That twinkle in her eye. "Missed me, missed me. Now ya gotta kiss me."

A little smile settled on his face. "Hey. No objections here." He leaned down again and pressed his lips to hers, continuing the kiss from before. Jamie's back arched as he deepened the kiss, poking his tongue at her lip for entrance. The surprise made her open her mouth, and immediately almost bite down on his tongue.

His shout was muffled, but the pain was quickly forgiven. After all, they had six months of time to make up for. They shouldn't spend tonight mad at each other.

Meanwhile, the radio played softly for a soundtrack. The song had changed from the high-energy one it had been on, and was now playing one that fit the occasion:

"_You're the sound of redemption, the faith that I've lost... the answers I'm seekin', no matter the cost... you opened the window, now I can see... you taught me forgiveness by givin' your love back to me... yeah, all the things that you are... beautifully broken, alive in my heart... and know that you are everything... let your heart sing and tonight... we'll light up the stars... all that you are... all that you are..."_

* * *

><p>So far, Leonardo was actually surprised by Kim. She managed not to say anything, to be serious and quiet and follow him in the shadows. They hadn't run into any trouble yet, but he had the feeling that if they did, she'd do a little more than just kick and scream like she'd said.<p>

She got close up behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Is everything always this... uneventful?" she asked in a whisper.

"Sometimes," he whispered back. "I wouldn't be surprised if some Foot are waiting for us though."

"Foot?" He could just see her raising an eyebrow.

Truth be told, it amused him a little. He could only guess what she was imagining. "Foot ninja. They're the Shredder's minions, and they're highly specialized. If you could stand your own against one of them, you'd have nothing to worry about."

He could hear her stifle a giggle. "This is so _cool_. I'm on patrol with a _ninja_. I never thought I'd ever say that in my life. Are you, like... the leader of the team or something?"

Leo peeked around the corner of the building. "Well, I mean, we're a team. We work together, and there's a lot of arguing before we ever get to a point. But... yeah, I... guess everyone pretty much thinks of me as the leader. When we're in battle, anyway."

"Squee. This has gotta be the coolest thing I've ever done. My life's been pretty boring, so... yeah. I think the last exciting thing I did was being captain of the debate team."

"Yeah?" He quickly darted around the side of the building and stayed in the shadows, motioning for her to follow. "How'd that go?"

"Pretty cool. We got all the way to state, but then I lost it for us. There was this one topic I couldn't come up with an argument for 'cause my opinion was mixed, so the other team won."

"Too bad. Sounds like you did pretty good though, getting to state and all."

"Yeah, I guess."

Leo froze, and whipped his arm out in front of her protectively. He _knew_ he'd heard something... the shuffle of someone moving, the rustle of clothing, _something_. "Hold on."

"What's the matter, Leo?" If it was possible, her voice dropped even lower, to about five decibels below a whisper. "Is somebody there?"

"I think so." He reached up with both hands and grabbed the hilts of his katana, slowly sliding them out. Then he glanced back at her from the corner of his eye. "Kim, stay behind me." The tone of his voice was not to be taken lightly.

He received a nod in reply, and she was now gripping his shell loosely. He could practically feel her vibrating with excitement, but he could also see she was sweating. She was nervous too. "God..."

"Shhh," he warned, throwing a stern look her way.

Unfortunately, while he was distracted with looking back at her, the enemy took advantage. Two ninja jumped out from the shadows and immediately started attacking Leonardo. Caught off guard, Kim managed to avoid being hit by stumbling back and planting her backside on the pavement.

She couldn't do anything but hold herself up and stare in awe at Leo fighting the ninja. Everytime they came at him he would shove them back, either with his swords or by kicking them. They rushed him at the same time; he jumped up and spun around, hitting one of them with each sword and landing far more gracefully than she had.

One of them was locked in with him now. He was using his own sword - far less awesome, by the by - to grapple with both of Leo's katana. She was pretty sure these were the bad guys, but she had to admit, that ninja had balls for facing _two_ swords with _one_.

But then she saw why he was wasting the balls when he probably needed them desperately. The other ninja was sneaking up behind Leo, while he was preoccupied with fighting the guy's buddy.

Kim's eyes widened and she clumsily got to her feet. Damn it, they were going to get him! She couldn't just watch that happen! "Leo, look out!" she screamed, sprinting behind him. "They're tryna double time you!"

Leo was still struggling to hold off the other guy, who suddenly started fighting back a lot harder. "Kim! Stay outta this! You're gonna get hurt!"

She ignored him and leapt toward the other guy, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She was trying to choke him enough to at least get him to pass out. "If! You! Touch! Him! I'll! Mess! You! _Up!_" she shrieked, each word punctuated by a forceful thrust against the guy's throat. She was also kicking her legs wildly, not really in an attempt to hurt him that way (although she did get one or two in) but more as a result of trying to keep her balance.

The ninja gagged, and then grabbed one of Kim's arms with each hand. "Get off, bitch!" With that, he flipped her over and onto the ground.

_Thud._ She landed like a rock, but luckily he'd been confused enough to turn around while she was choking him, and she'd been flipped into the grassy area that started behind the building. She landed with her hands over her head, elbows bent, and her legs were spread out. She tried to hold back a real shrill like some normal girls might do in this situation, but she did cry out.

"Kim!" Obviously Leo had heard her, but he was still busy handing the other guy's ass to him.

The ninja she'd just jumped walked over to stand above her, glaring into her eyes as he swiftly pulled his sword out of its sheath. "Your friend was right, little girl. You should stay out of this." He pointed the blade down at her, aiming right for her chest. "You might get hurt."

Kim squeezed her eyes shut and yelled, not knowing what else to do. She wasn't trained; she couldn't fight this guy off. The only reason she'd almost made him pass out was because she'd fought dirty. "_Leo_!"

She never felt the blade, but she did hear two grunts. One from the ninja, and...

She snapped her eyes open and shot up, looking to her side to see that Leo had tackled the ninja and was now wrestling with him on the grass. Leo was pinning him down and throwing punches at the guy's face. "_How dare you!_" he shouted, getting another hit in. "She has nothing to do with this! Pick on someone your own size!"

As he did that, Kim threw her eyes forward, to the pavement. The other ninja was lying unconscious - or at least presumably, if he wasn't dead - on the concrete. How did Leo beat him that fast, as soon as he'd seen she was in trouble?

After a few more hits to the noggin, the guy was out cold. Breathless, Leo got to his feet and put his swords back in their sheaths. He took the courtesy of kicking the ninja's side before commenting, "_That_ was more of a fair fight. And you two can tell the Shredder that if any of his ninja come after someone who can't defend themselves _again_, my brothers and I aren't going to let them off as easy as I let _you_ off."

He walked over to Kim, who was still in a decent amount of shock, and bent down. He took her by the arm and carefully pulled her up. "Are you okay, Kim? He threw you down pretty hard."

She was busy looking amazedly at the scene, taking deep breaths, when a sharp twinge of pain shot through the back of her skull. "O-Ow," she whimpered, reaching up to touch it. "My head hurts."

"Let me see." Leo stepped behind her and gently parted her hair. She felt him touch the spot where the pain was coming from, and she winced, but managed to bite her lip. "Oh man. You're bleeding."

She glanced over, and noticed a slice on his arm, from one of the other ninja's swords. Blood was creeping thickly from it, slowly trailing down his arm. "So are you, tough guy."

He chuckled. "What, that? It's nothing. Now, hold still. I didn't get a good look at your head."

She crossed her arms. "That's not _nothing_, Leo. That thing needs a super size Band-Aid."

"So does yours, now _hold still_." When she did as he asked, he sighed. "It doesn't look like you hurt it too bad, but it's a head wound. It'll probably start gushing in the next few minutes." He let go of her hair and came back round to join her. "Let's get back to the lair. I should patch that up or you're not going to be able to walk straight."

She grinned at him, and was about to tell him she was perfectly capable of continuing the patrol, but out of nowhere her stomach sank and her knees betrayed her. She felt them give out beneath her, and fumbled for something to grab. She ended up falling against Leo's chest, as he just barely caught her. She thought it wouldn't have kicked in so fast, but evidently the adrenaline rush of the night had been more than she thought she could handle. "Oh... L-Leo, I'm - I'm getting dizzy already..."

"Whoa." She felt him scoop her up in his arms, slipping one hand between her neck and back and one under her legs. "Okay, no more excitement for you tonight. We better get you back and stop the bleeding."

She looked up at him, and her vision swam. "Can I patch you up after that?"

He laughed. "Sure, whatever. But _mine's_ not a head wound, just pointing that out."

She swung at him. "Hey! I was defending _you_, just pointing that out. He was about to, like, bonk you on the head or knock you on your shell or something. Hey, is it true that you wouldn't be able to get up from that? If you were on your back?"

She could practically hear him roll his eyes. "Yeah, we can get up. It just takes us a while. What about you? Can you get up if I put you on your stomach?"

"..." She closed her eyes. "Right now at this very moment? I doubt it."

"That's what I thought. Just relax, we'll be there soon."

* * *

><p><strong>Hehehe. Sorry that Leo and Kim's part was a little longer than Raph and Jamie's. But Leo and Kim's was basically an extended fighting scene, and Raph and Jamie's was a reunion... I could only go so far before it may have turned down a dark, M-rated road. And I want to keep this at a T rating for as long as I can... by the way, no sex for anybody. Just sayin'. This is one of the only stories where I will turn down writing a lemon... SORRY. *hides under Mikey's shell* Don't hurt me!<strong>

**Anyway. Poor Kim, having to get carried by Leo. She wounded her head AND her pride.**

**Mikey, Donny, and Splinter up next! Although Sensei isn't getting any action from a lady... but it will be a little bit funny. Hopefully.**

**Review, please. I hate to sound desperate, but I know people are reading and I've only gotten a few reviews... thanks to dragonrider347 and kaaayyytteee for that (K, your name makes me dizzy when I read it lol... luv u though!). I don't care if it's like one word, I like reviews unless they're flames. It doesn't take long to tell me how I'm doing, if you'd like to see more... unless I'm not doing so well? XD**

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	4. Chapter 3

**OK. I hope you're happy... you have forced me to beg. Like this: PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASEEEEEE REVIEWS? THEY MAKE ME HAPPY AND MAKE ME WANT TO WRITE MORE AND ALL THAT MAGICAL STUFF. IF YOU PUT ME STORY ON ALERT OR FAVORITE, PLZ LEAVE A REVIEW TOO. *shoves Mikey in front of the camera* LOOK. LOOK. YOU CAN'T RESIST THE CUTENESS. HE IS A WMA.**

**Mikey: What's that?**

**Me: THAT IS A WEAPON OF MASS ADORABLE.**

**OK, begging over.**

**So anyway. Forgot to mention, this happens just before the whole "Don-gets-a-second-mutation-because-of-that-bastard-Bishop-something-or-other". I looked up the episode name earlier, but now I forgot it. Damn. I think it was Adventures in Turtle Sitting or something? Maybe an ep before that, but that's the one I've been watching and trying to get dialogue from.**

**Sooo. After that, we'll be... dun dun dun... DIVERGING FROM CANON. Because I don't feel like making Mikey study or sending them into space. Soooo it'll basically be like Back to the Sewer, only some added parts and... well... ish. Plenty of ISH.**

**Well, hope you guys enjoy! *grumbles under breath* And review PLEASE!**

**Mikey: Dudette! You said please that time! *hugs* You're making progreeeeeess!**

* * *

><p>"Woohoo! Jason! Jason! Jason!" Taylor fell back on the bed, kicking her legs and laughing while clutching the comic book she'd been reading to her chest tightly. "Dude! That ending kills me every time! It's so insane!"<p>

"Totally!" Mikey agreed. "I've never met a girl who roots for the villain. But hey, not complaining, I do too." He grabbed the remote, which was sitting next to the two empty boxes of pizza, and clicked the DVD player off, turning it back to the television guide. "Hey. You wanna see what else is on? I picked the movies, you should pick what else we watch. I mean..." He shrugged, rubbing his arm. "Seeing as how you're my guest 'n' all."

She giggled, sitting back up and accepting the remote from him. "Aren't you, like, just the sweetest? The guys at my school are nothing like you. I'm not looking forward to going back in two months. Summer just _got_ here, seriously!" She dropped her cheek down into her hand, and clicked the TV to Spike, which was showing _1000 Ways to Die_. "You ever seen this?"

"Nah. Is it any good?"

"It's cool! It's kinda weird though, and they show some freaky stuff. There was one episode that made me puke."

Mikey's eyes widened. "Whoaaaa, really? Dude, let's watch it!"

"Cool! Looks like it's on a commercial." She laid back again and sighed. "You are, like, so lucky you don't have to go to school, Mikey. It's the most boring thing ever. There was one time I had homework on a Friday. _A Friday_! I was über pissed. My English teacher was horrible."

Mikey shrugged, sitting down next to her. "You know, it actually doesn't sound so bad. I mean, they have you all in one place, they keep you safe, they feed you... all you have to do are a few papers, right?"

Taylor popped the top of her second Coke, shaking her head. "More like a paper a week, with my old teacher. It's not that fun... I'm about to go into tenth grade."

"Really? But you're, like... my age. Shouldn't you be going into, like... eleventh?"

"I got held back in sixth grade. Plus my birthday's in October, so I'm usually older than everyone else. It's kinda weird, I'll be sixteen at the beginning of next year. It'll be awkward."

"I still say it's pretty cool. You must learn a lotta stuff. Maybe if I went to school I'd be smarter."

"Yeah, well. I say, why do you need to be smart when you've got talent like _this_?" She held up Mikey's amateur comic, _Silver Sentry and Madame Mercury __Face Mr. Malignus and Princess Pluto_. "This is, like, the best comic I've ever read! I love how SS saved MM from Pluto. And it was _so totally tubular_ when she kicked Malignus's butt to pay him back! It was like the ultimate team-up!" She flipped through it again. "And the drawings are great. Like this one!" She displayed the picture of Silver Sentry gladly accepting a high-five from Madame Mercury. "I totally feel like I'm _there_! You should make a sequel. Like... they have to face a new enemy together or something. Like, Malignus and Pluto created this super crazy monster they have to defeat and they can only do it with this insane weapon thing from like - like, _another dimension_ or something! That would be so cool!"

Mikey blushed a little, taking the comic from her and looking down at it again. He'd looked it over a million times, it must have been, and he'd never thought about making anything else. Don was always too busy to read it. Raph wasn't interested. Leo needed to train. Splinter had read it once, and he said it was good (actually, "different", "odd", and "interesting" were some of the words he used), but he _had_ to say that unless he wanted to pretty much crush Mikey's spirit. And forget about a sequel. "Really? I never thought about that. You really think it's good?"

"Yeah!" She sat up, pulling her top down, as it had come up to expose her navel. "Plus, I think you should totally make your own superhero."

