The summer air caressed the four ninja brothers as they ran and leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the cool of the night. They were silent besides the occasional grunt or pant. Their footfalls were heavier than usual after a long night of dealing with the Kraang. The turtles cringed when they heard the sound of breaking glass shatter the relative peace of the New York night. Leonardo sighed. They were all exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed before sunrise, but the sound was very close. Raphael and Michelangelo were already drifting off in that direction, while Donatello hung back, looking at Leonardo questioningly. He nodded to Donnie and all of them were off to investigate.

They dropped in heroically and scattered three Purple Dragon vandals quickly and effortlessly. They had broken in the front window of a bakery and cornered a female worker in the alley behind. She hid beside a dumpster and listened to the sound of the struggle, too shaken to peek around it and see what was happening. Michelangelo knew that his brothers were all exhausted and cranky so he volunteered to stay back for a few minutes to make sure she was alright. Leonardo gave him a warning look before they turned and left.

He slunk into the darkest shadow of the alley and looked her over. She was sitting on the dirty ground, eyes wide in shock. A tear trailed a wet path down one side of her dirty face. "Are you alright?" Michelangelo asked gently.

She flinched at the sound of his voice, searching the shadows for him and seeing nothing. Riding the crashing wave of her adrenaline, she thought of the state of the bakery almost hysterically. "No! My parents are going to flip when they see the window."

He was surprised that she seemed to be about the same age as him. "This is your parent's bakery?" he asked. She nodded absently. He was impressed. The bakery, Treats Dunn Right, was owned by the famous baker Doreen Dunn. She was widely sought after for cakes and specialty pastries for all sorts of occasions he was fairly sure he would never get invited to. "I'm sure they will just be happy you are alright."

"Ya, I guess so. Thank you for helping me." She sniffled.

Michelangelo didn't want to leave until the police showed up. He also enjoyed talking to new people and wanted to keep the conversation going a bit longer. "Why were Purple Dragons bothering you?"

"They tried to get 'protection' money from us. They've been hassling some of the other shops on the street too. My mom said no and pressed the silent alarm. Almost got the guy arrested. So they tried to send a message by roughing me up while I'm here alone baking. That's what they said anyway. Cowards," she spat. "Hey, can you help me back into the kitchen? I hurt my ankle."

His breath caught for a moment. "I don't think that's a good idea. My brothers will freak out if I let anyone see me."

"What? No one has seen you except your brothers?"

"Well, no, but it doesn't go very well for me when I try to make friends. Only the people we fight see us. And the other mutants that want to kill us." He clamped a hand over his mouth too late.

"Other mutants? You're a mutant? That is seriously weak. If you don't want to help me up, just go."

"Hey, we did help!" Sirens were making their way through the city. "The police will help you if you are hurt."

"Fine, whatever," she grumbled, raising to her feet on her own. There was no way she was going to sit on that filthy concrete any longer, it was making her skin crawl.

She hobbled a short way towards the open door leading back into the kitchen, but a misstep on her sprained ankle caused her to cry out and fall forward. She was caught by a pair of strong arms, and she looked up into the nervous baby blue eyes of her savior.

"Ugh, hi," he said brightly with a smile. Her jaw dropped and she just stared.

He picked her up and set her on a chair in the kitchen, the sirens very close. She made no move to resist in her shock. He sighed and left. He was a few steps out the door when he heard her yell over the wailing noise. "Wait!" He couldn't resist turning back, even though he could hear Leo yelling in his head to get out of there on the double. "Come back one morning. Around this time on a Saturday or a Sunday. I want to thank you."

Michelangelo nodded at her and disappeared, running over rooftops to get back home before dawn. 'Who considered it morning before the sun was even up?' he thought to himself.

Over the next month he spent his weekends preoccupied with the girl from the bakery. There never seemed to be a good excuse to go out on his own at such an hour. He had kind of agreed to meet her again and didn't like going back on his word.

