OKAY, SO...

UH...WHAT TO SAY? WELL...I JUST READ THIS FANFIC, AND DECIDED TO WRITE MY OWN VERSION OF IT. THE IDEA IS MAINLY FROM VENONAA, I JUST PUT A SPIN IN IT... BWAHAHAHAHA! T-T

~LF221

"Anastasia, why did you have to blow it this bad?" Anastasia said to herself for the millionth time that night as she pressed the gas pedal to the floor down an incredibly old, red dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

Okay, it was somewhere outside of the city, but where the young woman had no idea. She was simply following her GPS, There were tears in Anastasia's eyes, but she felt the need to keep them there, to almost punish herself.

And remind herself why she couldn't turn the car around, and head home, pretending that none of what had happened years ago had happened, like every other time she had tried to get up the guts to drive out and at least try to fix what she had done.

~~ Sad TMNT ~~

Anastasia was harshly grabbed by one of the four identical men that were attempting to kidnap her. She protested, of course, but to no avail. It was as if he was a robot or something...

Then, something hit the man's back, and he stumbled forward, releasing his burden, and Anastasia found herself falling.

Then, she wasn't. She peeked her eyes open to see why this hadn't happened.

There was someone holding her, but she was too rattled to see the person clearly.

He placed her gently on the ground. It had been too strong to be a woman. Too stocky, also. Then, he rushed forward, and started making sure that she wouldn't be kidnapped, using moves that Anastasia had only seen in ninja movies, and things like that. He wielded a pair of swords with ease, and grace, like he had done this all his life.

He must have gotten into fights a lot.

He must have been incredibly good at fighting.

He might have even liked fighting, judging by both the way he fought, and the silvery traces of multiple scars that ran over his body, illuminated by the moonlight. He drove the men hard, and Anastasia saw that the man was also being driven toward the end of the alleyway. But before that point, the men were on the ground, unmoving.

The man had surely done his job. Well. He turned, and started walking back to her, intent most likely on seeing if she was alright.

She didn't feel alright. She had been nearly kidnapped, but saved. By an unknown man who could do anything to her.

Then, just as he was asking if she was okay, a harsh sound reached Anastasia's ears.

A gunshot. Funny. She hadn't seen a gun on any of the men. She grabbed him as he fell, dragging him toward the light, to see how bad the injuries were.

When she touched it, she recoiled in shock and horror.

And the scream just ripped from her mouth, harsh and high. Lights came on all over the block, and people peeked out of windows, curious as to what the commotion was about.

Anastasia just screamed, instincts on autopilot, as always. She had always imagined some fantastic other worlds, but nothing like this. Not in reality.

The man, it turned out, was no man at all.

In the house lights, she could see that it was a humanoid looking turtle. With Forest Green skin, freckled white, and a blue mask. That mask puzzled Anastasia greatly.

How had it gotten there?

Had he torn it from one of his victims, as some kinda trophy, for everyone else he encountered to see, recognize, and fear?

Or had he been eating somebody, and the piece of fabric had gotten stuck there?

Anastasia shook herself out of that second thought right away, and settled with the first theory, no matter how unsettling it seemed.

The shell was domed, and had a slightly more brown color to it then his skin, covering his entire back. He wore three belts, two of which were draped over his shoulder, holding sheaths for his swords. The thickest one was torn from the gunshot, which left a tear in it's shell. The bullet had left a trail of scorched shell, all the way to it's thick green arm. It was sickening to look at.

Then, sirens suddenly startled Ana, as her friends called her, shattering her concentration on the turtle man before her, who groaned, and tried to get up. It stood shakily, gripping it's swords.

A police car pulled into the head of the alleyway, blocking their escape route.

"Ge-get behind m-me." The turtle ordered, as the policemen came ripping out of the vehicle, already gripping their guns, hands shaking faintly, but not enough to hope that they would miss.

"No body move!" One called, and the creature seemed to take enough, and charged.

Anastasia could only watch as the guns were fired and the turtle's speed decreased dramatically, and it's three fingered hand flew to it's now doubly injured arm.

Anastasia wanted to run, scream at the police to stop, or simply DO SOMETHING, but seemed frozen in place, unable to do anything as the poor creature limped back, somehow prying off the manhole cover and dropping down, replacing the cover as it went. No one, not even Ana, seemed willing to immediately follow it, instead the cops pulled out a cellphone, calling backup.

Anastasia finally moved, running across the street before anyone saw her and asked questions, tears already brimming in her eyes.