He chuckled. "Tried that once. Actually went out and _tried it_. I was the Turtle Titan."

"_Duuuuude_, no WAY!" She slid over and pushed her hand against the chest portion of his plastron. "Dude dude dude _duuuuuuude_! You were a _superhero_? Okay, I'm officially crushing. I can't believe you were a superhero. This is so cool! I just watched horror movies and ate pizza with and read a comic written _by an actual superhero kyaaaaaaaa_!"

The blush came back with a vengeance, and Mikey wasn't quite sure what to do with his arms. She had her hands on him, but should he put his arms around her too? This was confusing. "Y-Yeah... it was pretty cool. I even met Silvery Sentry. But it wasn't really my thing." He cleverly slipped out from Taylor's grip, and rubbed the back of his head. "We're ninja because it's what we're best at. We're, like, the silent superheroes."

Taylor grinned before falling back on the bed. "Mikey, you are one bodacious babe! I feel right at home here. This is super awesome. I'm friends with a ninja

superhero!" It looked like all of her enthusiasm had finally been released, as she let out a contented sigh and all her limbs simultaneously relaxed. "I think I like it here."

Mikey wasn't too sure how he felt about being called a _bodacious babe_, but hey, it was a compliment. "Cool. I'm sure we'll like having you around." He laid back on the bed too and closed his eyes. Not five seconds later he got an idea and jumped up. "Hey! You wanna go play a prank on Raph and Jamie? It'll be totally hilarious. I got one I've been waiting for someone to do with me and I'm _dying_ to try it out."

Taylor giggled and opened one chocolate brown eye to look at him. "As much as I love pranks, I don't think that's such a good idea. And I _really_ love pranks, so that'll show Mama I'm practicing self-control. I mean, Raph and Jamie haven't seen each other in, like, forever."

Mikey shrugged. "I guess you're right. This is the first time they've seen each other in, like, what - six months? They've gotta be diggin' some serious alone time right now. We should probably let 'em have one night."

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. But hey. We can try that prank tomorrow, and I definitely can't wait."

"Awesome." He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "... How much you wanna bet Jamie followed him to the training room just so they could slobber all over each other?"

"Are you kidding me, dude?" Taylor mimicked shoving her finger down her throat and pretend-gagged. "They're doing it as we _speak_."

* * *

><p>"I'm so insanely jealous, you can't even imagine," Maria giggled as she looked around the room. "Your lab is way cooler than mine! All I have are chemicals and random DNA and RNA strands here and there. My parents think I'll get carried away if I actually tried to build stuff."<p>

Don chuckled. "Really?"

"Yeah. They think if they let me build, they'd come home one day and there'd be a spaceship in the yard. And I'd be leading aliens out of it, trying to learn their language."

"That's hilarious. Parents, huh? I only build tech we can use for our missions and stuff. I don't think I've ever even attempted to build a rocket ship..." He glanced toward the door. "But I can just _imagine_ the look on Master's face. He'd be so mad. I'd probably get grounded for a year."

"A _year_? If I did that, I'd be grounded till I got _married_. And I'm not even allowed to splice DNA unless I take it out of the house." She shook her head, taking a seat at the table. "Oh my Einstein!" She grabbed a part from the desk and held it up to her wide eyes. "Dr. Donny, is this what I _think_ it is?"

He ignored the nickname and took it from her. "Yep. Fuel injector for a transporter model I've been working on."

"Electronic?"

"Seriously, is there any other _way_ to make one?"

"Fun-ducational. How much power does this baby have?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you."

She rolled her eyes, but was still smiling. "Good job, Donny. You're going to make all the other teenage turtle scientists cry."

He grinned. "Aww, you think so? I guess you must be an expert on how to work a person's heartstrings," he teased, putting the fuel injector back on the table. "Now, flattery will get you almost everywhere, Maria." He turned around, gesturing to a shelf on the other wall. "As you can see over here, we've got a calibrater, at this moment set to extremely detailed specifications for-"

When he didn't hear Maria singing his praises behind him, he whirled back around to see where she was. She'd probably found something else that interested her. "Maria?"

She was bending over his computer, which showed a revolving double helix. Normally that was his screensaver, but she'd bumped the mouse and this was an actual program. "I've never seen this DNA pattern before," she commented, pointing to the screen. "I recognize parts of it, for different pathogens, but I've never seen them put together like this." She looked back at him. "What is it?"

"Oh, that's nothing. I've been trying to take attributes of different pathogens and create a new one. Like a bioweapon, only it would never be released. I'm keeping the pathogens carefully locked up. You'd get paranoia if you realized how germy things are, by the way. Right now I'm just coding the DNA, then I'm going to apply it."

"You're creating your own pathogen. Holy Madame Curie, I think this is the coolest thing I've ever seen. It looks like you're splicing RNA and DNA together. Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out, aren't I?"

"Sure enough, I guess." She pointed to one spot on the helix. "Where did you get an influenza virus?"

"Mikey and Leo were sick last week. They got over it fast though."

"And it survived this long outside a host?"

"Yeah, well, I made a specialized chamber to simulate the conditions of the human body. Each pathogen has their own, based on the host they're usually found in. They're secured tightly, so they can't ever get out."

"Fascinating! I never would have thought of building individual simulation chambers!"

"I could show you the chambers later. Anyway, I should be starting the coding process this week - maybe even as early as tomorrow or Friday."

"Sweet! If you wouldn't mind... I'd love to help. I mean, if you need an extra pair of sterile hands. Could I?"

"Well, geez - do electrons gravitate towards negative molecules, resulting in stabilization?"

She squealed and threw her arms around him. "Yippee! Just let me know any time you're ready. It's gonna be so cool... oh God, I feel like such a nerd."

"It's okay. I'm a friend."

"So, uh..." She looked around. "Since Taylor was yakking my ear off about comics on the way here, I have a questions. Since you're, like, the good guy scientist, is there a bad guy version of you running around somewhere?"

"Two, actually," he answered, sitting down at the table. "Dr. Stockman and Agent Bishop. They're both smart, but it's a shame they used it for evil. Right now Bishop has some pain-in-the-butt bioweapon mutant outbreak thing going on. That's why I'm trying to come up with a new pathogen. I _was_ trying to work on a cure, but unfortunately I haven't been able to get in touch with my friend lately... so now I'm just trying to drum up something that might combat Bishop's mutagen." He buried his face in his arm and coughed a few times, giving Maria a signal that probably meant _hold on a sec_. "Ugh, sorry. Anyway, like I was saying-"

"Are you okay?" Maria raised an eyebrow, scooting closer. "That cough didn't sound so good."

He waved his hand. "I'm just coming down with something, maybe because I've been around the pathogens. It's probably just the flu Leo and Mikey had. So anyway, my friend's had his share of trouble from Bishop too. He got experimented on, so he's not all too trusting of humans. I don't blame him, though, after everything they've put him through. I hope he's alright if he meets you guys."

"I hope so too." Maria drew her legs up onto her chair, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's those dum-dum scientists who give people like us a bad name, Donny. Not to mention, it sounds like your friend's just had experiences with the bad humans. He hasn't met any of the good ones yet." She glanced up, brushing some hair from her face. "Do you think he'll like us? Me?"

"Are you kidding? He's gonna love you. He likes people who are smart."

"... You think I'm smart?"

He grinned. "Is the electron sea model a reflection of a metal's molecular structure?"

A light flush of pink blossomed up in Maria's cheeks, and she looked down to avoid Don's eyes. "... Um... uh... thanks, Don. Same to you." Quickly she reached around and took her backpack off. "So, hey." She pulled a DVD out of her bag and displayed it to him. _Star Trek: the Original Series_. "You a fan? This is one of the only things I brought with me."

His eyes widened. "Am I a _fan_? Pop that sucker in! That's my favorite series in the whole thing!"

"Yes! Have you seen the one where Spock goes off his rocker?"

"Only like a million times! Let's watch it again!"

* * *

><p>Kathy didn't like the cushions she had to sit on; it was a long way down, and with her luck she wouldn't be able to get back up. But she didn't complain, after all Splinter was letting her daughters and their crazy posse live in their... well, whatever they called the place. She should show some respect, and if any of the Cheerleaders mouthed off, that was exactly what she'd tell them. She was also sure if it happened with the Estrogen Bait, they'd get punished too. Win-win situation.<p>

It had been a while and neither of them had said anything yet. He was basically just staring at her, which made her a little uneasy. She knew she probably couldn't open her mouth without offending him or his sons. (She wasn't sure how a rat could be the father of four turtles, but she wasn't really up for that explanation at the moment.)

"So..." she started off slowly, curling her fingers around her tea cup but not actually lifting it. "Your home seems... nice. I've never been in a sewer that's... you know... homey."

He nodded. "Thank you. My sons do most of the work to keep it this way. If they want it a certain way, they must do it themselves."

"I wish I could get Jamie and Taylor to do that. I'm always picking up after them. Not so much Jamie anymore, but Taylor."

"Mrs. Henson, that is your problem. If you do everything for your daughters, they will take you for granted and never become independent."

"I know..." She withdrew her hand again and rubbed her arm. "But if I don't do it, it doesn't get done. Jamie's been helping out more since she'd been in rehab, but all Taylor wants to do is eat, read comics, and play video games all day."

Splinter chuckled. "She sounds like my Michelangelo. She must learn out of necessity. You cannot follow her around for all of her life. She must learn to clean up her own mistakes."

"Yeah, I guess." She sighed, and just about went to lean back before she remembered she wasn't in a chair, she was on the floor. "So, uh..." She bit her lip. "You know, I hope you don't mind my asking, but how did you all get to be... like... I mean, like you are? Mutants, I guess is the right word. Were you always like this?"

He shook his head, putting his own cup down. "I was once the pet of a martial arts master named Hamato Yoshi. He was killed, and I had nowhere to go. I found them - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. We had all mistakenly encountered a substance that caused us to mutate. So I took it upon myself to raise and train them." He folded his hands. "And here we are today."

"Huh." She leaned forward, resting her cheek on her fist and elbow on the table. "They must have been cute as kids. Still, who leaves a container of instant mutant just lying around?" She shook her head, straightening back up. "I swear, my own species can be twisted sometimes. I should tell you about my ex-husband, Greg - he's probably freakier than any of you."

Splinter smiled. "I appreciate your humor, Mrs. Henson. However, we now have reason to believe that it was not humans who developed the mutagen - it was a different race."

She let her eyes widen. "Oh wow. Y'all are bringing aliens into this craziness now? I swear. How much weirder can it get? Mutant animals, ninjas, mutant animals who are also ninjas... now _aliens_." She giggled. "You guys sure know how to party."

"You seem interested in our family. Would you like to hear some stories about my sons?"

"Sure. But as a trade-off, I get to tell you all about Jamie and Taylor."

"That seems like a fair exchange. Where should I begin?"

"Ooh. Tell me about when they were babies. I love babies."

"Ah, I think I remember a very good story..."

* * *

><p>"... And we ended up in the emergency room for crayons that turned out to be nontoxic." Kathy laughed and shook her head as she finished off her third cup of tea. "Although, we found out that Tay swallowed some little magnetic batteries too, and that would have caused trouble if they started sticking together. She probably doesn't even remember the surgery."<p>

"And you say Jamie tricked her into this?"

"Well, she tricked her into the _batteries_. Taylor ate the _crayons_ all on her own. She was always chewing on colorful things. I'd ask her what she was doing, and she'd say nothing. Then she'd smile at me and have purple in her teeth."

"I am suddenly relieved that none of my sons ever had the desire to do such a thing." Splinter was about to say something else, but then his ear twitched, and he stood up. "It sounds as though Leonardo and Kimberly have returned from their patrol." He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Hmm. It is almost an hour early. Before we continue, perhaps we should check on them. Leonardo does not return early unless there is a good reason."

"Okay. Sure." Kathy followed him out of this room and into the main living room.

Leo was just coming in, closing the door firmly with one foot. When he turned around, they could see it was because his hands were already full... with Kim. Her eyes were closed, and her arms were around his neck, and she was just lying there. Adding to the scene, there was a slash across one of Leo's arms.

"Oh Lord!" Kathy exclaimed. "What on Earth happened?"

"Don't worry," Leo answered. "She's awake. Just resting."

"I'm good," Kim spoke up, but she was slurring her words.

"Leonardo, was she injured?" Splinter asked.

"She was defending me." Leo walked over to the couch and laid her down carefully, straightening out her legs so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. "I told her to stay out of it, but she jumped on a Foot's back to keep him from hitting me."

"He flipped me like a pancake on a hot griddle," Kim mumbled, shifting and turning over onto her side. "And there wasn't even any syrup or butter to break my fall."

Leo sighed, shaking his head. "She's a little out of it right back. The back of her head's bleeding, and I think it's starting to get bad."

Kim reached up for something, probably Leo's hand. "You were lucky," she whined. "They were going to seriously hurt you!" She pointed at him. "He - He was fighting one, and he was bus - busy, and the other guy was sneaking up behind him like - like-" She reached up and threw both hands over her neck, whimpering. "O-Owwww... L-Leo, headache..."

"I gotta patch you up, and I'm not lucky." Leo grabbed a roll of bandages from a cabinet. "_You're_ lucky you landed on grass and didn't crack your skull open." He sat down beside her, moving her legs. "Turn over onto your stomach so I can get to your head. And did I mention you're _never_ coming on patrol with _anyone_ ever again?"

Kim turned over, then pounded her fist on the arm of the couch a couple times. "That's not fair! Why not?"

"Do you see what I'm _doing_ right now?" He displayed the bandages to her before tearing some off, wadding it up, and pressing it against her wound to stop the bleeding. "You attacked a Foot ninja! You're lucky you _survived_! You could have gotten _killed_ out there! I told you to stay out of it, I was handling it!"

"Leonardo, lower your voice," Splinter warned. "Raphael and Jamie have gone to bed."

"I was just trying to help you," Kim groaned, moving her head woozily. "I didn't want you to get hurt. I would have felt bad if you would've gotten even more hurt and there was something I could've done and I just sat there like a rock."

"Yeah? Well, you did help me, and I appreciate it, but it shouldn't be at the price of your own safety." He pulled the bandages away to check the bleeding, then tossed them in the trash. "It's my lifestyle to put my shell on the line, not yours."

"Hey. If I stopped you from getting hurt, I don't care. I'm happy. Now, can I fix your arm?"

"Let me mummify your head first." He glanced up at the two adults. "Uh, um... goodnight, Master Splinter. Mrs. Henson. She'll be fine - I think she just needs to sleep it off."

"Keep her awake for an hour," Splinter cautioned. "If she sustained a head injury, she may have a concussion. Do not let her fall asleep for the next hour, she may not wake up."

