Hi! I'm back, :D. I know I said I wouldn't post any new stories until I finished forbidden, but I'm making an exception. (It's almost finished, I just need to post it.) Anyways, here's part two of my story, (If you haven't read the part one to this, Resistance is Futile, I strongly recommend you do. Not much in this first chapter will make much sense if you haven't. It is handily available on my profile, if you're interested.)focusing of April's friends and the other turtles. The POVs will switch, and we are starting off with Rachel. (Merry Belated Christmas, Dragonblooded!)

I wandered the lair that had become my second home, hoping to stay out of the war of wills. Mike and Raph were at it again, and it was only a matter of time before I was inevitably caught in the crossfire.

Much had changed since that fateful Halloween nine months ago. The Kraang, the Foot clan, and other mutant villains running undetected in the night was a monumental amount to ask anyone to believe. It took exactly one week for it all to sink in. After setting up Donnie and April, (which we were right about; they were totally in love. They just didn't want to admit it.) Ellie and I demanded an explanation for everything. Splinter rather reluctantly filled us in on all the gory details. Understandably, we went running for the hills as our false conceptions of New York's night life shattered and fell down around us. I, personally, was left with only two logical options: one, forsake my friends and try to pretend like this never happened, or two, suck it up and trust that these teenage, mutant, ninja turtles could handle whatever was thrown their way. Obviously, I went with option number two, hoped for the best, and luckily, Ellie did the same. From there, we became near inseparable.

I heard clumsy, frantic footsteps coming from around the corner, followed by methodical, angry ones. I had been discovered.

"Mikey! You better hope I don't catch ya, because when I do, I'm gonna pulverize you!" Raph roared as he rounded the corner, hot on Mikey's heels. I pressed myself against the wall, futilely trying to stay out of the way.

Mikey, however, did see me and whispered "I'm sorry!" as he yanked me into the path of the raging bull. Unable to stop fully in time, Raph barreled into me, sending me to the ground.

From the floor, I smiled apologeticly up at him. His scowl softened just a touch and he lifted me to me feet. "Why do I always end up as the human shield?" I joked weakly. As gentle as he was, I could feel the restrained strength in his movements.

"Sorry kid," he responded gruffly. "You seem to have a knack for getting in the way. I gotta catch that little twerp, but you should go and see Donnie to get that scrape on your elbow taken care of. "

"Huh?" I muttered, glancing down. Sure enough, trickles of blood ran in hot little rivulets down my forearm from a large, yet shallow scrape. I hadn't felt it before he mentioned it, but when he did, it twinged with pain, confirming its existence.

Sighing, he gave one last glance down the hallway, before placing his hands on my shoulders and steering me towards the lab. Even though I had gown a few inches, and widened out a little, his fingers easily spanned the width of my shoulders and curled down my arms sligntly. His skin, although rough, was much softer than most would expect from giant reptile.

Before I knew it, we were in front of Donnie's giant, double metal doors. with one last pat, he jogged off, calling over his shoulder. "Try to stay out of trouble, kid!"

It was my turn to scowl. I didn't know if he intended it as some sort of pet name, but I was sick of being called 'kid.' It made me feel like no one took me seriously. I mean, I know that when we first met, I didn't exactly give a first impression of a sophisticated, intellectual woman, but upon meeting a giant talking reptile, couldn't a girl get a little benefit of the doubt? I literally spent most of that encounter believing he would dissipate into nothing before my very eyes, so I clutched at him, to be certain he was real.

"I am most certainly not a child." I muttered grumpily. I was almost five foot six now, a respectable height for any female, and much taller than Ellie, even if I was still a bit shorter than April. I wasn't boyishly thin enough to warrent the moniker any more either. Along with the growth spurt, I'd put on a little weight as well. Not enough to be curvey like April, or athletic like Ellie, just normal.

"Rachel?" Donnie called from inside the lab. I winced a little, desperately hoping I hadn't been talking to myself unintentionally.

"Yes?" I answer.

