Ok, so this is a story that literally has been torturing me ever since I watched the new TMNT movie, so I just had to write it. (Note: I have absolutely no idea if this story is for this cathegory; if it's not - someone please tell me where I should put it)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, but the plot and my OC. I may have changed the turtles' attitudes a little bit, but since this is my version... Anyway, I hope all errors, no matter gramatical or whatsoever, will be excused.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to tell me what you think!

~Nikkitosa


I huff and throw myself on the couch, casually stretching my numb limbs. 'God, Leo overdid himself this time! I won't be able to walk straight for days.' I muse and shake my head, a small smile playing on my lips at the memory of the session that finally ended, thank God! As much as I try to be grateful and all for the time Leonardo spends with me, trying to teach me how to stay calm, to meditate and all that jazz, I just can't help but wish for Master Splinter to take over with my tuition. With him it was still hard and damn right painful for my muscles, but at least it took no more than an hour a day. And now? With Leonardo acting as my new teacher we don't spend less than three hours in that damn room! 'It's no wonder he and Raph have a hard time finding a common language. Leo is the most persistent and pig-headed of the brothers!' Rolling my eyes, I groan as the blood finally rushes back to my feet bringing along the feeling of thousands of needles poking my flesh. 'Good gracious! Bless all the heavens and hells! I thought I'd never be able to walk again!'

"What have you done to Eérine, Leo?!" a worried voice echoes in the room.

True to my prediction, Mikey strolls out of the tunnel that leads to the area they call a 'kitchen'. Personally I call it a mouse trap.

With my eyes closed I try to focus on the loudest of the brothers' movements as he literally jumps and dashes around, fussing around me as if I have fainted.

"I'm still alive, Mikey, no worry! I won't let Leonardo have the satisfaction of breaking me!" I groan yet again after making a futile attempt to raise my left leg. "Darn! One of these days I'll set that room on fire!"

"And then you'll have to rebuild it. And don't think that your activities won't continue elsewhere." Leonardo's voice comes somewhere from behind the couch I'm currently sprawled all over.

"Give her a break, Leonardo." grumbles Raph as he emerges from the 'training room'.

And just like that a quarrel is kindled, leaving me and Mikey on our own.

"One of these days someone's going to get hurt." the worry in the usually cheerful Michelangelo makes me open my eyes and look at him.

Just like his brothers, he walks around well-equipped, as if waiting for the alarm to go off and a real battle to start. His nunchakus are safely clasped on a belt around his waist if the need for them arises. Yet, despite being well-trained, Mikey is the only one in the quartet that tends to drop said weapons on various occasions, mostly with the worst timing. Unlike the youngest, Donatello, who would rather stay near his computers and help from there, Mikey is all about action and adrenaline. Which often leads to one of his brothers running to his rescue.

"I really don't know where they find the power to argue…" sighs Donatello after glancing at his siblings from over the screen of his computer.

Inhaling deeply, I try to summon Master Splinter to come and put an end to all the rattling, as I feel the last remainings of my patience slipping from between my fingers.

"Children, why are you still quarrelling over nonsense?" like having heard my silent prayer Master arrives, or actually appears out of thin air, but who cares to notice.

Without another word, Leo and Raph turn around and leave, each taking the opposite directions.

"Sometimes I wonder whether they turn five every time they meet." I whisper and massage my temples.

"Their lack of understanding for one another will soon disappear, I hope."

I can't help the scoff that leaves me after hearing that.

"We wish."

In an eye blink, Splinter is in front of me and his long tail wraps around my ankle, lifting me up in the air. I yelp, as my clothes follow the natural laws of gravitation and slide down.

"Eérine, I heard you complaining from a few miles away. " he calmly states, successfully changing the subject while swaying me as I'm hanging upside down.

"Hey! He makes me sit on my ass for over three hours! I can barely feel my muscles below the waist!" I try to explain myself, only to end up tossed across the room.

Were I a normal human being, keeping in mind the force he threw me with, I'd have surely smashed against the wall and broken a bone or two. But I am no human. So as I fly through the air, I let my other side, the primal one, kick in and rather than landing on my ass I gracefully step on my feet. Staring right into Master Splinter's round black eyes, I know exactly what he sees – a young girl with long snow-white hair pulled back and the two usually dark brown eyes now changed into two glowing yellow disks. A wild animal's eyes. A Dire wolf's eyes. A low growl rumbles from within my chest, but it's not in annoyance but rather pride. 'Thinking you can catch me off-guard, ne, old man?' Smirking I nod, the glowing eyes vanishing before I go fetch my bag from the chair Don is currently sitting on.