Kathy raised an eyebrow, but held up her hand. "Alright. Sweet dreams, but if you make them too sweet, I swear I'll hunt the both of you down and gut you like fish."

Leo looked at her and immediately looked back down to start wrapping Kim's head. "Uh, yes, ma'am. You, uh... have a good night."

"I'm watching you. I'm watching _all_ of the teenagers in this house." She looked over at Splinter. "So, partner in crime, shall we make our rounds to see how the rest of the brood is doing?"

"A most excellent idea, Mrs. Henson." Splinter nodded to Leo and Kim, though she wasn't paying attention. "Remember, Leonardo. One hour, then she may sleep."

"Of course. I'll see you both in the morn - Kim, stop tugging on the bandages, _please_!"

* * *

><p>"I'll just have a peek in and report, okay?" Kathy leaned inside the doorway to Mikey's room. "Yo. Mom in the house, what's goin' on?"<p>

Taylor was eagerly hitting buttons on the controller for a video game. "_Mom_, lay off! Me and Mikey are space battling!"

Kathy glanced over at the other side of the bed. The turtle was snoring away, his top half hanging off the bed. "Taylor-"

"Not now, Mom!" She fired a few buttons, which caused an explosion on the screen. "Pfft! Geez, Mikey, come on, it's like you're not even trying!"

Kathy rubbed her hand across her eyes. "Tay, when you're done blasting the mother ship, pick your friend off the floor and get to sleep in the next ten minutes. Or else."

* * *

><p>A trip to Don's lab was next. Kathy peeked inside and blinked.<p>

Maria was asleep on the desk, her glasses on top of her head, buried in her hair. She was rising and falling steadily with breathing, and certainly looked way tired.

Don was rearranging some things on the desk, then turned around and picked up a blanket off the bed. As he was tiredly draping it around Maria's shoulders, he caught sight of Kathy. He smiled, and put a finger to his lips. "She could hear a pin drop in her sleep."

Kathy grinned. "Tell me about it. Night, Donny, you get to sleep too."

"Yeah. Just cleaning up. Goodnight."

"What's going on?" Maria mumbled, raising her head a little.

"Nothing." Don put his hands on her shoulders. "Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."

He didn't have to tell her twice, her head was back on the table before he finished his sentence.

* * *

><p>Kathy crept up to the edge of the door to Raphael's room. She knew they'd come by and told her and Splinter that they were going to sleep, and she trusted Jamie - more so now that she was clean. But this was her first night in half a year seeing Raphael (who Kathy wasn't sure she trusted as much as her daughter), and teenagers would do what they wanted.<p>

Granted, probably not in a house in the sewers with their father and mother (respectively) under the same roof, but still. Never mind that there was probably no way it was anatomically possible for them to release their hormones with each other, but they could likely get close enough that it would only be a step away.

When she looked in, she didn't see anything shameful. In fact, the scene made her heart melt. Raph and Jamie were lying together, arms around one another, fully clothed (well, as clothed as a turtle could be, anyway). Jamie's head was on his shoulder, and his lips were by her cheek. His hand on her hip, hers on his chest, and their ankles all tangled up together. Their breaths were even and in almost perfect unison, as if right now, they really were one.

"Ohhh, Splinter," she whispered, waving her hand at him. "Would you come look at this? It's so beautiful."

He did as she asked, and a small smile came over his face. "Indeed it is. Young love is one of the most truly pure things in the world." He glanced up at her, and sighed. "I have to admit, I was wary of this at first."

"_No way_," Kathy gasped sarcastically.

Splinter held up his hand in surrender. "But if Raphael is happy, then I am happy as well."

"They look so peaceful together... I hope they don't screw it up the second they open their mouths." Kathy slowly shut the door, leaving just a crack so she didn't wake them. "We should let them sleep. Would you mind showing me to where I'll be sleeping? It's getting late."

"Yes, it is. We should both retire for the night." He turned around and took a few steps. "Follow me."

* * *

><p><strong>Hehehe. Mikey and Taylor really are perfect for each other. Love her freakout when she found out he tried to be a superhero once.<strong>

**Oh yeah. Don's a nerd. So is Maria. I loved writing their scientific references. I have a geeky joke coming up for them next chapter too. XD**

**Ok. So, one more chapter and I think Leatherhead's going to show up. That's what I'm planning anyway. I can't wait, I love that guy. Must... make... tribute. But first... must... finish... TMNT... Boys Boys Boys... Lady Gaga... rules...**

**Sooooo! Hope you guys grant pity on me and leave some reviews, because they are my food source. So you leave one, and you're actually helping me survive. That's pretty cool, isn't it?**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 4

**MWAHAHAHA fear my chapter spam.**

**... Reviews-es? I was happy with how many I got last chapter! My begging paid off! ... Keep 'em comin'? :D**

**Well. Last chapter before Leatherhead's entrance into the story, and also the whole "second mutation" thing is gonna start soon. Like, maybe the chapter after the next one.**

**(This is mostly filler. Sorry!)**

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Needless to say, Mikey and Taylor did play their prank on Raphael and Jamie - the very next morning, before the redhead and red-clad turtle even woke up. Actually, it was more like they only woke up because of the prank. It also went without being said, that Raph and Jamie weren't very happy about the whipped cream on their faces. Both Mikey and Taylor got a talking to - Mikey got one from Splinter, as well as a bruise from his cane, and Taylor got one from Kathy, along with a fistful of pulled hair.<p>

... Still didn't mean they weren't going to devise more ways to tick off Raph and Jamie. Just meant they'd be more careful about it.

All in all though, the first week hadn't been too bad. The girls and Kathy had settled in well, all things considering - mostly the fact that they were living with mutants now. It took Kim the longest to accept it - three days - but that was probably because she'd hit her head. She'd probably have been better with it if she'd followed Leo's advice and stayed out of his fight. During the week, Leo would come to take care of her whenever he wasn't training, and for the first day she kept trying to hit him and shouting at him to get away. It wasn't very quiet that day, but around nine at night it quieted down a little, since Kim fell asleep. And then she was fine with him again, even asking him to stay.

There were some nights nobody could stay though. At least three nights in the next week, instead of patrol, all of them except for Splinter went out in the Battle Shell (their tricked-out ride, as the girls found out, though they weren't allowed to touch - except for _Maaaaariiiiiiiia_, Don told them) and tried to capture Bishop's mutants around the city. Don had explained to them that it seemed like the outbreak was escalating, and unless they found Bishop, it was only going to get worse.

Tonight was such a night. The girls were helping prepare the turtles to go out and find mutants, packing bags and such. "You need to be careful, Leo," Kim mumbled, slipping two water bottles into his pack. "And if you see that Foot that almost hit you, kick him in the balls for me. Oh, oh, and tell him I would do it myself except you think we're too sissy to go into battle."

"We don't think you're weak." Leo smiled and put his hand on her shoulder, sighing. "We just want you to be safe, Kim. You guys aren't trained - and besides, you just got here. If you came with us, you'd be so confused. You'd probably get your head hit again, and you can't afford that," he teased.

She swiped at him, but missed and almost fell - he narrowly caught her though. "Hmmph." She touched his arm. "Be careful, you jerk."

"Remember, Mikey babe, dodging doesn't always work," Taylor was saying as she tied yet another knot in Mikey's bandana. "You didn't forget what happened to Silver Sentry when he thought he dodged Malignus's attack?"

"Got knocked on his butt!" Mikey was busy doing a last-minute taping on one of his nunchuks, then he slid them into his belt. "Don't worry. I won't forget."

She held out her fist. "Go kick some shell, Mikey!"

He bumped his fist against hers. "You know it!"

She picked up his bag from the floor and handed it to him, then threw her arms around him. "Don't do anything SS would yell at you for. That little switch on your brain better be in the _on_ position all night!"

"You got it dudette." He hugged her back. "See you in the A.M."

Meanwhile, Jamie was fussing over Raph, making sure he had all his equipment on correctly. "Okay. And I tie this, and... it looks like you just need your pack. Here." She got it from the floor and held it out. "Now, I packed some extra snacks for you - make sure you eat before _and_ after you fight. I don't want you losing energy. And... and stay hydrated. If you don't drink enough you're going to pass out. If I go through that pack when you get home and both those bottles aren't empty-"

Raph took her in his arms and pressed his lips against hers, gripping the back of her neck and pushing some of her hair up as he did. He pulled away and smiled at her. "You talk too much. Don't worry about me, Jame. I don't need you babyin' me - I'll be fine. I've done this a million times."

"Yeah, but..." Tears welled up in her eyes. "But this is only the fourth time I've been here to see you do it." She leaned her head against his chest, trying to hold back the tears. "I'm so scared you're not gonna come back. I've been scared every time you've done it this week. Raphie, I... I just got you _back_. You can't leave me."

"And I'm not gonna." He kissed her again, this time on the cheek, more tenderly. "I'm gonna be fine, you hear me? I can fight my way outta a steel cage if I have to. And I'll fight even harder 'cause I know I gotta come home to you. Besides... I know if I got myself killed, ya'd find some way to bring me back as a zombie or somethin' and give me a whole big spiel about it." He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I promise you, I'm gonna come back. But you gotta let me go first."

She sobbed, holding onto him tightly. "I know, Raph. I know. I'm sorry." She tore herself away and gave him a shaky smile. "Good luck. Take a coupla names for me, okay?"

"A couple? I'll take 'em all for you, babe. Now c'mon babe, who am I? Huh, who am I?"

She giggled. "Alright, alright. You're my sai guy. You're my sai guy."

One more kiss, longer this time. It had to last the whole night, up until morning, after all.

"_Huh-CHOO_!"

"Geez, Donny," Mikey snickered, "say it, don't spray it."

Don just glared at his brother, rubbing at his nose. "You know, it's cute how you think you're funny."

"Bless you." Maria looked up from where she was re-bandaging a cut on his leg, and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay to go, Donny? You look _and_ sound like you're getting worse."

"I'm fine." He sniffled. "I told you the first night you were here, it's just a cold or something."

"Well, sorry for being concerned. I would think you'd be over it by now - it's been a week."

"Yeah, well, sometimes it can take double that for the symptoms to disappear completely." Sniffle. "But anyway, I'm fine. Just remind me to sleep the entire day tomorrow. I dunno if I can handle much more mutant patrol without adding more sleep."

"Your immune system's probably shot all to hell." Maria tore a length of bandage off the roll. "Poor thing."

"_Don't_ coddle me." Don crossed his arms, pouting. "I'm not a kid."

"You're sure acting like one," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing... I said you, uh, should try and have some fun. I mean, while you're out there."

"Did _not_," Mikey chuckled under his breath.

"Nice save though," Taylor agreed at the same volume, and they shared a quiet laugh.

Don rubbed his forehead. "How's the cut on my leg? I'm almost afraid to look."

"It seems like it's actually healing up pretty well." She began tying the bandages around the aforementioned injury. "When did you say you got this? Two weeks ago? That would have been a week before we got here. Huh. You'd expect it to be gone by now - a lot like your _cold_."

"I'm not staying home, so don't even try to get me to agree to it."

"I wasn't. I'm just worried about you." She tied it off and cut the excess with her mini scissors. "Don't exert yourself too much, okay? And don't you _dare _get yourself any more hurt. I don't think you can handle any more battle wounds, not to mention the ones I'd give you if you went and got yourself beat up."

Don snorted. "Yes, Mother."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh hey! Don, I have a new joke for you."

"Okay, hit me."

"Okay. So, an electron walks into a bar and asks how much drinks are. And so the bartender says 'For you? No charge.'" She grinned.

Don laughed. "Oh man! That's a good one. I needed a laugh before going out _there_."

Taylor gagged. "Oh, dude. You guys just showed you geek."

"And it totally smells like _loooooser_," Mikey agreed.

"I must be a geek too," Raph groaned, "'cause I actually _got_ that joke."

"Whoa!" Mikey jumped behind Taylor, and his fake shock probably would have gone over better if he wasn't laughing. "Watch out, little dudette! Their nerdiness is contagious!"

"Alright," Leo spoke up, walking over to the door. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Mikey and Taylor hugged and gave each other a high-five, then bumped chests - which probably would have gone better if he hadn't put excessive force behind it.

Maria touched Don's hand once, looking straight into his eyes. He nodded at her, silently promising that he'd be careful.

Raph and Jamie kissed one last time, drawing their bodies together and making it as deep and long as they could while they were in polite company.

Kim waved and smiled at Leo before making a gesture that clearly meant _Go get 'em!_ and lying down again, her head on the pillow and her eyes closing.

Leo nodded. "Good. Alright then, let's move out." He opened the door and let everyone else go first.

"Bye Raphie!" Jamie called.

"Bye, Jame babe!"

"Go kick some more butt, Mikey!"

"Catch you on the flip side, dudette!"

"Take care of yourself, Don!"

"I will, Maria! See you soon!"

Leo took a step out, gripping the door handle, and looked in at all of them. He bowed his head. "Kim! Hold the fort down for me, okay?"

She lifted her head up and grinned, giving him a lopsided thumbs-up. "Can do, boss man!"

He nodded. "Okay. Goodnight, girls. Be safe."

"You too!" they all chorused.

He held up a hand and walked out, closing the door behind him. It was one of the loudest things any of them had ever heard, and not just because it echoed off the walls.

Maria plopped down on the couch next to Kim, sighing. She put her hand on he cheek and stared at the door. "There go the four bravest men I've ever seen."

Kathy leaned on the table. "You mean turtles," she corrected smugly, but her smirk was gone as quick as it came when she looked at the door. "... The four bravest _turtles_."

* * *

><p>Eventually all the girls and Kathy fell asleep, and then morning eased slowly into the sewers.<p>

When Kim woke up, she was a little confused. She always was now, since she'd hit her head. Her vision was blurry in the morning, but so was everyone's. She always had to hit herself over the head to remember where she was living, that she wasn't in her own house or in Kathy's.

She stretched a little, and her arm, which had been hanging over the edge of the couch, hit something. She looked down, and immediately smiled. Leo was on the floor, sleeping away on his stomach and quite comfortably, it looked like.

Kim whipped the blanket off the back of the couch and leaned down as much as she could. She covered Leo with it, making sure to get it over his arms and his neck. She scoffed, the corners of her mouth pulling up. "You're so cute when you're asleep." She hiked herself onto the couch again and turned over on her other side toward the back to get some more shut-eye. "You're a lot quieter too."

* * *

><p>Taylor hadn't gotten much sleep. Well, okay, she had, but it wasn't a quality sleep. She was always on the verge of waking up because she knew Mikey wasn't there. She had her own room now, but she usually knew Mikey was right there, not too far away, if she needed him or wanted him. She never slept well when he wasn't here.<p>

At six, she couldn't get back to sleep. So, in her pajama tank and shorts, she walked down the stairs into the freezing cold kitchen to get some pizza for breakfast. If she couldn't sleep, she'd rather be wide awake than a slightly-aware zombie.

