Double Dragon

by bushikame

This is an one shot that will connect both Guardian Angel and the continuing half of it. This is not a chapter. Mel's back with the Purple Dragons, but for what reason?

1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure we should be doing this now, sir? I mean the new security system hasn't been installed yet. I don't think it's wise to allow public tours of this facility." The young man whispered as he leaned over to the dark haired man in the grey suit in front of the crowd.

"After our funding stop from Oraku Saki, we need all the investors we can get. I AM willing to take that risk," The other man huffed as he kept his eyes on his guests.

"But what about the robberies at Tech Cor?"

The man in the suit held up his hand to silence him and then fixed his tie before re-approaching the crowd. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for coming this afternoon. I appreciate your time and patience in our tour. Let me assure you that my advisor, Mr. Clarksburg, will answer any questions that you may have so please feel free to ask." He motioned over to the young man in a grey suit as well that he was just speaking to.

Mr. Clarksburg tensed up when he heard his name, but then smiled, trying to lighten up. He was just very uneasy about his boss wanting to take such a strong initiative in gaining new support since Oraku Saki's passing months ago. "Please ladies and gentlemen follow me." He turned and motioned the guests to follow him once his boss stopped speaking, knowing it was his cue.

Finally at their last spot in the tour, which was the main highlight, the young man stopped in front of a sliding door with a panel beside it. "At our final destination, this is our chamber to where we hold our newest product. For security purposes, I cannot disclose what it is yet, but let me reassure you again that we at Symatradon only fund projects that we will help the human society advance further in nanotechnology. Behind this code-vault door is a 50 foot hallway with laser beams at precisional pinpoints to where no human could EVER crawl or jump over," He chuckled gently, trying to spark laughter from the crowd. There were a few polite laughs from his comment. As he waited the crowd quiet down once more to listen to more what he said he caught a glimpse of a young woman in the back. She wore a black 2-piece suit, with a pink top underneath the jacket portion. Her dark blue eyes were fixed on him intently, and a polite smile stayed on her face as she listened.

Mr. Clarksburg smiled back politely at the young girl before resetting his attention back to his guests. "So this concludes the tour of the Symatradon research facility here in New York City. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Yes. I have one," A voice called from the back. Some of the people glanced back to see who had the question.

"Yes, ma'm?" Clarksburg asked as his soft green eyes looked back in the back to where the voice came from to see it was the same woman he just glanced at moments ago.

"How can we be sure that this facility won't get robbed as well? I mean with the current robberies of new technological developments by the Purple Dragon gang, Mr. Clarksburg, don't you see a pattern?" Her eyes straight at him.

Mr. Clarksburg tensed some, wishing she had a different question. He hated to be put on the spot like this. He felt the crowds' eyes linger on him. "I assure you, Miss, we are taking the necessary steps in preventing any possible intrusions. I mean after all the Purple Dragons…are what street rats, ladies and gentlemen? I am sure they do not have the capability or knowledge to get access into this facility. Our adversaries didn't take the precautions like we have. They plainly left the door open for them, inviting them. We know what we create and how important it is for our lives and our children's lives, ladies and gentlemen. One hundred percent security measures are being taken. This is the reason why we wanted to show you this tour, so you can see first hand what is being done." His green eyes twinkled almost as he spoke; a smug smile appeared on his face. How he wished so bad that his boss was there. That he would have given him a promotion for sure, or a big raise in his paycheck. He was definitely going to sell the company this evening. He let his eyes linger back on the crowd to where the young woman stood, waiting to see if she would accept his answer. She smiled politely and silently mouthed thank you.

"Any other questions?" Clarksburg beamed with fuller confidence.

The impact of his fist hitting the wood of the table made their shot glasses of Brandy shake. Lou growled loudly, grinding his teeth, as he smashed the tip of his cigar into the center of the ashtray near him. His brown eyes glaring at the television on a small stand at the end of the table. On the screen was a man reporter, with a black suit, and very neat trimmed brown hair, discussing the latest theft at Tech Cor. "We NEED to take those punks out."

"How they gettin' in those places anyways?" Tony asked as he kept his green eyes focused on the television as well. He was leaned back in the wooden office like chair, his right hand, with large gold rings on each finger, was tapping each finger in rhythm along the table's edge.