Finally on a slow Friday night spent mostly hanging around the lair, he let his inner Dr Prankenstien out to the max. He spent the entire evening terrorizing his brothers. Water balloons full of red food colouring that stained them pink, sugar in the salt shaker at dinner and taping over Space Heros with The Young and the Restless was just the beginning. He delighted in the uproar a whoopie cushion on Raph's weight bench caused. Then he stole half of Donnie's latest Kraang research, setting him on a frantic hunt to find the missing pages. Anything he could think up he dished out. By the end of the night he was sporting some new bruises and even Donnie was ready to kill him. Perfect. They were all so irritated with him that nothing on earth would make them cross the threshold into his room once they thought him safely contained within it. He didn't even have to try to sneak out quietly. They assumed any noise he made after lights out was further Mikey-hijinx and as long as they weren't at the brunt of it they didn't care to get out of bed.

Michelangelo grinned widely as he grabbed his skateboard and bounded off to the surface, shredding the rooftops toward his destination. The new front window revealed a mostly dark storefront. The back kitchen was completely separate from the cash counter, display and small seating area. A single car was parked in the tiny lot. He slunk into the alley and paused at the back door. He didn't know what else to do so he knocked, then hid just in case someone unexpected opened the door.

The young baker opened the door, heart thudding. "Hello?" she called out into the darkness.

"Are you alone?" Michelangelo asked.

"Yes." She smiled, bracing herself as he emerged from the shadows. She had half-convinced herself that she imagined him. She stepped out to meet him and let the door close lightly. "I didn't think you were ever going to come back."

"It can be hard to get away on my own."

He looked nervous, his large fingers fidgeting against each other. He didn't meet her gaze but instead stared at her feet shyly. "I didn't tell anyone about you," she assured him.

He smiled and glanced up at last, relaxing. "Thanks." He looked her over for the first time, taking in her long dirty blonde hair swept up in a messy ponytail and pretty brown eyes. The apron she was wearing over her white chef's uniform made her look a bit frumpy but couldn't completely hide her ample breasts and hourglass figure. He realized he was staring and felt guilty for a moment.

She didn't notice as she was doing some staring of her own. The blend of human and turtle was perfect. She took in every detail she could, from his orange mask to his wrapped feet. There were weapons on his belt and little scars etched his plastron.

"Do you fight a lot?"

"Of course! I am a trained ninja," he boasted. "We try to help people, like we did with you."

"You and your brothers." He nodded. "And most of the people who have seen you are the bad guys who want to hurt you?"

"Mostly," he shrugged.

"That really sucks. If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I have a gift for you."

His eyes lit up and he bounced on his toes excitedly. "What?"

She smiled and turned back to the door. As she opened it Michelangelo was hit with a back draft of the deliciously sweet aroma of baked goods. He swooned and his stomach growled. She laughed at the sound of it as she came back and handed him a small pink box. He took it carefully with his strange three-fingered hand and peeked inside. His face split into a giant grin and he practically glowed as he discovered half a dozen cupcakes.

He popped one moist, chocolate-frosted cupcake into his mouth. His eyes first widened in shock, then closed as he chewed slowly and moaned shamelessly in a most indecent way. She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. She hadn't even been sure if he would want to eat them at all.

"You made these?" he asked finally.

"Ya, I do all the baking for the weekend rush," she said proudly.

He put a hand on her shoulder and locked eyes with her. "These. Are. Amazing!"

A shiver tingled down her spine under his touch and gaze. She blushed at the praise. She was used to being in the shadow of her mother's famous talents. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Michelangelo, but everyone calls me Mikey."

"I'm Abigail. My friends call me Abbey."

"I have to go, Abbey. Can I maybe visit you again sometime?"

"I would really like that." She found it almost impossible not to smile in his presence. He had an easy and lighthearted way about him that made her feel happy and safe. "I'll always have goodies waiting for you too," she said with a wink.

Thrilled, he said good-bye giddily and disappeared into the predawn darkness.