When she walked in, she saw Mikey sitting at the table, but he wasn't awake. It looked as if he had been though; he still had his hand around a can of soda and a slice of pizza with one bite taken out of it was on a plate in front of him.

She giggled, carefully reaching over and taking the food from him. She'd put it away for later, when he was actually feeling up to eating. "He's totally wiped out," she murmured as she put the stuff in the fridge. She turned around and looked at him, then rubbed his arm. "You guys musta had some night."

* * *

><p>Cough. Cough. Sniffle. Whimper. Muffled sneeze. Another whimper.<p>

Maria's head shot up, startled by the noises. She quickly adjusted her glasses and realized she must have fallen asleep trying to fix a coding error in Don's pathogen pattern. The computer was still on, but a cartoony double helix was revolving on the screen instead of the actual DNA and RNA codes.

She looked up to see Don hanging up his pack and vest near the door to the lab. He looked like he was shivering, too.

"Donny!" She stood up. "How long have you been in here?"

"A few seconds," he answered, his voice thick with congestion. It was always worse in the mornings - he must have gotten at least a little sleep on the way home. "The others came in twenty minutes ago, but I had to fix a problem with the Battle Shell's GPS navigator. It kept leading us to the pet store on the way back."

"I'm going to maim you." She stuck her glasses up in her hair to examine him more closely. "How are you feeling?"

"I was just... I was going to bed, I swear. I was just trying to sneak past you, I mean you wake up if someone drops a paper clip. I feel a little better, honestly, I - I - _h-h-h -_ _huh-CHOO_!" He pressed a hand to his head. "Unh..."

"Bless you." She reached over and swiped the back of her hand across his forehead, then immediately drew it back, holding it to her chest. "Okay. Bed. Now. I'm officially isolating you."

He scowled, but was tired enough not to argue. "No you're not. You watch, I'll sleep it off and I'll be back to normal by tomorrow."

"Sure. Just like you were back to normal on Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday-"

Don just groaned, batted at her hand, and trudged into his room for some much-needed sack time.

* * *

><p>Raphael had snuck in to Jamie's room to surprise her, but the trick was on him: she wasn't there. And he'd been planning to hug her and kiss her and everything. Oh well; she'd probably gone and fallen asleep in the training room again. And really, what kind of a boyfriend would he have been to wake her up anyhow? Nah, he should just get some sleep right now... he'd hug and kiss her later, when everyone had some sleep and the tension had a chance to thin out a little.<p>

When he'd gotten to his room, there she was, lying on the bed, all wrapped up in the blankets. She was in the silky pajamas, with the legs pushed up to her knee, and she was clutching the pillow to her chest.

He just shook his head, chuckled, and crawled in next to her. He put his arms around her and pulled her close, relieved that he'd survived one more night to be with her, her crazy friends, and his crazy brothers. "Well," he muttered, barely holding back a yawn, "time for some sleep..."

When Jamie woke up ten minutes later, she was in Raph's arms, staring at his face, and he was sleeping. She grinned, and immediately felt the tension of waiting for him fade away. "Raph? Raph?"

"Huh?" He mumbled something, then took his hand from around her waist to rub at his eyes. "Oh. Sorry, I thought ya were still sleepin'... I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No. I'm just glad you're back." She took her arms, which she'd had twisted up against her stomach, and wrapped them around his neck, kissing his cheek and sighing. "How'd it go?"

"Not bad. I mean, as 'not bad' as mutant patrol can get." He blinked a few times, then stretched. "So, uh... why you in here anyway? In my room?"

She blushed. "Well, I mean... I just... I tried to sleep. But it's the fourth night you've been gone, Raph. I missed you so much. I couldn't sleep... and I thought coming in here, so I had your scent, would help. I just put the blankets around me... next thing I know, I'm waking up and here you are."

"Yup. And I ain't goin' anywhere." He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "Now... I gotta get some sleep. See ya at noon, when I don't wanna beat the crap outta Mikey as much as I want to right now."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! I loved writing that. The preparation was super fun, all the girls fussing over them and not even realizing they were doing it.<strong>

**Also... POOR DONNY. *cuddles him* He's getting sick! Who wants to help me and Maria take care of him? Huh? Huh? Any takers? :D**

**Well, LH comes in next chapter along with his _lady_. I'm hoping to surprise you a bit on who she turns out to be... I can't give away too much, but I can say that at the beginning, when they first meet 'em, it's gonna be funny as hell, then it gets serious. (Some of it's going to be a flashback too, by the way, so prepare thyselves...)**

**Reviews? Favorite parts? Things that made you laugh? Things that made you cry? Things that made you facepalm and say "Aw dude, I can't believe she wrote that"? You know... like Maria's nerd joke. XD**

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay. You guys have forced my hand for the second time. Because, *whines* where did all my loyal reviewers GO? Am I annoying you by basically updating every freakin' day? Well, I shall now beg... AGAIN.**

**... . *puppy dog eyes* Don't any of you have anything to say for poor poor Donny, if nothing else? He's sick! He needs some fangirl love... but, uh, just don't go overboard or he'll cough on me. I love Donny, but I just had surgery two weeks ago, I don't need anymore health problems just yet.**

**And if I get no reviews, I shall sic Raph on you! *pulls Raph in front of the camera* OK, remember Mikey? He was a WMA, a weapon of mass adorable. Well, this is Raph, and he's also a weapon. But he's a WYD. That's weapon of YOUR destruction. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA- *chokes on her evil laugh***

**Raph: Hehehe... time to kick some shell?**

**Me: *smacks forehead* Please don't tell me you thought we were doing it physically. Feel free to beat somebody's browser cookies into oblivion, but put your sais away. It's only fun till somebody gets their eye gouged out.**

**Raph: Yeah. Then it's not called fun, it's called a hospital visit and a lecture from Master Splinter.**

**Me: Exactly. So sais. Don't use them on my readers, not even virtually putting a hole in their cute little avatar. Go use them to... I don't know, use them to bug Leo or something.**

**Raph: Well, how would I... *evil grin* Ohhhh Leo! *walks off* Whaddaya say we do some target practice?**

**Leo: *from the other room* Sure!**

**Me: *mumbles* Poor guy's got no idea HE'S the target...**

**Well, hope you guys enjoy! There is Leatherhead and his lady, as I promised unto you!**

* * *

><p>"Ohhh, <em>duuuuuuuuudes<em>!"

Most of the group had been in the living room trying to agree on what TV channel to watch, until Mikey and Taylor had burst in obnoxiously. They all looked at each other, then turned to glare at the other two. "Whaddaya want this time?" Raph grumbled, shifting. Jamie was in his lap, so it wasn't like he could just get up and beat the stuffing out of Mikey right now.

"We came up with a super cool, totally tubular idea!" Taylor gushed, leaning on Mikey's arm.

"Yeah! It'll give us some time away from being cooped up in here, _and_ it'll help with our training," Mikey added. "Hmm? C'mon, Leo, _training_."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just get on with it so we can all take a vote of 'no'."

Mikey and Taylor grinned at each other, then at the rest of the group. "Sewer swimming contest!"

Everyone just stared at them, except for Don who was too busy blowing his nose.

"... Uhh, why?" Kim asked, raising her hand.

"And how is that going to help our training?" Leo continued.

"Aww, come on! It'll be _fun_, that's why, Kimmy," Taylor begged.

"Yeah! And Leo, seriously, it'll help improve our speed in the water. Y'never know when we'll be fighting in an ocean or something."

"It actually sounds kinda fun," Don spoke up, sniffling. "I gotta get out of here."

"_Excuse_ yourself, 'a' squared?" Maria put her hands on her hips. "Donny, that water is probably, like, sub-zero."

"Oh yeah? Then why isn't it frozen?"

"It doesn't matter. You're sick, and cold temperatures are only going to reduce your immune defenses even more. You're not going."

"More like 'nerd' squared," Mikey muttered.

"Yeah? Well, catch me if you can!" With that, Don leapt up and ran out into the sewers. A second later, they heard a splash.

"_Donatello, you mutant freak!_" Maria screeched, running after him. Another splash. "_For the love of Fulcrum's last conundrum, get back here or I swear I'll drown you like a shark that stops moving!_"

"You can say what you want about ya friend," Raph snickered, "but she's got one _hell_ of a bedside manner to her. Scares Donny outta his shell everytime."

"Looks like it's on!" Mikey and Taylor followed, and there were simultaneous shouts of "_Cannonball!_" followed by two explosive splashes.

Raph looked down at his girlfriend. "You wanna go, Jame?"

"Sure!" She got up off his lap and headed for the door. "I bet you can't beat me!"

"Hope you didn't bet your bottom dollar, then, 'cause you're goin' down!"

Leo sighed, then looked down at Kim, who was still sitting on the couch, her muscles tensed. "Kim? You wanna go?"

It was a few seconds before she looked up at him. "Huh? Oh... yeah, sure." She got up and followed him out.

Everyone else was already in the water, most of them swimming like hell was on their tails. In Don's case, though, it actually was, and in the form of Maria it was getting close. They were at the front, followed by Jamie and Raph, who were swimming side by side, trying to go faster than each other. Mikey and Taylor were lagging behind, splashing each other and not even trying to race, even though it had been their idea.

Leo sighed, then shrugged. "Well, if you can't beat them." He dove into the water and went a good ten feet before he realized Kim wasn't in the water with him. "Kim?" He looked back to see her just standing there, looking stiff again. Her eyes weren't on him, but on the water in front of her.

"Kim?" He swam back, so that he was in front of her. "Kim, are you okay? Kim?" He snapped his fingers. "_Kim?_"

She jumped, and looked down. "S-Sorry Leo. I just... I was thinking about something else."

"Sure." He treaded the water around him, tilting his head to one side. "You're not coming in? The water's not as cold as Maria thought."

She shook her head, stepping back, and there was real fear in her eyes. "I... I, um... no, you'll... you'll think I'm stupid."

"No I won't." He swam closer to the edge. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

She looked down, avoiding his eyes. "I, um... I can't swim, Leo. I... I don't like the water."

"That's all?" Leo chuckled. "That isn't stupid. Nobody's forcing you to get in the water, Kim. You don't have to." He pulled himself up. "You shouldn't anyhow - with your head and all, I mean. It's only been a week and a half. I can walk with you."

"No... no, that's fine, Leo. You swim if you want. Just... will you stay close to me?" She took a few steps. "I'm afraid I'll fall in."

"Sure, I'll be right here. Stay close to the wall, it might help."

"Gotcha!" Maria took a deep breath, held it, and pounced on Don, plunging them both into the water. Nobody could see what happened, but after a few seconds, Don scrambled back up to the surface, looking scared as all hell.

"_Get away from me! You're not a scientist, you're the inspiration for all those psycho horror movies Mikey watches!_" He paddled even faster, kicking his legs and trying to get away from her.

Maria's head popped up from the water, in a way that only her eyes and nose were above it. Her eyes swept from side to side, scanning the water for Don - not unlike a shark looking for its prey. Her eyes locked on him, swimming ahead, and she started after him. "_Get back here! You should be in bed, __**bitch**__!_"

"Dude," Mikey chuckled. "Watch out for Nurse Frightengale, Donny! You never know where she might shove the next thermometer! Or - Or how she'll give you your medicine! Or - Or -!"

"_Or,_ put a lid on it, Mikey," Raph called, propelling himself so that he was in front of Jamie now.

"Hey! No fair, using the distraction to your advantage!"

"Oh yeah? Get a load of this, babe!" He kicked his legs wildly, sending a spray of water into her face.

"H-Hey!" she sputtered. "You're gonna get it!"

"Wait a second!" Leo called, stopping Kim just like he'd done the first night while they'd been on patrol. "I thought I heard something. Everybody be quiet. Do you guys hear that?"

A wind floated down the tunnel, then a deep voice came from an opening down further. _"Please forgive me for losing my temper last night, my friend. I was tired, and I did not mean to yell at you. It seems to happen more often now, but I am truly sorry. You do forgive me?"_

They all looked at each other, and the turtles' eyes widened a little.

The first voice was answered by another, this time female and smooth, not sounding quite as distressed as the male voice. _"Don't worry about it. I knew you were tired - I shouldn't have nagged you about going to sleep. I knew you were going to soon. Sorry about that."_

Another answer from the deeper voice. _"You have nothing to apologize for. I am lucky that I am friends with a woman as forgiving as you."_

"Dude!" Mikey bounced excitedly in the water. "Is that who I think it is?"

"It can't be," Don whispered. "It's been a while since he came to stay with us, and I haven't seen him in weeks - is he really back?"

Leo gestured to the others. "Everyone out of the water. Let's investigate."

Once everyone was out and was trying to dry off, they took a few more steps toward the opening where the voices had been coming from. Don shivered, wrapping his arms around himself, before muffling a sneeze.

"Cold, huh?" Maria remarked smartly.

His teeth were chattering. "D-Don't kick me when I'm already down, M-M-Maria." He slipped past everyone else and led the group into the entrance after peeking in. "Uhh... Leatherhead?"

"Bless you, by the way, you big fat jerk," Maria muttered under her breath, crossing her arms as she followed.

Inside the opening was an old station, and sitting inside were two people. One was a giant, humanoid crocodile - clearly of the same nature as the turtles - and the other was a human girl, with blonde hair tied up tightly in a bun. The crocodile, who the turtles knew as Leatherhead, was wearing a lab coat, and at the moment the girl was sitting on a chair, running a needle through tears in the fabric and stitching them together.

Jamie stepped forward, ignoring Raph's hand on her arm. "Avery?" she spoke up, addressing the girl. "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

The girl, Avery, calmly kept sewing up Leatherhead's lab coat. She didn't even look up at Jamie or say hello. "Keeping house. What does it look like?"

Leatherhead looked over at the turtles. "Donatello? What a refreshing sight."

"Friends of yours?" the girl asked.

"Very good friends indeed."

"Leatherhead, who is she?" Don asked, gesturing to the girl. "And how long have you been down here?"

The croc smiled down at the girl. "Allow me to introduce you to my dear friend, Avery Lower."

"_We_ already know who she is," Jamie commented, stepping forward.

Kim leaned over to Maria. "We do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know anything anymore," Maria mumbled, rubbing her palm over her eyes.

Mikey elbowed Taylor in the side. "Dude! That's our buddy Leatherhead. What's with the chick?"

Taylor's eyes were wide. "Dude... that's my _cousin_."

"... Whoa."

"Ditto."

"It was nice of you to drop by," Avery said, threading the needle through Leatherhead's sleeve again. "How's Aunt Kathy? Would you tell her hi from me?"

"This is _way_ too confusing," Jamie groaned, putting a hand to her head. "I don't believe this." She turned to fill the others in. "_That_..." She pointed to Avery. "Is mine and Taylor's cousin."