The male reporter then moved the topic along by talking about a possible next target, Symatradon, and what they were doing to prevent any thefts. "I think we should hit that place first. Beat 'em to it!" Raul added. He was the youngest of the bunch, with dark-toned skin, black hair, and a complete white suit.

An aggravated growl came from Lou's voice as he grabbed the remote and turned the television off as the reporter was mid sentence. He ran his rough skinned hand through his hair in exhaustion. The wrinkles already on his face showed him to be a lot older than he really was. "Just how do you suggest we do that? You saw all the heat that place had."

"If the Purple Punks can break into one of those places, why can't we?" Raul protested.

"Jesus Christ, Raul," Tony barked at him as he grabbed the shot glass in front of him and threw it against the wall. The glass smashed into a thousand pieces instantly by the sheer impact before they descended onto the wooden floor of the room. "I'm not goin' in dere with all those feds."

"They got past 'em at Tech Cor," Lou bluntly stated, his dark eyes still looking at the table, never making any type of contact with them.

"They gotta have someone on the inside," Raul added. He picked up the shot glass in front of him and took a quick swig of it.

"For both places?" Tony reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his deck of cards. He started to shuffle then before retrieving his own cigar from the ashtray.

"What they doin' with all that high tech crap anyways?" Lou poured some more Brandy from the bottle into his glass as he sat up straighter in his chair as Tony started to deal him his own stack of cards.

"Quit ya whinin.' You sound like a bunch of women," A voice said as the wooden door to the room opened. "Why yous guys do somethin' about it?" Giovanni, a 5'6'' humanoid turtle, wearing a fedora, and practice gear, walked in with a cigar in his mouth. His pupil less eyes in his green bandana looking right at the 3 men in the room.

"Well what we gonna do then, Gio? The first people they will want to rub out is us," Raul asked.

Gio looked at Raul for a moment then walked to the chair at the end of the table. He pulled it out and turned it around to where the back of the chair was back to him and sat down pressing his plastron up against the back of the chair as he straddled it. He held the ends of the chair with his hands, as he looked at them. "Do ya really think they would be able to figure out how to use that junk to make a weapon? Come on, we are smarter than them! Quit puttin' us down already!"

"What ya suggest we do then?" Tony lifted his eyebrow as he glanced over at Gio.

"You heard him earlier. They have someone on the inside. We need to take out 'dem first." Gio fixed the brown fedora on his head, then knocked the ashes from his cigar into the ashtray. "Raul, go to dat place tomorrow. See if ya find anyone suspicious."

A small yawn escaped her mouth as Cynthia tried her best to cover her mouth to muffle it. The lack of sleep the past few days that week from her 2 year old son staying up so late was really starting to get to her. Her exhausted blue eyes glanced over at the phone for a moment as she went into a minute daze. Catching herself, she opened the bottom drawer on the file cabinet beside her in her desk and pulled out her black purse. Her slender fingers rummaged through the many compartments until she found her makeup compact. Setting her open purse back in the drawer, she opened the compact and held the mirror around to look at her face to make sure her makeup was right that morning. She let her right hand glide past her face and fluff the curls of blonde hair on her shoulders.

The glass sliding doors about twenty feet in front of her in the lobby opened and a young girl wearing a grey jacket suit walked in, carrying a small black camera bag. The girl appeared to be in her 20's with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair that went down to her waist. Cynthia placed the open compact down on her desk to direct attention to the visitor. "May I help you?" She asked politely.

"Yes, my name is Melanie Robinson, and I am with the New York Daily Times. I'm doing a report on this facility. Would it be alright for me to take some pictures for the article?" The young girl asked with a shy tone in her voice.

Cynthia was caught off by her question. Usually she was told when they had some sort of media coming to the place, but she didn't hear anything about it that. The girl seemed to be too innocent, but still felt like if she allowed her, then it may cause her to lose her job. "I'm sorry, Ms. Robinson. I wasn't aware of any media coming to the building today. I would need to clear it with Mr. Frederickson, but he and Mr. Clarksburg are in a meeting for most of the morning."

"You didn't? Oh…" Melanie replied back sadly in disappointment, a frown appeared on her face. "I called Mr. Frederickson this morning when he got in as he requested and he said it would be alright. I thought he said he was going to tell you. Maybe he rushed to the meeting and forgot? It will only be a few minutes."