"Oh good. " he sounded relieved. "I was worried you were Mikey, slinking around for a hideout. "

"Yeah, about that," I stepped inside, and carefully picked my way through the scattered tools, unwilling to trip and further injure myself. "I got caught in their little chase, and fell down. Could you help me get this all fixed up?" Blood was still dribbling down my arm. I jumped a little, just enough to sit on the countertop, while Donnie fetched the rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and band aids.

"Gosh, this is the third this week. Can't you just stay out of their way?" The genius teased as he was cleaning the wound, his eyes alight with mischief not unlike Mikey's.

"I've tried." I whined. "It feels like Mikey purposefully seeks me out, and injures me because he knows Raph will help me hobble to the infirmity."

"He probably does." Donnie chuckled. "Between your twisted ankle, bruised shins and recently scraped elbow, you soon won't be able to be Mikey's get out of jail free card. What's this fight of their's about, anyways?"

I scowled again. "I'm not sure. Mikey's probably annoying Raph like usual."

"No need to pout." Donnie chuckled. I'm sure that Raph is perfectly justified."

"I am not pouting! I am frowning." I snapped.

"Is it really that big of a difference?"

"Yes! Children pout, and mature adults frown." With that, I jumped down and left. I was opening the door, Donnie called after me, "Just be sure to stay away from them this time!" To my dismay, he sounded amused. I wonder what about me getting repeatedly injured was funny to him.

I peered around the corner, anxiously waiting for him. If Mikey got what we had been trying everyday this week for, it would be the ultimate blackmail. Raph would have to be our servant for weeks to keep anyone from finding out, and it would be hilarious.

Mikey finally climbed over the side and of the building, grinning victoriously. I think we finally won.

"Did you get it?" I called over to him, smiling.

"You bet I did!" He smirked, and waved his fist in the air. "Raph won't be able to do anything as long as we have this. We can change the channel whenever we want, make him throw fights, and give up his pizza!" Mikey's eyes were wide with excitement.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to take it back." A voice growled. Almost in slow motion, we turned to see a positively fuming Raphael, leaning against the door leading back down into the building.

"Uh, ah hi, Raph." I stuttered. "We were just-" I didn't even have time to finish my sentence before he launched himself at us. Expertly, he snatched the Polaroid picture away, and wasted no time in puncturing it with his sais then shredding it. All that were left with were the tiny fragments, which couldn't hope to prove that we had seen Mr. Tough Guy writing in a small, leather bound diary, with Spike on his arm.

I could have cried. "It's already Wednesday. He's probably widened up by now, and our only hope to coerce him into cooperating in our epic park is to get some dirt on him, it wouldn't even matter what was in the diary. He could be writing about how much he wants to strangle us, but we could invent things for black mail. " I could have pulled my hair out from the loss of potential.

"It's okay, dudette." He smirked. "I'm sure we'll be able to find it before our epic prank next Saturday."

Thwack! Thwack. The sounds of his steady punches echoed quietly throughout the gym. He wasn't sure where everyone else was, but apparently, they'd forgotten the quick training session he'd scheduled. There was a small knock at the door. "Hey Leo, Donnie just sent me to tell you that he can't leave the project he's working on, otherwise it might explode." April paused for a moment while she looked around. "Where is everyone else?"

"Missing in Action." He spit out. Ok, maybe not everyone had forgotten, but no one was going to show up."Oh, " She looked down a little. "Also, Donnie and I were planning a movie night for this Saturday. You can invite someone if you want."

He snorted. "Sure, I'll just ring her up and ask Karai 'Hey, I know your dad hates us and wants us dead, but how about a movie tonight?' I'm sure that'll go over well."

"No need to be so sarcastic." She rolled her eyes. "I was just letting you know."

"It's not that simple, April."

"Fine, are you still going?"

He sighed. "I suppose."

She smiled. "Good. Now, I've got to get back to the lab."

"Be sure to rent something scary for me, or at least something other than your usual romantic comedies." He called after her. To himself, he muttered, "Oh, joy Four more days until I'm the seventh wheel on a bunch of double dates.."

YAY! This is a bit of a late Christmas/New Years present to my awesome friend, Dragonblooded. (You should all totally check out her stories. They're amazing.) I've officially crossed my stories from the "teenge Mutant Ninja Turtle" category, to the "Ninja turtle" category. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought in the reviews. :)