"So you are already in acquaintance with Avery?" Leatherhead smiled. "You must know what a wonderful person she is then."

"This is insane." Jamie turned back around and walked toward her and Taylor's cousin. "Avery... so, uh, when did you start hanging out in the sewers with alligators?"

Leatherhead snarled. "I am a crocodile." His eyes changed, the sclera becoming light green and his irises shrinking.

"Hey." Avery reached up and grabbed his shoulder. "Sit still, I'm trying not to poke you, hon. Just calm down, will you?"

He grumbled, his lip curling upward. "Don't tell me what-"

"And don't you growl at me, either. It doesn't scare me, and you're not doing yourself any favors."

His eyes changed back to how they'd been, and he let out a breath. "... I, er... I beg your pardon. I have... not been myself lately."

Jamie stepped back, raising her hands in surrender. "Well, um, I don't know the difference between gators and crocs. My bad. When I graduated, I had an F doing a very good impersonation of a D- in biology."

"How long have you two been down here?" Don questioned, stepping up in the empty space Jamie had left. "I couldn't find you for weeks, LH."

He bowed his head. "Oh, you must forgive me, my friend. I had been hiding from Avery."

Avery finally showed some emotion, cracking a grin up at him. "But I still found you, didn't I? You're not very good at hide-and-seek. The trick is to, you know... _not_ get found."

He chuckled. "Yes, I know. It isn't that I am no good at it, you are just too good for your _own_ good."

She giggled, reaching up to touch his cheek. "Talk like that is going to give me a big head, you know."

"This is just too weird." Raph rolled his eyes. "What about Bishop and all that crazy stuff he did to ya? What's different about _her_?"

"Yeah," Leo added. "How did you guys get so close to each other? I've never seen you _tolerate_ a human, much less... you know..."

"_Flirt,_" Mikey uttered, trying and failing to disguise the word with a cough.

Leatherhead put his hand over Avery's, halting her sewing for a moment. "I tolerate her because she is the one who saved me."

Avery sighed, then at last looked up at them. "It's... kind of a long story. We'd just bore you."

"_Oh_," Jamie snickered, "I think we got time for _this_."

"It's pretty weird," Avery continued, obviously trying to dissuade them.

Mikey snickered. "You really think we'll be surprised, dudette?"

Nobody but Jamie saw the annoyed pout Taylor shot Mikey's way, and it was clear what she meant: _That's what you call ME! She's already taken by a giant croc, DUDE!_

Avery bit her lip, abandoning her sewing, and rubbed her head, looking exhausted all of a sudden. "Alright. First of all, who's staying for dinner? 'Cause I need to get a head count."

"Would ya just spill already?" Raph practically shouted, getting impatient. He noticed that Jamie was ready to smack him and moved away, hiding behind Don.

Avery blew out a breath, putting her elbows on her knees and letting her hands hang between her legs. She looked up at Leatherhead, and took in a breath. "Okay... well, I guess it all had to start, like, a month and a half ago. I just lost my first job at another lab, and I was working as an intern for this guy named Bishop..."

Everyone else looked at each other, eyes wide. "_Bishop_?"

Jamie sat down on a nearby chair, crossing her legs. "I've heard about that twisted bastard. This better be good, Ave."

* * *

><p><strong>HAHAHAHA. I left you with a cliffhanger, so now you'll HAVE to review! I guess I lied about most of the chapter being a flashback. That'll be next chapter. It was already getting long, and if I included the whole flashback of Avery telling about how she met LH, it would get too long, people would get bored and annoyed, and poof, that'd be the end of my reviews and devoted readers.<strong>

**This was mostly filler, actually. The first half, anyway, because I think LH and Avery might be playing a bigger part in this story than LH did in the show. Because did I mention it's going to be divergent? Diverging is fun! I also call it... mwahaha... DEVIATION. I love deviating.**

**Donny: No. You love messing things up. Speaking of which, were you the one who thought it would be funny to change the settings on my calibrater?**

**Me: Uhhhh... Mikey did it! *runs out of the room***

**Donny: I knew it was you! *chases after me* GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE HELPING ME CHANGE IT BACK TO THE CORRECT SETTINGS!**

**Hoping for reviews! Don't disappoint me. I'm going into review withdrawl and the only thing that helps is sucking down iced tea while watching "Adventures in Turtle Sitting" over and over again to satisfy my motherly urges towards the turtles. Which is weird, and which I'm writing a story about, please don't ask... unless you think I should post it. In that case, feel free!**

**If you review, make sure to tell me your favorite parts! I love hearing what your guys's favorite bits and little details of the chappie are!**

**Well, thanks for reading, guys! Till next time!**


	7. Chapter 6

**OK, now THIS is the chapter that's mostly flashbacks that I was speaking of ealier. XD**

**Enjoy guys! :D**

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><p><em>-Flashback, roughly six weeks ago-<em>

_Avery wasn't a scientist by any means, but this Bishop guy and his lab really creeped her out. He was supposed to be a geneticist, and so far everything she'd seen suggested he was seriously taking this too far. The very first day she'd been here, she'd seen animals in cages and tanks. She'd also seen one scientist giving some kind of injection to another._

_She didn't know what the hell he was doing, but she could at least decide upon the fact that it was weird._

_She'd been here for a week now, and apparently that was long enough for him to trust her. She was to report to this one room, door 66, to record the results of experiments he'd performed on a... a creature, he'd called it. He didn't exactly specify beyond that._

_The door wasn't locked. So she opened it up and walked in, quickly turning back around to close and bolt it. She didn't want anyone walking in here and telling her what she was doing wrong. If she wasn't doing something right, Bishop could tell her, not the other scientists._

_She turned to face whatever was in the room. It turned out to be a tank, a long tank against the wall, half-full with water, like a reptile terrarium. And it seemed as though that was exactly what it was. Inside the tank was a large crocodile, and she was struck with the fact that she didn't know they could get that big._

_It looked like he was sleeping. There were monitors hooked up to him - heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, the works. "Oh my God," she breathed, but even so she was tiptoeing closer to the tank every second. Her own breathing and heart rates were probably through the roof right now._

_When she was a foot away from the tank, she glanced over at the monitor screens. They were beeping, each at a different rate, but steady at least. She shook her head, her mouth hanging open in a little "o" shape. "Bishop... you crazy bastard... what ARE you doing here?"_

_She pulled away a little and looked around the rest of the room. A counter with a sink and cabinets over it. Nothing too unusual there. The other wall, however, was much less usual. Against that wall was what looked like an examination table, and beside it was a tray of scalpels - different sizes, but all of them sharp. Her eyes widened, and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she looked up at the ceiling to see what seemed to be a bunch of saws attached._

_Her hand let go of her clipboard, and she felt a cold sweat all over her body. "Th-They're not studying him... They're... They're __**torturing**__ him..."_

_The clipboard landed loudly, and all of a sudden the beeping of the heart rate __and breathing monitors became a little more frequent. There was a loud roar, and a splashing of water._

_Avery quickly spun back to face the tank. He was awake, and he didn't look too happy. She tried to step back and seem non-threatening, but she stumbled over her high heels and fell, landing on her side. She pushed herself up and just stared at the croc. "Oh my..."_

_He roared at her again, and this time he pounded on the glass with one hand, and she screamed. She didn't mean to, but it startled her. She'd never seen all the ferocity these animals could have, and now all of a sudden she was meeting it face to face._

_She heard a cacophony of incessant beeps, one right after another with not even a second in between them, and her eyes shot to the monitors. Everything was elevated; he was getting too worked up._

_She shoved off the floor and managed to get herself back up again. "Please!" She hesitated before running toward the tank, pressing both hands to the glass and looking into his eyes. "You have to stop! You're going to make yourself sick! Can you understand me? You need to CALM DOWN!"_

_He growled, but then something happened. His eyes changed; the sclera became normal and white, and his irises grew, turning a darker brownish color. There were a few breaths from both of them, and he dropped down onto all fours. "You must forgive me." It was certainly shocking to hear him talk, but she realized then that Bishop was keeping some kind of mutated animal here... hell, he may have even mutated it himself. "I tend to let my anger get the better of me sometimes."_

_She blinked at him a few times. "Whoa... just whoa..." She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I just... ugh." She fell down onto her knees and leaned her forehead against the tank. "What. A. Day. And it's not even noon."_

"_Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine... give me a minute here. I just need a minute." She took a few deep breaths and put a hand on her chest, trying to slow her racing heart. "I'm talking to a crocodile. I'm talking to a giant humanoid crocodile. And it's talking __**back**__. And somehow that's still not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me." She looked back. "Okay. Meltdown over. I'm good." She sighed. "Sorry about that. But where I'm from, crocs don't talk."_

_He gave her a slight smile. "Where I am from, usually I am not in a tank such as this."_

_She laughed weakly, and then sat down fully, crossing her legs. "Uh, so, um... my name's Avery. Or Dr. Lower. I mean - just call me whatever you want. I'm not a real doctor, so..."_

"_Avery. A beautiful name. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am called Leatherhead."_

"_The pleasure's all mine, believe me." She reached over and retrieved her clipboard, letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. "So. You're... Leatherhead. Okay, got it." She glanced down at the papers Bishop had given her. "Well, uh... my boss said I was supposed to get the results of the experiment he did just now."_

_He blew some air out of his nostrils. "**Experiments**. He drags the name of science through the mud."_

"_Look who's talking about dragging things through the mud, huh?" She chuckled, looking down at her papers. "Just a little croc humor, don't mind my dumb jokes. Nobody ever laughs at them." She looked up and winked. "You're probably cleaner than Bishop anyway, he's got quite a bit of blood on his hands apparently, judging by this room." She rested her cheek in her hand. "Man. Now all the numbers on your monitors probably changed. He's going to use those things on the wall to slice and dice **ME**."_

_"Not to worry." Leatherhead flicked his tail. "I remember them all. I have an excellent memory."_

"_Really? Good, I think you may have just saved me from being the main dish at Bishop's upcoming cannibal feast. I swear he's always ready to bite someone's head off." She stood up. "Well then, if you remember it, what do we need the monitors for?" She grabbed a chair and put one foot up on it, reaching up and pushing back the slab on top of the tank so she could get a grip on it. "The tabs can't be comfortable, anyway. Let me get them off you." She hopped up onto the chair with her other foot and pushed the slab back more. "Okay... almost..."_

"_Are you sure you should be doing that in those type of shoes? You could easily fall..."_

"_I'm okay... but I don't think I can get any closer, I can barely reach in as it is. Can you get up enough for me to reach the tabs?"_

"_Of course." He stood up on two legs, walking over to where she was. "Is this close enough?"_

"_That's perfect." She first pulled the two tabs off his chest, then off his arms and the side of his forehead. "There we go! How does that feel?"_

"_Much better, thank you." He got down again and sighed as he sunk into the water, sounding relieved. "I am obliged, if you ever need a favor, please, just let me know and I will help."_

"_That's sweet of you, but what I really need is a job where my boss A, doesn't have a hair trigger temper so I get fired for no reason, or B, is a sick freak who __tortures helpless animals and calls it science." She sat down on the chair and __doodled on the back of her clipboard. "I'm sorry I have to record his torment, Leatherhead. This isn't what I signed up for at all." She glanced over at the tank, where he was swimming around a little. "But if it makes you feel any better, when he makes me go on a coffee run, I could spit in his. I, uh... kinda planned to anyway, so this way I'll actually have a selfish reason."_

_He chuckled, looking up at her. "You have quite the colorful personality, Avery. Do not get into trouble with him on my account, please. If one of us should be punished, let it be me."_

"_Well, that's not fair, either." She brought her legs up onto the chair, hugging them to her chest. "... Besides the meeting you part, this job is so not worth ten bucks an hour, by the way."_

* * *

><p><em>Bishop could call her a coward, but it wouldn't bring his experiment back. She could yell back at him, but it wouldn't change the fact that her new friend was gone.<em>

_She didn't even know what had happened. Someone - or something - broke into the lab while she was there, and it was just like the first time she'd met Leatherhead. She was scared beyond all belief, and immediately dove under the exam table. She curled up and faced the wall until she was sure they were gone, and she certainly didn't get a good look at them. She'd gotten all wet, and when she turned to look she saw that it was because the tank had been broken._

_And Leatherhead wasn't in it anymore._

_Avery was sad that she would never see him again, but Bishop was absolutely furious. She got yelled at, and then she got fired. She was glad to be out of there, but now she didn't have a job. She hadn't saved up enough for an apartment, and she was going to have to continue bumming off her friend until she could get the rest and pay for her own place._

_She was going to miss him though. That was the one thing she liked about this job, having him as a friend. He talked to her. When she cried, he could stop the tears. When she was lonely, he was always there. When she was happy, he shared in it._

_Yeah. She was going to miss him._

* * *

><p><em>Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. It was lucky Karen didn't live too near anyone else, or some neighbor would be complaining about the crocodile in her backyard. They'd call animal control.<em>

_Avery recognized the croc as her friend, Leatherhead. It had only been two weeks __since he'd escaped the lab, and it didn't look like he was doing so well. He was asleep behind Karen's house, and he had wounds. On his arms, his legs - it really looked like life had chewed him up and spit him out._

"_Let him stay, please," was the first thing out of Avery's mouth when Karen got home. Karen didn't know what she was talking about... till she went to get something out of the shed in the yard and saw Leatherhead lying there. She practically screamed her head off, but Avery managed to cover her mouth before she woke up the croc. "Just let him stay," she begged. "Please. Just for a little while. He's my friend - from the lab. He got out, and it looks like he's got into some trouble. Look, he's hurt. He won't hurt a fly, I promise. Let him stay just - just till he gets back on his feet. I bet he's not even going to wake up."_

_Somehow Karen agreed, but she made an effort to almost never be at the house during the day. She said if Avery wanted to risk her life, that was fine, but she shouldn't expect Karen to go forcefeed the croc._

_The first day, Avery just left him alone and let him sleep. He looked like he needed it. But the second day, she thought maybe she should clean off his injuries; if they got infected, he'd be in serious trouble. So she took her first-aid kit and went out into the yard, her hair tied back with a bandana, and she meant business._

_She knelt down next to Leatherhead, who was still sleeping. "You must be really worn out to be sleeping this long," she whispered, opening her kit and pulling out the antiseptic spray and cloth. "Poor thing. Looks like you've been through the wringer. Don't worry, Avery'll clean you up here..."_

_She twisted the cloth around her hand so it would be easier to pat off the excess, and took the cap off the spray bottle. She leaned forward a little, and pressed the nozzle down, aiming at one of the wounds._

_Almost immediately, Leatherhead seemed to wake up and roared loudly. His eyes snapped open, and Avery got frightened because they were the same way they had been when she first met him. He was angry - ohhh, and who wouldn't be? The stuff stung, and now she realized she probably shouldn't have done this while he was asleep._