Cynthia bit her lip some trying to decide on what to answer. She hated to be on the spot like this. An unsettling feeling was inside her. She began to debate inside her head if she should call someone else to ask them, but she felt silly not being able to handle this. She looked back at the young girl and saw the pleading in her eyes. The girl seemed innocent enough, so why not? "Alright just do not be long."

A smile appeared on Melanie's face as she set her bag on the desk and unzipped it to get out her camera. "I appreciate it. By the way, I really do like your blouse. It's very pretty."

Cynthia looked down almost puzzled by her comment and then smiled. "Thank you."

"Purple is my favorite color," Melanie added as she turn her digital camera on.

"Mine too!" Cynthia exclaimed, becoming more at ease.

"Oh do you think I would be able to do a short interview with you before I take the pictures? It's only a few questions and I would love to have your input."

"Sure," The 30-year-old secretary replied, flattered by her request.

"Great!" Melanie reached into her bag and pulled out a tiny notebook.

"Alright boss. I'm here. What you want me to do?" Raul asked as he put his black Lincoln Continental in Park. His right hand was holding his flip cell phone to his ear, while his left hand was resting casually on the steering wheel. He had parked the car in a convenient store parking lot across the street from the industrial park where Symatradon was located.

"See anyone?" Gio's voice spoke on the other end.

"No sign yet. You sure they gonna hit dis place?" Raul combed the area with his eyes.

"We gonna make sure they don't. Go inside."

"Inside?" Raul asked, almost choking on the cigarette that was in his mouth. "What am I suppose to say?"

"Jesus. I ain't thinkin' for ya. You got a brain, use it!" Gio huffed and disconnected the call.

"Merda," Raul grumbled as he smashed the butt of his cigarette into the car's ashtray, then looked out the side mirrors before putting the car back into gear, and driving across the street to the building.

The third parking space in the front of building was available; a sign was in front of it that read, "VISITORS." He got out and fixed the red tie on his grey suit. He casually looked around as he shut the car door and made his way up the walkway to the front entrance doors. As he walked, he noticed there were security cameras on strategically placed points on the roof that pivoted back and forth 180 degrees in about a 15 second interval. In his right hand, Raul was carrying a brown leather briefcase that contained fake documents inside to give him a more promising professional look. As he walked inside the lobby, his eyes fixed on the center to where a young woman was sitting behind a counter. He could only see her head and shoulders and she appeared to be having on a purple blouse. Raul's attention then moved over to another person: Melanie who was taking a shot of the open hallway from the lobby that led to another end of the building where there numerous doors to possible research areas. She then turned and walked over to a picture on the wall that had the company's logo. After taking the picture, she slipped her camera down into her bag and pulled out her notebook to jot down something. Raul's full attention was on her. Could she be involved? What exactly was she doing?

"May I help you, sir?" The secretary spoke up. Her light blue eyes were fixed on him.

"Ah…yes," Raul stumbled some as he looked back over at her, trying to still keep an eye on Melanie. "My name is Mr. Artabelli and I was thinking about investing in your corporation. My apologies if I have missed the deadline…I didn't arrive in New York till this morning for a business trip and I saw the news report on your facility. I have some spare time so I thought I would come down to look around."

"There's no deadline, Mr. Artabelli. We will be glad to have our CEO speak with you, but Mr. Frederickson is in a meeting till noon today. Shall I have him call you?" Cynthia said with a twinkle in her eye. She was happy for them to have another investor. The more they had, the more money they would be making and the more money she could get in her paycheck. She reached over to get a call book and started to write down his name.

"That is not necessary," Raul replied quickly, but politely and then glanced at his watch. "Tell you what. I have a meeting in an hour and it won't last long. I will come back over here this afternoon to meet up with him." Cynthia blinked kind of confused. Most people would want him to call them back, this was new to her, and very odd. Before she could reply, Raul redirected his attention back to Melanie. "Are you doing a report on this facility?" He studied her for a moment. She didn't appear to be with the Purple Dragons.

"Yes. I am," Melanie replied with a soft smile. "I'm Melanie Robinson from the New York Daily Times." She extended her right hand to shake his. "You interested in investing in this place?"

Raul accepted her hand and shook it. "Yes I am, Ms. Robinson. What do you suggest?" He smiled warmly at her.