"Oi, Donnie, mind letting my bag go?" I'm beaming at him.

He jumps up, startled that I'm pointing at his chair and looks around, only to see my old leather backpack looking like a pancake.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" he nervously peels it from the seat and in a desperate attempt to give it some shape, lightly shakes it.

The ringing sound that comes from inside makes his eyes widen behind his strange goggle-glasses, making them even larger, almost in an anime-like way. I'm even sure, was it possible, he would have turned tomato-red from embarrassment. But since his green reptile skin doesn't offer such an option I'm left with only my imagination, which results in a free cheerful laughter.

"Chill, mate! Those are just my keys!" I manage to say in-between laughter.

Donnie's face relaxes and he breathes a sigh of relief before handing me my bag, a sheepish smile on his face.

"You leaving us?" calls Mikey while hitting on the controller like crazy.

"Should I bring a few spare ones?" I whisper to the youngest while putting on my jacket.

Donatello just shakes his head, still smiling, before his attention goes back to his computer.

"Yeah, I think I have had enough meditation and sore muscles for today. And besides, tomorrow is sparring day, which means that I need to be as fresh as a daisy in order to kick Raph's ass."

Three low chuckles echo in the room.

With a mumbled 'bye' from both brothers and a nod from Splinter I leave the main room and follow the tunnels leading back to a shaft near my place.

The first thing I do after I enter my small, compactable flat is to check my answering machine. The red lamp is flashing at me warningly and even before I hit the button, I know I won't like what I'll hear.

"Howdy, 'Rine!" a way too cheerful voice greets before a small pause follows. "I'm calling to ask ya for a favour? My cousin's friend's dog is sick and I need to help 'em with all the vet stuff and all… and I won't be able to make it in time for my shift… Mind covering for me? You're a cherry!" a low beeping sound follows, signalising me the end of the message.

"Freaking peanuts! This will be Holly's fourth time this month!" I mumble while heading for the bathroom.

A long relaxing shower will manage to cool me down and bring some life to my limbs. After all a night's shift in Mamakoon's will require all the power, both physical and mental, that I can master in order for all the customers to live long enough to get their order and go away. 'What's up with these Americans and their pizzas? How can they even eat this shit?' When I first started working in Mamakoon's I thought it will be some easy money. After the first shift I wanted to kill someone – too many people crowded in a way too tiny space, shouting over one another, wanting attention and pizza, made me nervous and reminded me that I'm quite the bit claustrophobic. I was at my limit by noon, but somehow contained myself from snapping and going all wolf on them. I stupidly believed that it will be no big deal, that it was just a day thing, or at least that I would eventually get used to it. God, how deluded I was, whining that the day shift is a pain in the ass. The real thing was the night ones and after my first I had to literally run all the way home and spend the morning hours in meditation rather than snapping necks or ripping throats out. Yeah, working in the neighbourhood pizza shop turned out to be a thorn in my ass. That was two years ago. Now it's still a thorn but thanks to Splinter's help, I no longer feel the urge to kill whenever I hear the words 'pizza' and 'chicky' in the same sentence. Yet with time I became so disgusted by those damn pastry circles that whenever someone mentioned pizzas out of my work, I tended to slap the person behind the neck; a friendly reminder that I hate it. All my colleagues know that. My friends now that. And yet it seems that the only one who is still unenlightened is Holly – the new counter girl that came only three months ago and who I was put in charge off. And being the typical stereotype of a redneck with all the slang and things, she seems to be blind for all my signs of reluctance and irritation when she asks me to take her shift. Yet I do it. There's something so naïve, girly and innocent in her that I can barely even shout at her.

Shaking my head I chase away the thoughts of the restaurant or however they call it, and all things that it drags along. Despite my best attempts, though, I can't focus solemnly on the warm water running down my body and the relaxation of my muscles. My mind wonders around until it stops on the usual topic for 'under shower' thoughts – how did I end up here? Where did all that luck two and a half years ago come from?

Probably I should start from the beginning rather than the middle.