"_Leatherhead, calm down!" she tried to shout over him, but he was clearly enraged by the pain and wasn't listening to him. "It's me, Avery! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! Please, calm down!"_

_Another roar, and before she knew what was coming he swung his tail at her and knocked her down._

_She felt her head hit the grass first, and she rolled a few times, eventually landing on her stomach. She pushed herself up. "Leatherhead!"_

_It was too late though. He had gotten up and was already running away, still bellowing in agony._

_Avery fell back down, clutching a patch of grass with one hand. "L-Leatherhead... I'm okay... really, you... you didn't hurt me. Please come back..."_

* * *

><p><em>She had to go looking for him. She couldn't just... just leave things the way they'd hung in the air when he'd left. He probably believed he had hurt her seriously, when she was just a little banged up. He also probably thought she'd tried to hurt him intentionally; she had to let him know that she was only trying to help.<em>

_She spent a week looking for him. She first snuck into a couple of labs, but she'd had to leave before she got caught, and didn't see him. She didn't dare go near Bishop's lab in the beginning - but if she couldn't find him anywhere else, she thought she may have to._

_The she looked in all the local zoos and aquaria; no luck there either. She'd seen a few crocs in the zoos, but none of them were Leatherhead._

_Finally, she had to rack her brain for ideas. In all those movies, where were the crocodiles - even if they ate people, unlike Leatherhead - usually living? In the sewers beneath the city. So Avery rented some scuba gear with the last of her money and found a manhole, slipped under it when no one was watching, and began her search._

_She walked down the pathways with a flashlight for an hour, calling his name as loudly as she dared to. Then she set the flashlight down, and took to the water with her oxygen tank._

_She found him. She __**found**__ him! He was swimming, and it looked like he was only doing so to let off some steam. He seemed upset; his movements were tense and short. She followed him eagerly, slipping through the water with relative ease behind him. She would have come right up alongside him and greeted him, had she not felt so light-headed._

_She glanced down at the watch on her wrist that was attached to the tank on her back. She gasped - which probably wasn't the best thing to do - when she saw that the needle was on empty. Had she spent the whole tank already? Oh God, she needed help. She couldn't get back up fast enough. Leatherhead was her only hope, she had to reach him._

_She kicked wildly and flailed her arms to try and catch up with him. She couldn't even mumble loudly enough through her tank, and since it was empty, she decided she didn't need it anymore. She removed the mouthpiece and screamed without opening her lips._

_Gray dots fell like a translucent curtain in front of her eyes, and she felt dizzy. She couldn't __keep swimming, and she stopped._

_Then everything went black._

* * *

><p><em>She woke up, and she was warm. She opened her eyes, and she was staring at a ceiling. She felt a blanket over her body, and she wasn't as light-headed as before. She was still sore though.<em>

_She turned her head, and was relieved to see her croc friend sitting in a chair, reading, with a little pair of glasses over his eyes. She pushed herself up a little and smiled. "Leatherhead?"_

_He looked up, and smiled back. "Avery, you are awake." He removed the glasses and put the book down, walking over to her. "I was afraid you were not going to wake up. How are you feeling?"_

"_A... A little better. I was so dizzy... I used up all the oxygen, and I... I didn't think you could hear me."_

_He chuckled. "Beg pardon, my friend, but who would __**not**__ be able to hear you? You made quite a lot of noise - I assume as you saw that you were running out of air." He placed his hand palm-down on her forehead, and nodded. "You do not seem to have a fever though, so you likely only passed out because of the lack of oxygen. You had been running out for several minutes." His hand fell down, trailing along her shoulder and down her arm. "Avery, you must be careful. Your body cannot go very long without oxygen. It could have been much worse than simply blacking out had I not realized you were there."_

"_I'm sorry, Leatherhead. I must have scared you half to death." She carefully sat up, scooting back to rest against the arm of the couch. "But I was looking for you. I didn't want to leave everything the way it was, I... I just... I was only trying to help you. There were so many cuts... I didn't want it to get infected."_

"_I realize that now, and I am so sorry that I misinterpreted your actions. My mind was unstable... please, forgive me." He placed one finger against her cheek, and closed his eyes, and she could see tears pooling at the edges. "It was not my intention to hurt you. I simply did not realize what was going on."_

"_I'm fine. And hey, I'm not leaving you this time. I'm staying right here, and I'm not going to let anyone fuck with you ever again. Okay?"_

_He looked down. "Avery, you are not safe down here, especially alone with me. You cannot live in the sewers."_

"_I've heard of people doing it. Now come here and give me a hug." She held out her arms. "I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you so much."_

_He looked at her reluctantly, then gently put his arms around her, holding her to __his chest and resting his head on top of hers. "I had thought the same thing. I am glad it did not turn out to be true."_

* * *

><p>"And I think that covers it," Avery finished, putting her needle and thread down and leaning on Leatherhead. "We're trying to work on his issues... and mine, too. I'll admit it, I'm a shrinking violet. I don't usually say much, even when I feel I should. I couldn't speak up to Bishop until Leatherhead was gone. I had to beg with Karen. I'm not very persuasive."<p>

"Looks like you persuaded LH just fine," Maria giggled.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "I mean, he let you stay. One small step for croc, one giant leap for croc-kind!"

"Mikey!" Raph slapped him on the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Bad joke."

"Oh yeah? So we hit bad jokes now? Then I should be hitting your face!"

"Shut up, guys!" Leo and Kim both shouted at the same time. They looked at each other, then quickly looked away.

"_Huh-CHOO!_" Don sniffled and rubbed his nose, blushing and looking down at the floor. "Ugh. Excuse me."

"Are you ill, Donatello?" Leatherhead asked, standing up, as did Avery.

Maria put both hands on Don's shell, rubbing his neck with one. "He says it's a cold, but I think it's really the flu or something. It's pretty aggressive." She leaned over Don's shoulder. "Donny, I think we need to get you home. The water was too frigid and exacerbated your illness."

Mikey gripped his head. "Ow, big words! It hurts! It _huuuuurts_!"

"Stop teasin' Mikey with words he doesn't know," Raph snickered.

"Come on." Maria gave Don a light push. "If you don't get in bed and drink something warm, you're going to get pneumonia. And if you do, guess what I'll be doing while you're dealing with it? Saying 'I told you so' and doing my little gloating dance." She leaned back toward the others. "It was very nice to meet you, Leatherhead. My name's Maria Noble, by the way, and I'll let you know when Donny can start working with you on the cure for Bishop's outbreak again. Right now he has to rest." She waved at the others. "I'll take Donny back home. See you later!"

They didn't get two feet before Don sneezed twice and basically collapsed against Maria, whining that he wanted to sleep and felt terrible. To which she slung his arm over her shoulder and replied, "Well, what did you think was gonna happen when you jumped in that freezing cold water? For a scientist, you've been acting pretty dumb since you got sick."

They continued arguing until their voices faded away down the tunnel.

"I hope Donny feels better soon," Taylor pouted, leaning on Mikey's chest.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, dudette." He put an arm around her, then looked at Avery and Leatherhead. "Soooo, LH's dudette friend... you said something about dinner?"

She grinned. "So you're all staying then? Great." She took Leatherhead's hand. "Come on, you can help me make the food. It'll be so nice to have company for one night." She looked at everyone else. "Any friends of Leatherhead are friends of mine. Make yourself comfortable, everyone."

* * *

><p><strong>Mwahaha. I believe that next chapter the REAL action starts.<strong>

**Get ready to strap on your Shellmets, boys and girls. This is gonna get NASTAAAAAY.**

**Thanks for reading, stay tuned! ^^**


	8. Chapter 7

"Getting ready to go on outbreak patrol again?" Jamie asked, leaning against the wall and watching Raph pack.

"Yeah - this time at the power plant. It's gettin' bad. Freaky mutant monsters, crazy creatures with extra arms, and I swear last time I saw The Thing with Forty Eyes. See? Mikey's got me watchin' them stupid monster movies to try and figure out our battle plan."

"I get so worried about you, Raph." She sighed, coming and sitting on the couch beside him and letting her head fall on his shoulder. "I miss you so much when you're not here. I'm worried you'll come back and you'll be hurt."

"Hey. I'll be okay. I'm tough. You just worry about yourself and takin' care of your girls."

Leo walked into the room, fully decked out and ready for the patrol. "Where's Don?"

"I think he's in his room with Maria," Jamie answered, sweeping her bangs behind her ear. "She said something about he was going on patrol tonight over her dead body experiencing rigor mortis."

Leo rubbed his forehead. "Damn. I guess he's been getting worse. I don't think I've ever seen him this sick - and I don't like it. She's right, he really shouldn't come tonight when he's this sick."

"_Huh-CHOO!_" Don walked into the room, blowing his nose.

Maria was following him. "There's no way in shell you're going, Donny! And don't think I don't understand that I'm trying to cuss!"

"I never said I wanted to go, and I know you know what you're saying! Can't a turtle just get a glass of water?"

"I would have gotten it if you asked me! You're so impossible!"

"Well, you're w... w-w - _huh-CHOO!_ You're worse! And I'm not going! They're dropping me off at April and Casey's on their way!"

"Well, _FINE!_"

Jamie grabbed the pillow from the couch and pressed her face against it, groaning. "I can't hear it, I can't hear it, I'm in my happy place with Dream Raph..."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "Wait, you got a dream me? He ain't puttin' the moves on ya, is he? I'll kick his ass!"

She whacked his plastron. "If you kicked his ass, you'd be kicking your _own_ ass. Now shut up. My head hurts."

"Aw man." Raph pulled her into his lap and pulled away the pillow before putting a hand on her forehead. "You ain't gettin' sick too, are ya?"

"It's just a headache. I'm fine."

"You sure you're gonna be okay if I go?"

"Raph. Will you not worry about me? It's just a headache, people get headaches sometimes, especially when they live with four loud turtles and three loud girls and their annoying mother and a giant rat. Ohhh, did you just _hear_ that? God, _my life is so weird!_"

"See how it feels to have someone fuss over ya?" he teased.

"We heard that, Jamie!" came Kathy's voice from behind the screen where she and Splinter were. "Huh? Oh yeah! And Splinter-kun didn't appreciate that rat comment! He says next time he'll make you do a hundred one-finger push-ups! Oh oh, and fifty katas! I don't even know what katas are, but it sounds painful!" Then they both laughed, but Kathy's laugh pretty much drowned out Splinter's.

"_Great_," Jamie sighed. "Now she's referring to your father with suffixes. _Suffixes_, Raphie, _SUFFIXES_."

"Don't get me wrong here," Raph whispered to her, "but now I think I understand just how far the nut falls from the tree."

Jamie groaned, then walked off to go find Taylor.

Raph stood up, starting after her. "Oh come on! Be glad I ain't Mikey, he'd make a stupid 'Yo' Mama' joke and I'd hafta slap him upside the head!"

"Raph." Leo grabbed his brother's arm and gave him a no-nonsense look. "Just get ready. I don't think she's really upset. She's just still worried about you, is what I think."

He sighed. "You're probably right. And I hate that."

"You hate that I'm right or you hate that she's worrying about you?"

Raph stared right at Leo for about ten seconds before answering, "Yup" and walking away.

Leo shook his head. "Seriously..."

* * *

><p>"Anybody seen the girls?" Raph spoke up. "I thought we were gonna have to say good-bye and everything like last time."<p>

"They're holed up in their room watching some chick flick," Mikey replied, fake gagging. "That's what Tay's mom said anyway. Something about _50 First Dates_ makin' 'em cry?"

"Be grateful Jamie's not holding onto your leg and begging you not to go," Leo pointed out. "Now's our chance to leave without any of them getting worked up."

"You're callin' her _Taaaay_ now?" Raph snickered, elbowing his orange-clad brother. "Mikey and Taylor, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S - oh wait, I forgot. You wouldn't understand, you can't spell."

Mikey glared at Raph. "Dude, you're so lucky I'm saving this big ole can of kick-butt for the mutants or I'd mop the floor with your shell right now!"

"Can we just go?" Don whined, sniffling. "I wanna get some sleep!"

"Alright, alright. To the Battle Shell we go then."

"_Follow the leader,_" Raph mocked as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"Ow! Jamie! Mind getting your elbow out of my face? I think you're poking my eyeball all the way up into my brain."<p>

"Yeah, sure, Taylor - just as soon as you get your practically nonexistent boobs outta _my_ face. I don't swing that way."

"Pythagorean theorem! Kim, would you kindly get your knee away from my pancreas? You're going to crush the insulin mechanisms!"

"Get your foot off my spine first, Maria! You're gonna break it in half, and as far as I know, that means you're dead!"

"That's it, I'm playing chiropractor as soon as we get outta here."

"Hey, shut up, they're coming. Everybody be quiet or they're gonna find us."

"... Um, sis?"

"What?"

"... I think I have to pee."

"_I told you to go before we baked ourselves into human pretzels at 500 degrees!_"

* * *

><p>The bumps and rocking of the Shell were taking their toll on Don. He was sitting against the wall in the back, by the small closet, trying to keep those colors from flashing across his vision like a lava lamp. His stomach was roiling, and he was hot, and those two put together equaled a very miserable turtle.<p>

"G-Guys," he spoke up weakly. "I don't feel so good. I-I think I'm gonna..."

All of a sudden, the closet door was pushed open. Jamie, Taylor, Maria, and Kim all tumbled out of the tiny space, landing on each other. Maria was ahead of the game though, because almost instantly she was next to Don and holding a bucket (which she'd found in the closet) under him. "Here, Donny!"

"M-Maria, what are y-" That was as much of his sentence as he concerned himself with, because the next second he was leaning over the bucket, vomiting violently.

"You're okay, you're okay." She patted his head. "Don't hold it back."

"Gross!" Mikey gagged, for real this time, covering his mouth. "Hold it back, Donny, for my sake! You're makin' _me_ sick!"

"When are we stopping?" Taylor whined. "My bladder's gonna explode, I swear!"

"I really wish that weren't even possible, but unfortunately..." Maria mumbled, her voice trailing off as she kept herself busy with Don.

"Damn it, the last thing I need is a puke chain reaction and a potty failure while I'm tryna drive this hunka junk!" Raph pulled over to the side of the road and shoved the stick into park, then got up.

The girls were busy trying to untie the knot they'd somehow gotten themselves into. "Don't look now, Jamie," Taylor eeped, crawling out from under Kim, "but _he's coming!_"

"Damn straight _he_ is!" Raph pulled Jamie up by her collar. "What the shell are you doin' here, Jamie? What the shell are _all_ of ya doin' here!"

"I'm a pancake again, only this time there was way less batter to work with than last time," Kim moaned.

"Urrgh, Kim." Leo grabbed her arm and picked her up. "You didn't hit your head like last time, did you?"