"Well I am not good with investments, Mr…."

"Artabelli," Raul replied to help her.

"Mr. Artabelli," Melanie continued. "However, I would be careful. With the latest tech thefts, no one is safe. But from what I have seen this place does look secure enough." Melanie then turned to face Cynthia. "Thank you, Ms. Morgan. I will be giving you a call once the article is in a rough draft for approval on your part." Melanie waved politely at Raul and then turned to leave the building.

Raul let his gaze follow her for a moment and then turned to look at Cynthia. "I will get back with your CEO this afternoon. Thank you for your time." He replied quickly, wanting a short conversation, then took off after Melanie.

"We look forward to your investment," Cynthia called after him.

The bright sunlight from that early afternoon hit his eyes as Raul left the building to walk to the parking lot. He watched Melanie walk over to a Silver Camaro that was parked on the far end of the first section of the parking lot that wasn't designated for visitors. Raul found this to be odd since she was a reporter. Melanie started to put her stuff into the passenger side of the car. Raul walked over to his own car and got in and pulled out his cell. He let his eyes casually wander back over to Melanie's car to watch her. He listened to the cell ring to get to Gio. "Whatcha find?" Gio replied on the other end.

"Nothin'. Just some reporter from what I can tell," Raul replied.

"What kind of reporter?"

"I dunno. Some broad from the New York Daily Times." Raul said as he watched Melanie get into the driver side of the Camaro.

There was a pause and then Gio cursed some under his breath that was too faint for Raul to make out. "Moron. Dere's NO such thing as the New York Daily Times. Follow her."

"I'm on it," Raul said as he closed the flip cell and then started his own car off as he saw her pulling out of the parking lot.

The engine sound echoed throughout the hollow walls as the Silver Camaro pulled into the garage. The garage building was basically a small, one story warehouse. The inside of the building was completely hollowed and brightly lighted with halogen bulbs that were hanging overhead. The motor of the garage door whirred as it lowered the door. Mel sighed and turned the ignition off. A wave of nausea hit her when she had leaned up to turn the car off. She leaned back against her car seat and held her head with her hand. Soon the feeling had passed. She had tried her best to suppress the reality of her life, but there were always reminders; reminds to why she came back to the city in the first place. She had left New York City in August of that year to head back home to get to her "real" life. With constant arguments with her school, work, and herself, and with the unexpectancy of something new in her life, Mel had fled back to New York City. She had no set plan when she got to the city, she just wanted to get away from everyone. Her instincts had pleaded with her to try to find her friend, Lea, who stayed in the Big Apple, but she knew that by seeing her, it would mean seeing Donatello again…and she didn't want that. There was something going on in her life that made her so scared that she wanted to hide from everyone she truly knew. Her only option was going back to the Purple Dragons. By her true willingness to return, Hun had taken her back. The Purple Dragons were not like she had remembered. They had changed and Hun had big plans for her. He had used her innocent looks, charm, and intelligence to help him in his recent heists. The first few weeks of being there, Mel had felt lonely and longed to go back home, but now since being there for nearly 2 months, Mel had almost grown to be use to it. With her help, Hun had given her a very lavish lifestyle and began to wonder if she really was happy. Besides the fact of being sick almost every other morning, Mel almost had forgotten her past life. She basically had ran away from home, leaving only a note telling her parents that she was fine and needed time to compose herself. She didn't tell them where she was going and or when she would be back. They had called her cell numerous times to check on her, but she didn't reply. She wanted to block it all out.

"Must be my nerves," Mel told herself as she stepped out of the car and closed the door. The thud of the door closing bounced among the building's walls. She knew she was lying to herself, but she was sadly hoping if she kept saying that is what it was, then maybe she would be right. She walked around the other side to get her bag.

The car slowly rolled to a stop as Raul parked along side of the road about a block away from the garage to where the Silver Camaro had pulled into. He turned the car off and stayed motionless for a moment as he looked around. No sign of anyone nearby. He reached over to the passenger seat to retrieve his cell phone. He pressed speed dial and got Gio once again. "Boss, I got her. She pulled into some sort of garage."

"Anyone spot ya?"

"No. No one out here at all. You sure she's with 'em?"

"Where ya at?" Gio asked, ignoring his question, persisting.

"Some ritzy place on 38th street."