She hid behind a dumpster a few blocks away, and thought of what she had done.

It had...weird as it was to think about...helped her. Saved her, and then hid her from the police, protecting her with his body.

Maybe it was sentient. Of course it was sentient, but that didn't mean that it was going to be her friend or anything. She hadn't known what it was when she had screamed, but that obviously doesn't excuse the fact that she had been the one to draw attention to the turtle-thing by screaming.

She hated herself for it, and returned home, a one-room apartment, slamming the door, leaning against it, sobbing.

Then, she stood, eyes shining with determination. She would never forget what happened tonight, and she knew the perfect way to make sure that the world didn't, either. She grabbed her laptop, and her fingers flew across the keyboard. She wrote and rewrote the story of her day, except in her story, she befriended the turtle, and they went in adventures together, saving the world time and again.

~~ Sad TMNT ~~

A.N: This part sticks closer to the original story. All credit goes to Zenonaa for this idea, and perhaps some dialogue. Maybe. Dunno. I shall endeavor to stay as original as possible, though. ;)

Now, she turned left into a overgrown parking lot that looked long abandoned. At the far end were rides and tents, all of the metal rusted and fabric torn and tattered.

This was where her search ended.

It started with a businesswoman, Oruko Karai. She had bought one of the turtle creatures. From Area 51's agent, John Bishop. Ana had been digging a long time before finding that piece of information. She had visited Karai, and begged to be able to see it, but was informed that it had died a few years back. But Karai told Ana that the one she had bought had worn an orange mask, and had brown freckles, not white ones. It had lived with her until she set it free, but it was never able to rejoin it's family again before it died all alone. The turtle had once had a family...

"It had a family, Ma'am?"

"Oh, yes. A father, and three brothers. They were all taken to Area 51 and tortured/examined. Finally, my conscious compelled me to buy at least the youngest one. The happiest, immature one. Michelangelo." There was heavy sadness to her voice, like she had wanted to do more, but had done too little, too late.

You aren't the only one, Karai.

"Is that the name of the one set free? Didn't that cost a lot of money?" Karai didn't answer the second question, but gave a weak 'yes' to the first one. She had to take a shaky breath before continuing her narrative.

"Well, you see, there was the eldest, Leonardo. Then Raphael. Then Donatello, and the youngest was Michelangelo. He I bought, only with severe negotiations, as you know. I had wanted to buy them all, to prevent them being treated like monsters. I am glad I was able to at least save the youngest one. The others didn't argue. Eventually, they were all bought. Raphael by a zoo. I saw him, only once, but his owners refused any amount of money I offered them. Donatello was sent to a circus. He passed about two months ago."

"And Leonardo?"

"He...was passed around. Along with his master. Last I heard, the rat had died, and Leonardo was in a carnival. Somewhere just outside the city, actually." That was all Ana needed to know, other than the actual name of the carnival. Manny's Many Wonders, apparently.

She slowly got out of the car, closing the door delicately, like it would snap if closed too hard.

She walked down the main street, wondering how long this place had been on a downward spiral.

Too long. There was only a few families walking around, their children clutching prize teddy bears that had probably cost way too much money like they were afraid to let go. The rides themselves looked ready to rust out and collapse. But Ana paid all that no mind, only heading toward the attraction at the back, pushing back the tent flap, and ignoring the heat wave caused by the summer evening. She drove herself toward the large, heavily rusted cage at the far end with a heavy heart. When she reached it, her breathing picked up. There was the turtle, lying curled in the fetal position on the dirty floor of it's cage.

She noted idly that there wasn't anyone around to guard this turtle, or feed it. Or protect her, should Leonardo get violent at seeing her again. Gulping hard, she knelt down beside the door, gripping two bars with her slender olive colored hands. Deep breaths were the only sound for a moment in the still tent.

"Hello?" Ana asked, but got no response. It must've thought that she was just another visitor, eager to see if the sign for The Incredible Large Talking Turtle was entirely accurate. She steeled herself and tried again, this time using his name.

"Leonardo?" This time, the turtle slowly pushed itself up to a sitting position, and turned around to look at her.

Ana was shocked to see how bad it looked.