"No. I think I hit every _other_ part of me, though."

"But you're okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Then I don't feel guilty about this." He took her wrist and smacked the back of her hand.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"What are all of you _doing_ here?" Leo crossed his arms, tapping his foot and looking at all the girls. "Well? I'm waiting."

"... Okay, you got me." Taylor raised her hand. "It was my idea."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "Yeah? So _you're_ the evil mastermind in all of this?"

"Yup."

"Evil mastermind dudette," Mikey chuckled, "I _really_ wanna kiss you right now for that but seriously-"

"Shut up!" Raph took a knee to his brother's head. "This _ain't_ her plan, Mikey! She's not an evil mastermind overlord or whatever's cookin' in that pea ya call a brain!"

"He's right," Leo agreed. "What reason would you have, Taylor?"

"Uhhmmm..." She threw her arms around Mikey's neck. "I missed my totally tubular and bodacious Turtle Titan?"

"Du_dette,_" Mikey sighed, obviously disappointed.

"Say what you want about my sister," Jamie commented, "no one kisses butt like she does."

"She's just covering for me," Maria spoke up, taking a cloth out of her pocket and hold it against Don's mouth. "I wanted to follow you guys because I was worried about Donny. I know you're taking him to your friend's house... but I haven't met them yet. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. And apparently my concerns were valid - he regurgitated, for Sir Isaac Newton's sake!"

Don groaned and immediately began to get sick again.

"S-Sorry, Donny...!"

"So what did the rest of you come along for then?" Leo asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Hmm?"

"To protect the world from devastation!" Jamie cried.

"To unite all peoples within our nation," Kim chimed, minus the zeal and effort Jamie had put into hers.

"Romance!" The other two promptly pulled on each of Taylor's ponytails, making her shriek. "Owwww! Wait, we changed the What a Girl Wants bullshit speech to the Team Rocket bullshit speech? Why didn't _I_ get that memo?"

"They didn't want me to come alone," Maria explained, rubbing Don's head lightly. "They were afraid I would get hurt."

"Family is family, and nobody goes it alone," Jamie agreed.

"You get stuck with _one_ of us, you get stuck with _all_ of us," Kim concurred.

"United we stand, divided we suck like a cheerleader on a Friday night after eight!" Taylor cheered.

"Look, I'll stay with Donny at your friends' house." Maria dabbed at Don's mouth again. "But these yahoos can't stay because he's probably contagious. The last thing we need is everybody sick. I'm going to try and keep him under isolation as much as possible until he gets over this."

"Fine." Leo gestured to the other three girls. "You guys. When we go mutant hunting at the plant, you three are to stay _in this Battle Shell_. Do you understand me?"

"But Leo-" Kim started.

"No buts, Kim!" he interrupted. "None of you are going to get hurt on my watch, or Raph's, or Mikey's. Now, I'll go over it one more time. Jamie, Taylor, and Kim are to stay inside the Battle Shell. You all get it?"

"Got it," they chorused glumly.

"Good. Raph?"

Raph was already back in the driver's seat. "Yeah, Fearless?"

"April and Casey's. Step on it."

Raph grinned and grabbed the wheel. "My three favorite words after 'kick Mikey's ass'."


	9. Chapter 8

Everyone else was way ahead of them (Taylor way ahead of everyone screaming that could she please use April and Casey's bathroom before her bladder burst like a water balloon) as Maria helped Don get out and walk down the steps. "What were you _thinking_, Donny?" she muttered, putting her arm around his shoulder. "You should have started taking it easy as soon as you realized you were coming down with something. And I told you. _I told you_."

He blew his nose. "Yeah, well, I don't think I have pneumonia quite yet."

"Wait a few days. You'll see."

He leaned his head against her shoulder. "I know, Maria. I'm stubborn, I know. But I had to keep working on the cure for the outbreak... Leatherhead and I need each other to do it."

"Yeah. And you breathed all over his equipment, and he's probably sick now too."

"Is not. I just talked to him this morning."

"You were supposed to be in bed."

"Maria. Shell Cell."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Forgot about phones for a minute there."

Don chuckled, then it turned into a coughing fit. His head dipped down even more, against her chest. "I feel like I got run over by a truck."

"Yeah. Then you were stupid enough to poke your head outta the manhole again, and it was backing up." She smiled down at him. "Don't worry, I brought my medical bag. If anything can tackle this, it's cough syrup and cold pills."

"I'm not taking cough syrup. It tastes like shoe polish."

"Oh yeah? You like to lick shoes, do you? You're a _shoe licker,_ are you?"

Don's face glowed pink for a second, then he looked down and mumbled something.

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

By the time they got there, Leo was saying something to a redhead at the door - April, obviously. Don let go of Maria and stumbled forward, sneezing loudly. He grasped the doorframe and slouched over, groaning.

"Bless you, Donny," Maria whispered, keeping one hand on his shell.

"Whoa! Don." April looked surprised, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. "You look... greener than usual. A... _lot_ greener than usual," she added as she moved to let him in.

"I know." Maria followed him in and hand a hand on his arm, rubbing it, as he blew his nose again. Then he sniffed, continuing to talk to April as the others filed inside. "I picked up this little bug and I haven't been able to shake it." Maria rolled her eyes at the _little bug_ part as he blew his nose yet again. "I _was_ feeling alright... but I just can't handle mutants right now."

Mikey patted Don's head affectionately. "Didja figure that out _before_ or _after_ you barfed in the Battle Shell?"

"Mikey!" Raph's hand swooped down to smack Mikey square in the back of the skull, as he'd done countless times already. "_Adults_ are talking." He looked up. "April. Can you help Maria keep an eye on Donny for us?"

"_Huh-CHOO!_" Don blew his nose a third time, and it was followed by a pitiful noise that sounded like he was sniffling and crying at the same time.

Maria moved her hand down to Don's wrist. "Bless you. Again."

She saw April exchange looks with the guy in the room, Casey, and the redhead sighed. "Of... course they can stay here." She put her hands on Don's shell, steering him toward the couch and motioning to Maria that she should come too. "I mean... we weren't going anywhere anyway."

It was obviously a lie though, as Casey spoke up, "Bro, you are seriously crampin' my style here."

Maria rolled her eyes as she and April helped Don sit down. "Sorry," he muttered, sniffling into his handkerchief for the millionth time.

As April began to talk to Leo, Maria slid her hand loosely into Don's and spoke quietly. "I know you don't feel great, Donny. But I didn't mean all that stuff I said earlier, that I wasn't going to take care of you. I want you to get better, and I'll do whatever I can to make that happen."

"Don't worry." He leaned his head against her shoulder, closing his eyes. "I knew you weren't serious. I may not know you that well yet, but I know you well enough that I could tell you were just mad at me for not resting and stuff."

"I'm sorry I keep getting mad at you. I just want you to feel better, but you _know_ too much and you just give me a retort."

He smiled weakly. "Well, haven't you ever heard that saying? Doctors make the worst patients."

"I'll sure say."

"... Well, go get 'em, guys," April was saying. "We'll watch Don. And hey, the girls are going too?"

"Yeah. They're _going_ to stay in the locked truck because they stowed away in the closet." Leo put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Right?"

She looked down, blushing. "Yeah."

They all went out, the girls waving to Don and Maria and telling Don to take care of himself. Taylor just barely made it down from the bathroom in time to rush out the door with the others.

Leo gripped the doorknob. "Donny? Take it easy, bro."

The door was closed before Don could even offer his sentiments, but that didn't stop him from trying. "Good lu - l - _h-h-h-huh-CHOO! Huh-CHOO!_" He looked up at his three babysitters, whimpering pathetically - not that he probably cared how he sounded at the moment.

Maria stood up as Casey smacked himself in the forehead, but quickly changed his tune. "Come on, sickly mutant ninja turtle," he announced, hauling Don's feet up onto the couch. "Ya better _lie_ down before ya _fall_ down." He put a blanket over Don's body, pulling it nearly all the way up over his chest. "There. Comfy?"

"You must be Maria." April stuck out her hand after raising an eyebrow at Casey. "I'm April O'Neil. I've heard quite a bit about you from Jamie."

"Same here." Maria shook her hand. "It was actually my idea to stow away, since I was worried about Donny staying here with you guys, but it looks like you could take care of him without me."

"Don't be silly. I think Don's going to need a lot of attention - he seems pretty sick."

Maria sat down on the couch again and sighed, reaching for Don's forehead. He pulled back a little at her touch, and she could see why. He was hot. "It feels like you're running a fever, Donny," she remarked, taking her hand away and reaching into her medical bag. "Let me get a thermometer and see how high it is." She pulled it out and stuck it in his mouth. "Now, you keep that under your tongue till it beeps." She got into her bag of tricks again and produced a stethoscope, which she put in her ears. "I'm going to check your breathing. Just relax, okay?"

Don pouted. "How can I relax? I feel like I'm in a hospital. In the seventh ring of hell."

"Keep that thing. Under your tongue. Or I. Will gag you. With it."

April raised an eyebrow, putting her flowers on the coffee table. "You, uh... gotta admit, Casey, her bedside manner is, um... unique."

"Unique?" Casey snorted. "Can we say Nurse Wretched?"

"You can say whatever you want as long as it's not '_helloooo, nurse_'."

"How 'bout '_helloooo, doc_'?"

Smack.

"... Shoulda known not to make that joke..."

April headed into the kitchen. "Maria? Can I get you or Don anything to eat?"

"Nothing for me. But we should try to get some food into Donny. He just threw up lunch. An IV would work better, but I didn't bring any of that equipment 'cause I didn't know he'd be going and getting himself dehydrated and whatnot." She didn't even look up from checking Don's chest. "Deep breath in. And out. Good, Donny. April? Maybe some soup and ice chips, if you have any. I want to see if he can drink it without getting sick. If he can't keep down liquids, he's in trouble."

* * *

><p>"We're here. Everyone get ready to kick some shell."<p>

As Raph and Mikey stepped out of the Battle Shell, Leo turned to the girls again, who were sitting in a circle in the back, playing Truth or Dare. "Hey guys," he called, and they all turned to pay attention. "This is the last time I'm gonna say this, and I need you to listen to me. You guys stay in this Battle Shell. Raph already locked the door. You can't unlock it without the key, but I know you guys would find a way, just like you found a way to get here in the first place."

"We just didn't want Maria to go alone," Kim spoke up. "We knew she was worried about Donny, and so are we. You haven't seen her when she goes into overdrive and works herself to death. It's insane."

Leo nodded. "I understand that you guys were worried, and it's not wrong to be worried. But you guys don't need to come along and get hurt on our behalf. Did you really think you were going to go into battle with us? You're totally unprepared. You don't even have weapons."

"My _body_ is a registered lethal weapon," Jamie grumbled. "You know who my boyfriend is, right? And you assume he just taught me nothing about how to defend myself? I could take someone's head off with _a kick_."

"Bottom line," Leo continued, "you three need to stay in here where it's safe. You don't try to leave for _anything_. You're girls - at least one of you has to have your cell phone, right? We've all got our Shell Cells. Call or text us, but _only_ if it's an emergency. Don't drag us into your Truth and Dare or whatever. If I'm mutant hunting and I get a text asking me if I've ever tried to light a wet match, someone's in trouble... _Taylor_."

Taylor's cheeks lit up pink, and she rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, well... at least you know how I am."

"Yeah, because I know how Mikey is." He took one step down. "Alright. I'm leaving now. _Stay here_."

"Wait!" Kim got up and ran after him, throwing her arms around him from behind and resting her forehead on his shell. "Be... Be careful, Leo. Don't do anything I'd yell at you for if I was around."

He let his head fall. "Don't worry, Kim. We're ninja. This is what we do."

"Just promise me you'll be careful, will you?"

"Fine. I promise. And if you get frustrated, promise _me_ you're not going to hit your head against the wall and make it worse."

"Like I would." She let go of him. "Good luck."

"Thanks." He stepped down all the way out of the truck and looked up at them one last time, at each of them. "Keep each other safe. We'll be back before you know it."

With that, the door closed on them.

"... I hate the dark."

"It's okay, Taylor." Kim pressed a button on the wall and a bunch of florescent bulbs in the ceiling sprang to life. "Found the light switch."

Taylor pouted, then hugged her knees against her chest. "... I still don't like it."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we just did that." Raph twirled his sais angrily, kicking at the dirt every chance he got. "I can't believe it. How could we just <em>leave<em> 'em back there like that, Leo? I promised Jame I'd never leave her, and that's what I did."

"We leave them every time we go out on patrol," Leo pointed out, shining his flashlight ahead. "What's the big deal this time? They're locked up in the Battle Shell. I mean, you never know what might come down into the sewers. They're probably a lot safer in there than they are at the lair."

"What if there are mutants around here, huh, Fearless?" Raph pointed his own flashlight in Leo's face, causing his brother in blue to bring a hand up and block the light, squinting. "What if one or two of 'em find the Battle Shell and use it as a chew toy? The girls could get _hurt_. We wouldn't be able to get there in time."

"They'll be fine, Raph. They know to call or text us if there's an emergency."

"We still wouldn't be able to reach 'em in time to stop the thing!"

"Hey, shut up. I heard something."

"Course you did, 'cause you don't wanna talk about somethin' hurtin' your precious Kimmy."

"Man," Mikey sighed, rubbing his arm. "All I can think about is my dudette bein' all scared and sad in the Battle Shell. She doesn't like being cramped up in little spaces, Leo - it drives her a million different kinds of nuts."

"There's plenty of room for all of them to move around, now be quiet, both of you. There's something - whoa!"

Just ahead of them were a couple of giant mutants, tearing up part of the plant; it looked like they'd already caused a fire or two.

Leo stepped back a little. "Okay, Mikey, you take the left. Don, you cover me on-"

"Uhh, Leo?" Mikey pointed out. "Don's home sick from school today."

... "Right. Okay, Raph, _you_ cover me on the right. And remember, guys, just contain them. _Do not_ splatter them."

The trio ran toward the mutants, weapons at the ready. "We know the drill!" Raph reminded him as he brought up the rear on the right. "Can't have their cream filling spillin' out - infecting other creatures with their freak-o DNA. Last thing we need is more genetic rejects. I mean, we already got Mikey."

Mikey's response was just to blow a raspberry at his brother.

Leo started putting the beatdown on one of the mutants, while Raph tossed a containment unit at the other one's legs. It broke out of them with its claws though, and picked Raph up. As it lifted him up toward its sharp teeth, Mikey sprang into action. "Hey, don't eat Raph! You don't know where he's been!" Mikey kicked the mutant in the face, making it drop his brother. However, this made the creature stumble back into what looked like...

Uhh, were those power supply lines?

"Oops."

"_Mikey!_ Ya blacked out the city!"