"Scopata…,"Gio grumbled. "It's a dud. They wouldn't be in Manhattan."

"Whoa…whoa hang on a minute, boss. She's comin' out," Raul cut Gio off as he saw Mel walk out from a door at the warehouse. She stopped on the sidewalk near the street, looking both ways. Raul looked away quickly, afraid she would see him following her. Without noticing him or appearing that she had, Mel quickly hurried across the road and slowed down her pace as she neared the sidewalk on the opposite side. She stayed on her course towards the large building in front of her. The building was about 6 stories high and a golden glass frame was right in the middle giving onlookers some sort of glimpse of what the inside may look like.

"Where she goin'?" Gio asked on the other end becoming impatient on the silence.

"She's going towards da large office building across da street." Raul replied.

As Mel approached the main doors to the building in front, someone had come out to greet her. Recognizing Hun instantly, Mel gave him a soft smile. Hun had on his generic business attire, which composed of a very expensive business suit. "You have something for me, baby?" He smirked at her.

Mel fumbled through her bag and took out the camera. "I got the pictures like you asked, Master Hun." She beamed proudly as she held the camera out for him to see. "Plus I jotted down notes of the building's layout for you." She reached into her bag again and handed him her notebook.

With a grin, Hun accepted the notebook and started to thumb through the pages. The smile never leaving his face, it actually had gotten bigger. "I'm impressed."

Raul was watching the interaction between the 2 intently, almost forgetting about Gio on the other line. "You were right, Gio," Raul said finally reminding himself to talk to the mob boss, turning his attention away to speak, but quickly catching Hun hold Mel in an embrace.

"She wit' him?"

"You can say that..." Raul replied as he watched Hun put his arm around Mel and led her back inside the building.

"Whatcha mean?"

"Looks like Hun got himself a woman."

"Then dat's who we need to take out."

"Scopata!" Raul growled to himself as he put he started his car back up.

"What?"

"She TALKED to me at dat facility. She didn't even LOOK like one of dem!"

"Didn't I tell ya, Raul, to never trust a woman."

"Yeah I'm beginning to see it now."

The soft cushion of the King size bed pressed against her body as Jade laid down on the bed, still wearing her silk, slip like, jade dress. Her shoes were still on the floor. About an hour ago she had returned from the latest business meeting she had attended with Hun that day while Mel was out at Symatradon getting the information that Hun asked of her. A small yawn came out of her mouth as she pressed her face against her arms, feeling the soft touch of her skin touching her arms. She then lifted her eyes and gazed out towards the end of the room to where Hun was working out. He was straddling the small gym's bench as his arms were back doing a chest press with the weights. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a white tank top. Hun pressed the 2 bars together with the weight on the end that added to almost 3 times the weight of Jade herself. His deep brown eyes stared straight at her as he worked out. He breathed heavily and sweat was starting to form on his arms, chest and neck as he went through his third repetition. Jade began to get lost in her own thoughts as she watched him and giggled quietly to herself. She knew that her friend, Mel, would pick on her about it later.

Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Jade rose up from the bed and glanced over at Hun, who had stopped as well. "Get that, baby." He said as scooted forward on the bench.

Without a reply back, Jade lifted herself off the bed and walked over the door. She pushed a button on a panel on the wall and the door slid open, revealing Fang. Jade stepped aside so Hun could see who it was. "Master Hun, Mel has those pictures uploaded in the computer lab like you asked.

Hun wiped his face with the white towel that was lying on the floor beside him. "Jade, go with him. I need to take a fast shower real fast." He got up from the bench and started to wipe the sweat from his neck and arms.

"What do we have?" Hun asked as he walked into the computer lab about 10 minutes later. Slipping on the black sleeveless coat around his normal outfit.

Mel turned around in her computer chair to look at Hun. She was sitting in front of the computer with Jade sitting down in a chair on the right side of her, Fang was standing up against the wall behind them. All their eyes were looking right at Hun when he walked in. "Pretty basic security system. From the tour this morning, the nanochip is located in a vault after a hallway of 25 laser beams precisionally placed to where there's no way you can crawl or jump over them. 3 security cameras on the roof, 2 in our way on the way to the chip: one in the lobby and the other where the lobby hallway joins with the vault's hallway. I'm not too sure what kind of security precautions they have on the vault itself."