It's skin was gray, and leathery, nothing like the forest green skin that she had seen, all those years ago. Even it's shell had taken a beating. The octagons were barely distinguishable from the tears, tatters, and battering that criss-crossed it's whole shell. It was also naked, stripped of everything so that it lay bare and exposed on the ground, like a true animal. It, no Leonardo, had looked shocked at seeing her, which stretched it's already thin skin so much, it seemed it would've snapped, had Leonardo been any more shocked. Ana smiled sadly as she leaned her head up against the bars, tears already brimming.

"I bet you don't remember me, huh?" Leonardo seemed to think for a moment, before extending it's arm, pointing a thinner looking finger at her.

"The...girl..." Leo's voice was never even. It was as broken and scratched as it's body, and most likely spirit.

"Yeah...I'm the girl." Ana said, sitting more comfortably on the dirt floor of the tent, tears slowly creeping down her face.

"You...screamed?" Leo asked, face confused, like he could only barely remember what had happened to make him as thin, battered, and weak as he was now. Ana swallowed hard. This was all she had expected from this poor creature, after all those years in Area 51...

"Yeah..." Was all she could say, head again leaning against the bars.

"You...broke...us..."

"I know I did. I am so sorry for all this."

"Sorry...can't...fix..." It seemed to discover it's voice again as it talked. It slowly crawled over to the wall, leaning against it for support as it sat as close to Ana as possible. It's skin was thickly crusted with dirt, grime, and other things that Ana didn't want to think about.

"I know. It can't do anything. It can't even let you know how much I regret that night. I hate myself, you know."

"Don't...only...natural..." Leo croaked. If Leo meant that as a reassuring gesture, it had the opposite effect. Ana found it heart-breaking that Leo could have been so self-less as to lay aside his needs in order to care about her feelings and emotions, but she had been too wrapped up in her own self-preservation that night, and ruined any chance of getting to know the turtle better. Leo noticed, and reached a hand through the bars, wiping her tears away with a shaky hand.

"You...were...young." Leo croaked, and coughed, each one sounding more miserable than the last. Then, it hit Ana. Leo was dying, slowly. He was making sure that with his last few minutes, he touched another life.

You already have. So much. If only you knew...

Ana thought, as she blinked back tears.

"It doesn't change anything, though. If I had been as selfless as you, none of this would've happened." She dropped what she was going to say when she heard rattled shushing noises.

"No...body...is...perfect." It whispered, barely holding itself up. Ana saw, and gently laid him down, sighing with hurt when Leo flinched at her touch for a moment.

She was gonna make Bishop pay for what he's done to this amazing, selfless, and definitely unique person before her. And his family. That Ana swore.

Leo started coughing again, turning onto his side and heaving without anything coming up. Ana gripped the bars, this time straining to move, or even dent them. At one point, Ana though that she had nearly thrown her shoulder out of socket, but she kept going. Eventually, she had the bars open. She carefully, and gently slipped her hands under Leo's armpits, and eased him quickly out of the cage. He was convulsing, and coughing horribly. He seemed to relax a little into Ana's arms after a few minutes. He breathed heavily, leaning fully into her, eyes only half open with exhaustion. Then, she remembered what she had in her messenger bag. What she had spent hours, days, and even years in the making of.

"Hey. I, uh, wrote this, shortly after that night. Would you care for me to read it to you? At least some of it?" The turtle looked like it wanted to roll it's eyes, but refrained and nodded slightly. Ana wouldn't have cared if Leo had rolled his eyes. Not like she deserved to read what should have happened, but what she had screwed up.

"I had to change my name for this story, to avoid court cases, and all the interrogations... but anyway." She said, cheeks heating up. She was stalling, and she promised herself she wouldn't stall. "It was a simple walk home, but it would change Heather's life forever..." She read nearly three chapters before Leo's hand blocked the page.

"Go...to...the...end." She wasn't sure what made the turtle put forth the request, or what made her follow it, but she skipped ahead to the final chapter anyway, giving Leo an incredibly short version of what she had skipped over as she flipped the pages, ignoring the fact that she was sweating bullets through her shirt from both the summer night, and the turtle leaning against her. She read about how the human girl and the turtle, as well as it's family, had settled after a huge invasion from Saki's forces. She had always hated him, but couldn't place a finger on why. In her story, he was a general in an underground army, who sought out anybody different, so the turtle's family was at the top of the list. Heather, her character, now lived with the odd little family, and trained with them, catching up quickly, thanks to Leo's father's teachings. Karai had informed him of all that family had done for her personally, and even showed Ana the leftover snake fangs that would never go away. No wonder her eyes looked a little green around the edges.