* * *

><p>"Holy Edison! April, Casey, help, I've gone blind!"<p>

"Damn it," Maria heard Casey mutter from the darkness.

"No you didn't," came April's voice. "The power just went out."

"Oh..." Maria felt for Don in the darkness, eventually coming to what felt like his hand. "Donny? Are you okay?"

The turtle was whimpering, even worse than before, and breathing heavily. "I-I don't know," he responded, sounding weak. "The cut on my leg... it just started hurting like shell all of a sudden. M-Maria... April..."

Maria felt April get in front of her, and could barely see that she was putting her hand on Don's forehead. "Whoa, Donny, you're burning up."

Maria leaned forward and brushed April's hand aside lightly, replacing it with her own. "Oh my God, I think it got even higher than earlier."

"Maria, are you going to be okay alone with Don for a minute? Casey and I are going to go find some lights."

"We are? Hey, ow, okay, we are!"

"I think we'll be fine," Maria answered, rubbing her hand over Don's head and trying to cool him down a little. "Shh, try to stay calm, Donny."

"We'll be right back," April said, and then there were footsteps going up the stairs.

"M-Maria, I feel horrible," Donny sobbed, and she felt his head fall back onto the arm of the cut. "My leg... _ohhhh_..."

"Do you want me to take a look at it? I should change the bandage anyway. Here, let me get my penlight..." She pulled it out of her breast pocket and shone it on Donny's leg. "There. It's not much, but I can see the cut and... Madame Curie's radon!"

The muscles in Don's leg around the bandage had begun to ripple and tighten, and his groans of discomfort increased. "_It hurts!_" he cried, reaching up and grabbing her shoulders. She felt him squeezing tightly, and it occurred to her that he must be in complete agony, if he was holding onto her hard enough that bruises would form.

"Donny, your leg..." She shook her head and her eyes shot wide open as the bandage over his cut was ripped away. _Everything_ was being ripped in two, he was... he was _growing_.

She couldn't handle this all by herself; something was happening. Something was very wrong, and she didn't know what it was. She hated that feeling of not knowing, not being in control, not being able to help, and knowing that _she_ needed help. "_Casey! April!_"

"Uhh, sorry about the vase, April. But in my defense, it was pitch black when I came in here..."

April opted to ignore her boyfriend and picked up a flashlight, but as soon as she did, she heard a terrified cry from downstairs.

"_Casey! April!_"

"Casey, did you hear that?" She shone her light toward the door, down the stairs. "That was Maria! Something must be wrong with Don!"

"Let's get down there, then!"

They ran down the stairs with the flashlights they'd found, as fast as they could. When they shined the light at the couch, Maria was flat on the floor, on top of her bag, with one foot still up on the couch. "Where's Don?" April asked.

"_H-Help..._"

Casey shone his light over at the wall, where a large mutant that looked a little like their friend was standing, facing it.

"Don!" April took a step forward. "Is that you? What happened?"

"H-His leg," Maria muttered, raising a hand to her head. "It just... everything went crazy and he... he..."

"_Help... me..._" His voice was distorted, and he was looking at April and Casey with a glint of pain in his eyes.

Maria tried to get up. "Donny-"

All of a sudden, he roared loudly and ran past all of them, knocking Maria against the table in the process. "_Stay... away... from me!_" He growled and tried to open the door, then simply ripped it off its hinges before running out into the night.

Maria scrambled up off the floor, ignoring her bleeding shoulder (as well as the bruises on both of them) and racing toward the now permanently open door. "Donny!"

"Maria, no!" April and Casey hurried over and each took one of her arms, holding her back. "Maria, you can't go after him!" April warned. "He already hurt you!"

"I'm fine," she wailed, trying to get free. "He didn't mean it. I have to go, _that's Donny!_"


	10. Chapter 9

**Lulz... sooo, um, this is like the last one I have premade. Now I actually have to write, LOL. But don't worry readerlings, that's what I'm doing as soon as I post this.**

**Sooooo... hope you guys enjoy! And also that most of my regular reviewers come back. XD**

**More soon! :D**

* * *

><p>"Where do you think he went?" April spoke up, pacing back and forth in the living room once they'd gotten Don's fellow scientist to calm down a little.<p>

"I dunno," Casey answered, "but we should go lookin' for him. He looked pretty freaky - how much you wanna bet he's tearin' up the basement?"

April pointed her light over at Maria, who was sitting on the couch. Her shoulder was covered in congealed blood, though the cut didn't seem to be bleeding anymore. She had Don's torn bandage over one palm, and was texting. It looked like it was hard for her to do, since she was shaking so much. Not to mention, her eyes had probably up and frozen wide like that.

April went over and sat down beside her, putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Maria? Are you texting the guys?"

"I'm texting Kim," she breathed, sounding like it was hard for her to get air in. "I shouldn't text the guys while they're on patrol, they wouldn't appreciate being interrupted by my... my... ph..." She suddenly tossed her phone to the carpet, burying her face in her hands and crying uncontrollably, leaning in to April. "Th-This is all my _fault!_ I-I knew it didn't seem like just a cold or the flu... I wanted to take some swabs but he wouldn't let me! I should have held him down and forced him to let me!"

"Oh, Maria, this isn't your fault," April tried to comfort her. "We don't even know what happened. I don't think it would have made a difference if you did any research on it or not... it might be something unrelated to him being sick, anyway."

Maria stood up, tears lighting up her eyes in realization. "No way! This - This isn't _my_ fault! It's that fucker Bishop! _He_ did this!" She gripped both sides of her head. "I should have known! Donny told me - he got attacked by a machine, that's what caused the cut on his leg and that's where this weird metamorphosis began! Bishop infected him with the outbreak virus!"

April put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God... we need to warn the guys!"

"We _need_ to go lookin' for Donny and see if we can knock some sense into him," Casey proposed. "There's no tellin' what he's gonna do if he gets in the city."

"I texted Kim... she'll know to contact Leo since this is an emergency." Maria bent down and picked up her phone. "I've got to call Leatherhead and Avery. Maybe they can help me figure this out..." She clicked a speed dial number and held it up to her ear, waiting a few seconds. Then she perked up. "Avery? Yeah, I'm sorry, I know it's late. Is Leatherhead still awake? Because I think it's about to get deep in here, that's why. Put him on! Leatherhead? _Bishop's fucking outbreak is screwing with Donny's already freaked up genetics! God, I need help over here!_"

As Maria walked into the corner where Don had been to speak to the other scientific couple, Casey picked up his flashlight. "Looks like we're goin' on a Donny hunt, April. We gotta find him. Can't imagine what would happen if he got loose in the city. It'd be like... like _Godzilla -_ but with a turtle!"

"Do you think Maria's okay to come look with us?" April glanced over at the frazzled teen. "She's pretty upset, and Don might not be in his right mind."

"_Might?_" Casey snickered. "Did you see what he did to our door? Try _definitely_ not in his right mind."

"Okay, thanks, LH. Right, I'll make sure to tell the others." Maria walked back over to them as she hung up the phone. "Well, Leatherhead and Avery think the outbreak virus triggered some sort of secondary mutation in Donny. LH said that based on what's happened already, his body and mind may continue to deteriorate. He says we've got to capture Donny somehow and bring him to the lab. He's got data he and Donny started for the cure, but it's not finished yet. I think he and Avery might be on their way - he said Avery would call back soon. Let me just text Kim so she can tell Leo, and then we can go look for him." She flipped her phone open and furiously began hitting buttons.

After a moment, she shoved her phone back into her pocket and whipped out her penlight. "You said we're going to the basement? Let's find us a mutant squared turtle."

* * *

><p><em>"Damn it, Janet -<em>

_I love you!_"

"Kim, you chose _that_ as your ringtone? Seriously?"

"... Yeah, well, you chose 'Sweet Transvestite', so don't judge me." She opened her phone. "Hey. Text from Maria, let's see how she's doing." As her eyes scanned the text, they suddenly became wide, and she tumbled backward in obvious shock. "Oh my God!"

"What? What did she say?" Jamie crawled over to her friend. "Did Donny get sicker?"

Kim tossed the phone to the middle of their little circle, her eyes filling up with tears. "She said Donny started feeling worse and then he just started growing and transformed into some kind of monster! _Oh God_, what's going on?"

"What?" Jamie grabbed Kim's phone. "This better be her idea of a sick joke." The ringtone blared again, and she quickly hit the button. "It's from Maria again - and she better apologize for scaring us shitless." She read it, and then _she_ threw the phone away. "Okay, so she wasn't joking."

"What did she say that time?" Taylor spoke up.

Jamie crossed her legs and took a deep breath. "She called LH and Avery. It's Bishop's outbreak. They said the virus must have reacted with something in Donny's blood and now he's mutating again. They're going to look for him and bring him to their lab - LH and Avery have to finish the cure or Donny doesn't have a chance."

Taylor threw her hands over her eyes and started crying. "I need Mikey to come and hold me! Guys, this is so freaky, and I'm scared!"

Jamie put her arm around her sister. "It's gonna be okay, Taylor. They're gonna find him and fix him." She looked up at the blonde. "Kim? Call Leo and tell him everything that's going on."

"I... I don't know if I can..." Her hands were shaking, but she managed to grab her phone and lamely dial the number for Leo's Shell Cell. It was a moment before he answered, and he was on speaker.

"Kim, you better not be dragging me into your party games. We're busy!"

Kim's breath hitched in her throat, and a few seconds passed where she couldn't speak.

"Kim? Is everything okay?" He waited, but didn't get an answer. "_Kim!_ What the shell is wrong over there?"

She sobbed once, and her voice broke as she squeezed out two words: "It's Donny."

* * *

><p>"Donatello?" April called as the trio walked down the stairs.<p>

"Donny," Casey echoed. "Donny?"

"Don," April continued. "Are... you alright?"

"D-Donny," Maria spoke up weakly, holding her penlight bravely in front of her. "Come out, please."

"We just wanna help you, bro," Casey added.

April opened the door to what was obviously a basement bedroom, and Casey followed her. Maria was all talk, as she was bringing up the rear. She was honestly terrified of what they might find.

"Donny..." Casey shone his flashlight on the bed, then he and April looked at each other.

April moved her light to the other side of the room. "Don?"

Maria offered her penlight, and it illuminated a tiny spot of green. "Th-There," she managed, barely a whisper.

The other two pointed their flashlights where hers was, and in fact there was a giant mutant turtle there, facing the wall so they could only see his shell. "H-He got bigger," Maria stammered, feeling like she was about to faint.

Don turned to face them, but now he was barely recognizable. He growled and jerked an arm up to block the light out of his eyes.

"It made him photo-sensitive," Maria commented, but no one was probably paying attention to her. They were both too busy gawking, horrified, at Don.

"Don..." Casey's eyes were wide now too. "What the..."

Don's response was to roar at them.

April was already out the door, and Casey was still staring. "Wow..." Then he realized that one third of their group was gone, and ran out to join her.

Maria felt as if she couldn't move. "Donny - Donny, I know that's you," she shouted. "Come here, it's-"

She couldn't get any further, because Casey's arm shot inside the room and dragged her out, managing to also pull the door shut.

Maria could hear Don roar again, and then there was the sound of wood breaking. There went another door.

Casey shoved her in front. "April, Maria! Run, girls, run! Go, go, go, go, go!"

April was up the stairs first, followed by Maria, who barely avoided tripping and falling. She didn't think, she could only run. She knew that thing was Don, but it was kind of hard to think of your friend as such when they were chasing you with intent to kill.

All of a sudden Casey yelled, and Maria, now at the top of the stairs, spun back to see that Don had grabbed his ankle. "Help! He's got me!"

"Don, let go!" Maria shrieked. Where the hell was April? "That's Casey! That's your friend - damn it, Donny, I'm talking to you! _Don't you ignore me like you have every time I tell you something that's supposed to be good for you!_"

April was quickly rediscovered, as she now came back armed with a broom and pushed Maria out of the way. "Let him go!" She proceeded to beat Don's head with the bristle part of the broom.

Maria reached for April's shoulder. "You're hurting him!"

"He's trying to kill us! I think it's a fair trade! He'll forgive me!"

One last smack, and Don finally let go, tumbling back down to the basement. His head hit the wall, and he snarled at them.

Casey pulled himself up with Maria's help, and joined the girls.

"This is crazy!" April cried, throwing the broom to the side.

"What do we do?" Casey was backing up.

"Well... it's Don, right? Try talking to him!"

Funny, Maria thought, that was the idea she'd had. She doubted it was going to work, though; Don's mind was seriously messed up right now. He was probably confused and couldn't tell who was who.

"Talk to him? Are you _nuts?_" Casey shouted. "He's a freakin' savage monster - and you just hit him in the face with a broom!"

April picked up the broom again and tossed it to Casey. "Maria, go try and call the guys again - directly! I'll try too! They'll know what to do - I hope!"

Maria scrambled up the stairs to the living room, feeling April right behind her.

Don was following them too, barely five feet behind Casey.

As Maria and April ran into the living room for their phones, Don had Casey trapped in the doorway. "Okay, Donny..." Casey was saying as he backed up. "Easy, pal. We're still buds, right?"

Maria had already punched the speed dial for Leo's Shell Cell. As she held it up to her ear and waited for an answer, she looked back. It seemed like Don was considering Casey's words for half a second, but then he roared again and came at Casey. He grabbed the broom handle and swung it - and Casey - around, flinging the man into the kitchen and smashing the table.

"Oh my God!" It would have been a yell instead of a ferocious whisper, but Maria was too scared to summon the strength.

Casey was getting up, and facing Don. "Alright..."

"Maria!" Leo's voice was a miracle. "I kinda got my hands full here! Make it quick!"

"L-Leo, there... Kim called you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but she said you guys didn't find him!"

"Well, _what the fuck does this sound like to you?!_" She held the phone out toward April.

The redhead had, meanwhile, dropped her regular phone. "_Leo!_ A-A monster - _Don!_" She screamed bloody murder as Don had come toward her instead of dealing with Casey.

"April?" came Leo's voice from the phone. "Maria? Are you guys there!"

"Stop it, Don! You're better than this!" Maria shouted, dropping her phone and running over to reprimand her friend - which she thought was a bad idea, but she couldn't just let him smack April around.

* * *

><p>"April! Maria!" Leo groaned. "Damn it, I can still hear but they're not talking to me!" He looked over at his brothers, who were finishing up with the containing of the mutants. "We have to get back!"<p>

"Yeah!" Mikey stood up. "We gotta go save Don and April!"

Leo raised an eyebrow, while Raph merely looked like he had that common urge to smack Mikey. "And Casey, _and_ Maria!"

Mikey was looking like he kind of wanted to slap himself. "Oh, uh, yeah right... them too."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed! More coming soon hopefully. Mwahaha.<strong>

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


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Ninja Turtles, Drama, Romance