I was around the age of five when both my parents disappeared and the local authorities dropped me off at the threshold of a suspiciously-looking orphanage. I still find it hard to remember details from that period, but one thing is still crystal clear in my mind – the fear I felt the whole time. Losing both parents at that age was really stressful, as the child psychologist that came to check on me only once said. Add to that the fact that I had no memory what so ever from before the police found me wandering around an unfamiliar neighbourhood, and you can imagine just how traumatised I was. Yet the people at the orphanage turned out to be less malicious and more bored with me than I thought. Thanks to their complete disinterest I was left on my own most of the time, playing alone, reading alone or just sitting in an empty room. Until they came. The men in the white cloaks. They claimed to be some kind of psychologists that wanted to work with three kids, to "help" them fit better into the society. By some strange whim of fate I was one of those kids. They took us from the sad-looking building in which I had spent only a handful of months and dropped us at a new fancy one. At first we were somewhat happy and excited. Until they locked us up in cages and basically turned us into their personal live lab rats. On a daily basis they injected us with strange-looking fluids and scribbled in their little notepads all the symptoms that appeared. And they were various – numbness, fainting, sudden outbursts of anger, emotional breakdowns, seizures, haemorrhage. And, eventually, death. Out of three test subjects, I was the only one that survived. And every single day I wished I hadn't.

Being kept under lock and key, I had no clue how long I had been there. Years were ticking by faster than I cared to notice. I wanted to die and be over with it; I was tired of the needles, of the pain, of the anger. Because after they found the perfect test bunny, they decided to keep on playing with it until it broke just like the rest. They had the strange expectation that I'd become more obedient and less hostile. Unfortunately for them I was smarter than I looked and quite the actress. With time the scientist became less cautious and gave me more freedom. When I was ten or so, I was allowed to have my own flat in the same business centre, which housed the lab. Moreover I caught up with the things I had missed for the five years and a half I had spent underground, caged.

Everything was calm around that period and I was left on my own for some time, as the men who used me were trying to come up with some kind of a mutagen. I didn't care. I was happy that I wasn't going back to that lab for the time being. And so the planning of a way out began. Unfortunately most of my ideas were just that – ideas. And the few attempts I made were futile. I knew I was just buying myself time, cherishing myself with false hopes of freedom and normal life. Until one day I was taken back to the laboratory kicking and screaming. Every try to run and save myself was pointless as they first dragged me them, when they saw I won't back down without a fight, drugged me.

The thing the scientists had made was some weird mix that included a DNA extract from a species that last walked the Earth around 10 000 years ago. The great plan was to inject me with that mutagen and see whether I'll turn into that creature, the Dire wolf, or at least acquire some of its powers. It seemed that these guys wanted a killing, blood-thirsty machine and I was the perfect candidate for the role. When they told me their master plan I burst out in laughter, stating that it won't work, that it's impossible. But I guess I was wrong. It was possible. With time symptoms started appearing and I felt different. It became a lot easier to get angry and a lot harder to keep my emotions in general in check. Things got worse when they changed the dosage and I started mutating. At first it was just faster growth of nails and hair. Then I became more physically fit, stronger, keener. The animal that had been sleeping deep in me was woken up. And things got dangerously out of hand. Both they and I knew that sooner or later the bars of my cell won't be good enough to stop me and I would break free. With each passing day I got angrier, more restless, and vengeful. Like a wild animal in a cage. Yet they believed they could tame me, use me and then kill me after the job was done. I knew I wouldn't let that happen. I wanted a normal life and I was going to have it, but regarding my new abilities, I needed to stay put and be taught how to act and keep myself together. So I stayed there, playing submissive and brainless, but every minute I had to myself, I was plotting a revenge and escape. 'When I'm ready…' I told myself every night before falling asleep.

And one day, seven years since they began injecting me with the Dire wolf mutagen, I woke up ready; broke the bars and set the lab on fire, destroying everything. The scientists came and tried to stop me but I killed them. I wanted the whole building to disappear alongside the monsters living and working in it, so I found the switchboard and literally destroyed it, in hopes that if not an explosion, a fire will wipe out most of the evidence of what had been done here. I wanted to disappear. And in order to achieve that I had to make them believe I was dead like all the rest.

The fire didn't make the whole building collapse but at least all the underground levels were gone alongside the research and the mutagen. I wanted to be sure no one will suffer the way I and my friends did. After that I ran away. Away from the city, away from people and civilization. I wanted to be alone. To be free and wild. And for some time I was – a wolf running through the forest, chasing deer and rabbits and from time to time helping humans. I realised that if I ever wanted to return I had to make sure that my human side wouldn't disappear under the animal skin. Somehow I made it – I was free and independent for two or three years.