"You sure that's where it's at?" Hun asked as he looked over at the computer monitor at the open window of the many pictures Mel had managed to take at Symatradon.

"Well the guy said that was their latest project."

"Then that's it. What do you girls suggest?" He leaned back to straighten back up and looked down at them.

Jade and Mel exchanged glances for a moment as they started to think. "What about cutting the power?" Jade asked.

"No. Their security system most likely has a backup system," Mel shook her head and looked back at the computer screen. "The cameras won't be that big of a deal for us. I'm worried more about the lasers." She tried to think back to the tour she had the previous day to the lasers' layout since she wasn't allowed to go back there again that day to take pictures.

"Did they have a switch close by?" Hun asked.

"I didn't see one. It may make us lose time to run around to try to find it too…." Mel reached for her purse as an idea popped into her head. She unzipped her purse and pulled out a green compact makeup compact. "We can try to use this. If you position it just right it will reflect the beams and possibly hit the sensors to knock them out."

"Very nice," Hun let out a pleased chuckle. "Glad that you came back to New York after all...especially since you ran off with those freaks."

Mel grew quiet by this comment. She didn't want them to be brought up again. "That was then, Hun…..this is now."

"Make sure you keep it that way from now on too," Hun replied and then turned to walk over to a monitor that was on the screen. "This plan REALLY may work after all. I already got a buyer." He pushed a few buttons on the panel next to the monitor and the screen flashed to life. A few seconds later a man who appeared to be in his mid thirties with blonde hair, a dress shirt, green vest, and glasses appeared.

"You got what I asked yet, Hun?" The man asked with a smirk on his face.

"I'm hitting the place tonight, Ruffington," Hun replied.

Ruffington studied him for a moment then lifted his eye brow, grinning bigger. "You seem so confident."

"Well let's just say. I know the building like the back of my hand," Hun let out a chuckle.

The appearance on Ruffington's face didn't change. "You have women doing the work for you, Hun?" He chuckled teasingly as his eyes diverted over to Jade and Mel who were still sitting near the computer, but plainly in clear view.

A growl arose in Hun's throat as his eyes narrowed. "Just make sure you have the money." He pressed another button on the panel that turned the screen off, disconnecting Ruffington before he could respond. "Asshole." He grumbled. He stood there for a moment collecting his thoughts, then walked back over to where Mel and Jade were sitting. He let his large hand caress the right side of Jade's face with his eyes looking away as if he was debating on something. "We're doing this tonight." He removed his hand and then let his brown eyes look over at Fang, who was still standing up against the wall, never leaving his position. "Fang, get the boys ready, meet me on the pad in 30 minutes." He walked towards Fang and then lowered the tone of his voice, "Get somethin' nice for Mel for her hard work."

"Yes, Master Hun," Fang replied and then walked out of the room.

Hun looked back over at the 2 bewildered girls. "Mel I want you to be part of the security watch tonight. Jade, you're coming with me."

"Man I hate this," Roger groaned as he yawned really loudly. His sleepy green eyes looked at the monitor screens in front of him. He was a heavy set man with brown hair that was trimmed neatly. This was his third year working a night shift as a security guard at Symatradon. At first he thought he wouldn't mind it, but his body couldn't get accustomed to sleeping during the day so the few hours of rest that he got before coming in were dwindling.

"Come on, Rog, it ain't THAT bad," Roger's younger colleague, by the name of Michael, spoke up.

"Shut it, Rookie. You will see," Roger snapped back as he put his hand to his mouth to prevent another yawn.

"Maybe you're gettin' too old?" Michael smirked over at him. Michael was in his late twenties, athletically built, with light brown hair that had a buzz cut. He had a small portable DVD player on the long desk in front of him, watching the latest movie that had came out. He had managed to sneak the player into his bag that night when coming in since he was starting to get bored by just sitting.

"Yah yah," Roger grumbled as he laid his head down on his arms on the desk. "Wake me up in a few will ya?"

"Come on, Rog. I let ya doze some last night," Michael grumbled as he glanced over at his friend then back at the DVD player's LCD screen.

"Yeah, but I ain't bustin' ya for bringin' the move in here either." Roger grumbled again as he kept his head down still. "10 minutes."

"Fine," Michael sighed. "JUST 10."