"Donatello was brilliant, yes, but sadly not even he could cure my mutation all the way. Still, I am satisfied with what he did." She had said, eyes filled with longing and sadness. When the book was read all the way, Leo was asleep. Ana shifted, not wanting to wake him as she shifted his legs over her arms. This was gonna hurt, and be really stupid, but it was something she felt she needed to do. She heaved him up, and wasn't totally surprised that he didn't move at all as she half carried, and half stumbled along around the back of the tent. Using the other stalls and rides as cover, Ana somehow got Leo back to her car. Then, she sprinted back to the tent, found the rat's recently deceased body, closer to the other end of the tent. Had she not seen Leo all those years ago, she might have screamed but now she saw things like mutants as no big deal. Like just another race to accept. Nothing more. People, with unique looks about them. She carried it all the way to her car, noting that it was a crap load lighter than it should have been, given the fact that it was taller by at least a head than Leo is, but without a shell. Even without the extra burden, Ana was forced to gasp for breath by the time she had gotten halfway back to her car. Eventually, she had both mutants buckled, and was driving away, back to her apartment. Thankfully, her neighbors were out, probably out for a stroll in the park by now. She laid the rat out on her living room carpet as comfortably as she could. Leo went to the couch. Then, it hit Ana that she had no idea what to do now. Obviously, she had to bury the rat, Splinter she though she had heard Karai call him once. But what to do about Leo?

He could live with her. It would be the least she could do. Her mind made up, she went to check on Leo, and found that his temperature was below what felt normal. Worried, Ana checked the turtle's pulse. Her breathing hitched. One minute, and no beat, no matter where she checked. Tears filling her eyes, Ana closed Leo's eyes, just now realizing that they had been stuck halfway open. Dimly, she wondered if at least he had heard the ending of her story. The one that was still in her messenger bag. The one that everyone had bought, read, and adored. The one that had gotten her famous. At least for a while, then it died down. But then she found that she didn't care. The tears took care of such idle and selfish thoughts, crushing them beneath the weight of the grief she never expected to feel. But she wasn't about to replace it. She had a good reason to mourn. This poor, wonderfully selfless turtle had been a boon to her, inspiring her even now. Then, she pulled both of the bodies back into her car, and drove out to Northampton, to her family's long abandoned farmhouse. She didn't go in, however. She pulled up behind the house, to the head of a path. Heading off into the woods. She ran and got a wheelbarrow, to more effectively and easily transport the father and son to a clearing not far off. She laid them side by side, before running back to the barn beside the house, grabbing a shovel. She ran as fast back, then marked two rectangles, using the corpses as rough measuring sticks. She gritted her teeth. This may take awhile, but she was going to do it.

~~ Sad TMNT ~~

Half an hour of painful digging later, and Ana had about one and a half feet dug. She huffed, reaching for a water bottle she had gotten about fifteen minutes ago. She gulped, swallowed a few times, put the cap on, and resumed digging tiredly. Finally, she couldn't dig any more, as the sun had gone down. She trudged off to the house, and pulled a dusty old blanket from the closet, and curled up on the couch.

~~ Sad TMNT ~~

The next morning, Ana had never felt that sore on her life. She stretched and massaged her sore limbs for a few minutes with her hands, then slid off the couch, and gargled Listerine for a minute or two, wagering that it would kill enough bacteria that it could count as brushing until she was able to leave. She walked over to the grave site, only to find two mounds of earth greeting her. Puzzled, and alarmed, Ana sprinted over, soreness forgotten in her panic. She found a short dagger, pressed into the top of the mound, with a note tied around the short, merely bound handle.

Anastasia,

Don't freak out. This is Karai. I tracked you, cried during your conversation with Leo, and followed you first home, then here. You'll find an E-mail with the other Hamatos' locations already in your inbox. Enjoy, and give don't worry about their burial. Leave that to me. This was the least I could do for you. I only wish I could do more.

Hamato Karai.

*RUNS AND HIDS IN CORNER*

TOLD YOU IT WAS SAD!

IF NOT, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT WAS SAD, SINCE IT'S BASED OFF OF A TURTLE RESCUES GIRL GONE WRONG STORY. AGAIN, ALL CREDIT FOR THE MAIN IDEA GOES TO ZENONAA, AND HER FANFIC, SORRY NO FIX. I GOT SOME SERIOUS MISTY EYES READING IT THE FIRST TIME. HERE IS A LINK.

s/6820347/1/Sorry-No-Fix