In my early twenties I returned to the civilization, or more precisely – New York City. Yet I was no one – a woman without any education, without past or any personal information I might share in order to find myself a job. I was alone in the big city and somehow that frightened me a lot more than being on my own in the wild. 'Humans are more savage than beasts!' I concluded. Yet I gave it a try – I went searching for job but I was shown the door wherever I went. Grim and in despair I found a refuge underground. The old metro tunnels, no longer used, turned out to be a great place to stay. And with some additional extras it became something I could call a home. Despite that I was still penniless and had no food. The thought of eating rats crossed my mind on several occasions, but I chased it away. Time was moving slow and I barely knew what to do with it. So I trained. I tested my limits – strength, speed, senses, and flexibility. Yet that didn't make me calmer, didn't help me keep the beast within in check. In fact I was nowhere near reticent and was afraid of losing control. I was petrified of lashing out on innocent people. So I locked myself in the tunnels and prayed, for a first time in over fifteen years, that someone will help me, believing that I can be redeemed.

And that someone showed. I was in the middle of testing my speed and reflexes when I collided with something. I fell on my back with a loud crash and hit my head, but apart from that there was no other sound. At first I thought I had hit into a wall or probably lost my balance, but when I stood up I saw the shadow of someone. The animal in me was alarmed immediately and my fingers turned into claw, all my senses sharpening like on command. And then I saw him. Master Splinter. Well, back then I saw a huge rat dressed in some kind of a robe that was casually leaning on a staff, its huge black eyes looking at me expectantly. I'll admit that I yelped and jumped back, shocked rather than afraid. And instead of running away and leaving me or, I don't know, attacking, the rat only tilted its head and twitched its whiskers. Under any different circumstances I would have fainted.

That's how I met Master Splinter. He took me under his wing and offered me help. At first I declined, not wanting to have any doings with a talking rat that was in many ways better than me, yet after a night spent in thinking and another emotional rollercoaster I sought him out. And that's how my education in meditation, martial arts and… well, education as whole, began. Unlike what I had imagined, Splinter was patient and kind, yet strict. There was no goofing around or whining with him. And to my own surprise I became a really good and obedient student. After the first few months I finally saw an improvement and realised that I felt calm around my Master, as if there was a cloud of peace and security around him. Eventually we started talking about different things and he even shared with me that he had four sons. At first I was speechless, wondering if he's kidding or not. Then I decided that I need some kind of interaction, and since I wasn't going anywhere near humans any time soon, I grasped the new opportunity. Seeing my genuine curiosity, Splinter started sharing some things about his boys. Like the fact that they were turtles. And that he's teaching them to be ninjas. Every day we talked for around an hour about the boys and I managed to create an image about them.

Everything was going great and my life was finally getting some sense and meaning. Until one day Splinter offered to come with him and meet his sons. My shit went down. I was so petrified of losing my control around them that I lost it when he told me. Eventually I ended up hiding behind an old rotting hutch. I admit I expected the old man to leave and never let me even see his tail again, but instead he laughed and told me to calm down. After a long talk we decided that I wasn't ready to meet his sons but I was ready to work and get out of the tunnels. There was some childish behaviour from my side since I was used with this place and staying away from people so I didn't want to move. Yet Splinter left no room for objection. He claimed I was ready for the world above and that I had to grasp it.

And so I did. A girl named April O'Neil, a close friend of Splinter and his sons, offered her help. She found me a job at a pizza restaurant and a flat only a few blocks away. To say that I was happy will be implausible. I was damn right terrified. Yet she stuck around long enough for me to get used to the whole human thing and even offered me some of her old clothes. She was the first human I talked to since my escape and in her face I found a trusted friend. With her help I took some online courses and got some education different from what Splinter had offered me. I was blessed with an amazing memory so it was a piece of cake to both work and study.

My training and meditation sessions with Master didn't stop and every day I returned to the tunnels, spending the afternoons with him. And the more I returned to my human roots, the more I felt like an intruder. Because I was no longer one of them. I had no right to work with them, to communicate with them. I was supposed to be cursed, yet most of the time I felt blessed. The fear of changing in the middle of my shift still made me nervous, but the more I talked with both Splinter and April, the more I learned how to keep myself relaxed.

But Splinter hadn't forgotten his plan to introduce me to his sons, and seemed rather insistent, despite the fact that I mutated the last time he brought the subject up. And when I finally asked him why he wanted me to meet them so badly, he gave me the strangest of replies.