Suddenly there was a desperate knock on the lobby's front doors. A muffle plea was coming from the other side. The voice seemed to be feminine. Both the security guards jumped up instantly and drew their weapons, their eyes fixed on the door. Roger looked down at the monitor that was showing the live footage from the lobby door. There seemed to be a young girl in her twenties in trouble. She had her hair up in a pony tail, with black jeans, and a green windbreaker jacket that was zipped up. The young girl was crying out for help and pounding the door with the palm of her hand. Michael instantly moved over to the right side of the door with his gun still drawn, he glanced back at his partner. "We're NOT supposed to open this door." Roger barked over at him. "For ANYTHING."

"Oh so you gonna let a young girl be murdered, Rog?" Michael shot back. "They can fire me if they want to, but I am not going to have her life on my shoulders!" He took his keycard that was hanging on a clip from his belt and slid it across the door's reader to where the green light came on indicating that the door was unlocked. With one motion he opened the door and pulled the girl inside. Roger ran over to assist him. Michael's thoughts distracted him from remembering to relock the door once she was inside. The young girl was crying hard, her eyes were red from all the tears, and her cheeks were completely soaked as well.

"What's wrong?" Rog asked loudly.

"Some men...," She choked. "They were chasing me."

"You're safe now," Michael said comfortingly as he stuck his gun back into its holster on his belt.

"Thank you…" The girl sobbed as she wiped her eyes.

Suddenly there was a large sound of the building's power going off and all the lights and equipment turned off. "What the hell!" Roger's voice asked in the darkness.

"Why did the power go out!" Michael asked as he turned on his flashlight.

"Don't worry. The backup generator will kick the system back up in 5 minutes, Rookie." Roger said as he turned on his flashlight as well. A blue screen lit up the dark lobby. "See the computer's starting to boot up. We may be out of communication for 10 minutes till after the system's back online though."

"That's a pity," A deep voice taunted in the darkness.

Michael and Roger whirred around on their heels, pointing their flashlights to where the voice came from to see a large muscular man in front of them wearing a complete black outfit, with long blonde hair that was in a ponytail. Beside the large men were 5 other men who appeared to be around Michael's age with black outfits on as well. Before the men could speak, Hun shot Roger square in the chest with his silencer. Roger fell down to the floor instantly with a thud, letting out a soft groan. Michael fumbled to grab his gun from the holster; he finally grabbed a hold of it and held it up, pointing it straight at his partner's killer. Suddenly he felt a sharp sensation of pain as the side of someone's hand collided with the back of his neck. He fell unconscious on the floor, his gun leaving his fingers. A smirk appeared on Jade's face as she rubbed her hands together.

Hun's brown eyes twinkled with delight as he looked at her. "Very well done." He then turned to 2 of his men. "Hide their bodies." He lowered his silencer to point at Michael and pulled the trigger, shooting him straight in the chest. "That will make sure we have no witnesses." Hun slipped the gun back into the leather black holster on his belt and motioned the rest of his men inside. The Purple Dragons entered the lobby and ran over to the guards' desk. Mel trailed in last with 2 remaining Purple Dragons. Mel had on a pair of black pants and a blank tank top, her hair was also up in a ponytail. Jade unzipped her jacket and threw it on the desk; she had on a black tank top. "Take care of those cameras, Mel," Hun ordered as he glanced at the security camera was at the hallway to where he needed to go.

Mel ran over to front of the desk and looked at the computer. The entire screen was blue and a white long bar was running across it at the bottom. "It's still loading! It has 76 remaining!"

Hun looked down at his watch, then back at the hallway. "I still got time," He said to himself. "Jade! Come with me. Mel, get those cameras offline!" Hun motioned for Jade and took off down the hallway leaving Mel at the guards' desk with 4 Purple Dragons, while the others followed him.

Hun came to a halt when he saw that the lasers were still up. He let out a very loud frustrated growl. "Damnit! They must be on a different line!" He looked back down at his watch. "Jade, use the mirror."

Slipping the green makeup compact that Mel had out of her pants pocket, Jade approached the lasers and layed down on her back, turning sideways to look up at the lasers. She reached over with her right arm and slowly slid the mirror into the first beam, triangulating the reflection just right to where it knocked out the opposite sensor. Hun watched her with a huge smirk on his face.