"They are like you in a way," he sadly said. " Outcast and in hiding. Yet they so eagerly want to go out and see the world. But they are different, Eérine. I believe that if you meet them, it will be beneficial for all of you – they can make you feel more at ease and you can tell them things I can't. Like how you are finding your place amongst the humans. "

I was left amazed and speechless. We talked for a little while but eventually I left. That same night I could barely sleep. Truth was I both did and didn't want to see them. I was afraid that even after all the training, I could still lose my control and hurt them. And if I did, I was sure I'd never forgive myself.

The next morning I woke up with the realisation that I was having the day off, so after some chatting with April, we decided that Splinter was right – I needed to meet with someone that was different so that we could help each other. So I made April take me to their place. And she did.

She walked into what was their living room like it was her second home and warmly greeted Splinter. I was about to come out of my hiding place when a huge creature came from another tunnel and embraced April in a friendly hug. She called him Mikey. 'Michelangelo. The last but one son. A turtle. A mutant ninja turtle!' slowly I felt fear and anxiousness creep in me. 'Repress it! C'mon! I can do it! Just stay calm. You won't hurt him. He looks friendly!' once again I was about to enter when another one came from the same tunnel. April called him Donnie. 'Donatello. The youngest sibling. The tech-kid.' I reminded myself what both Master and April had told me about the boys. 'Ok, so the younger ones are the friendliest. I can make it!' Yet the fear was still there and my friend was already starting to look over her shoulder towards the shadows I was hiding in. 'C'mon! Don't be a pussy! DO IT!'

And I did it. I stepped out of the shadows and took a few cautious steps. Everyone froze. Or at least to me it seemed that way. Glancing at Master, I thought I saw him smile and nod in encouragement. April was halfway turned towards me and was smiling as well. The two six-foot turtles looked like they had even stopped breathing.

"This is Eérine, the girl I was talking to you about." Splinter was the first to break the intense silence.

I only managed to say a meek 'hey' before glancing at the other tunnels. 'As long as the other two don't come, I'll be fine.' And that turned out to be true. Michelangelo was the first to approach me. Instead of a hug, he offered me a handshake and a sheepish smile. Donatello was even more nervous than me and said that if someone had warned him about my arrival, he would have hidden some of the junk. I smiled at his uncertainty and found it cute. We shook our hands as well. Then we all took a seat and after offering me something to drink, April started chatting with them. I was grateful for that opportunity 'cus now I could look at them more carefully. They looked better than I had imagined. More human rather than turtle. Well, they certainly were conspicuous, with the high muscular build, the green skin and the huge shells! Yet they weren't as scary as I thought they'd be. Well, the three-finger thing freaked me out when we hand shook, but after I found myself sitting across of them, it didn't bother me. Eventually I had to take part in the conversation and before I knew it I was talking about some interesting and funny stuff and had the boys' full attention. Even Donnie, who was glued to his computer up until them sat closer to us and listened with interest what I was saying. 'Everything is going fine. You see? Nothing to be anxious about!' and that's when shit went down.

The other two came in. The silence was almost deafening. I was with my back so I couldn't see them but the feeling I got made me bristle. Noticing my sudden change, Splinter tried to tell his sons not to make anything provocative, but it was too late. One of them landed right in front of me on the metal table that creaked pitifully. I was staring at his feet, afraid to move.

"Raphael!" for a first time I heard Master Splinter speak with such a warning tone.

April dragged me out of the room, surely half-changed, so I didn't hear the conversation. It took me some time to calm down and retract my claws. After a few minutes she went back to grab our things and excuse us for the abrupt leaving. That was the plan at least. Yet I followed her after mentally scolding myself for being so weak and ill-tempered. 'How would you have reacted if a total stranger was in your home?' So I followed my steps back to the main room, where I found April scolding the one who Master called Raphael. 'The troublesome one.' I added and after taking a deep breath went in.

"I'm sorry for my abrupt leaving but your invasion of my personal space was rather… unexpected." I told Raphael. His bright green eyes looked me doubtfully and his larger frame loomed over me. 'He's bigger than the other two!'

"I don't like you." he hissed in my face and turned around, leaving me gaping.

I was going to give him a piece of my mind but decided against it. Shaking my head I nodded at April and we left after saying good-bye, without having the 'pleasure' to meet the oldest brother. For now.