The computer's screen flashed once more when the bar disappeared and it went to the main window to where all the systems were loading up. At the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, it had an icon for each system. Mel moved the mouse over each icon and hovered it to see what it was. After searching she found the correct program for the cameras, she turned the mode to disabled. A warning window appeared on the screen notifying her of the disablement of the cameras. She pressed the ear piece communicator lightly to trigger it to send. "Master Hun, the cameras are down."

"Good. Stay there and wait for me," Hun spoke into his own communicator. He saw that Jade had finished to knock out some of the lasers to where it created a path for them to get by with ease. "That's good, Jade." He moved past her, ducking under some of the laser beams that were left, Jade followed him.

At the end of hallway was a room that had some kind security walk-in vault. Hun saw now that his obstacle was the security lock panel beside the vault, which appeared to have a card reader as well. He pushed the earpiece communicator and said, "Mel, get one of my men to get one of the guards' keycards down here and fast!"

"Okay," Mel said as she looked around at the guard. She moved over to him swiftly and began to frisk Roger's body for the card. Finding it on his belt, she unhooked it and gave it to Fang. "Take that to him. Hurry!" Fang took off without a word to where Hun went. Mel ran over to the computer to monitor it. So far everything was looking good.

Fang gave Hun the keycard, panting hard to catch his breath. Hun slid the card into the reader. A green flight appeared and there was the sound of air as it was be released to unlock the vault. The vault door slowly moved open to where there was enough room to let them in. Inside the vault was a metal table with a file folder that contained some sort of documentation and in the center was a glass case that had their target: the nanochip that Ruffington had his eyes on.

Jade sneered her nose as she watched Hun open the case to take the chip out. "That's it?"

Hun reached into the glass with his black gloves on to retrieve the chip. He inserted it into a small black cloth bag and tightened the string. "This Jade….will make me lots of money," He replied as he did so.

A frown appeared on his face as Hun looked back at his watch to see that they were 2 minutes late on schedule. The retrieval of the keycard had cost them some time. "Let's move!" He made his way to the vault entrance, but then stopped. His brown eyes glanced back over to the file folder on the table. He figured that they should get back at Symatradon for costing him time. "Jade, destroy that." He smirked at the woman behind him.

Jade followed her Master's gaze to see what he was indicating. A smirk appeared on her face as she slipped her slender fingers into her pocket to retrieve her lighter. Hun and Fang left the room as Jade lit the folder with the lighter's flame, catching it on fire.

Hun and Fang reached the lobby with Jade running behind them to catch up. "Purple Dragons…let's move out!" Hun beamed. They ran out of the building and to the side to the back of the building. A sleek black helicopter landed to pick them up. In less than a minute, the chopper was already lifting off the ground to head back to its base. "Fang, when we get back, call Ruffington. Tell him we have his package," Hun with a grin as he took the bag out of his pants' pocket that contained the nanochip.

Symatradon's front parking lot was covered with emergency crews: 2 fire trucks, an ambulance and 5 police cars. Firemen were inside the facility dowsing the fire that was started in the vault, which luckily had not spread far. The fire crews were concerned about anything chemical inside the building that would be a potential catalyst to ignite an explosion. One of the firemen, wiping the sweat from his face, walked out of the building and over to the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief, a man who appeared to be in his 40's with blonde hair, stood as he watched his men start to exit the building, there was still smoke, but the fire had been put out. He held up his walkie talkie, "Dispatch, fire's out Copy."

"Copy that, 21. Over." A woman said over the other end, her voice garbled a little by the static.

"What we got, Tyron?" The Fire Chief asked as he watched the younger fireman approach him. "Arson?"

"It looks like that way, sir, but we found 2 bodies in one of the offices near the front lobby." Tyron replied as he took his helmet off and ran his hand through his sweaty hair.

"Smoke inhalation?" The Fire Chief asked.

"Negative, sir. Gunshots."

"Jesus Christ," The Fire Chief grumbled as he rubbed his face with his hand, his tired eyes looking over to see policemen going inside to investigate. "Another goddamn theft."

"Check the security recordings!" One of the policemen ordered as he ran to where the fire had been spotted.

"Alright, Jerry!" Another man replied as he ran over to the guards' desk to look at the computer. His face almost went white when he saw that the cameras had been disabled. He growled out lately and slammed the monitor with his fist. "Fuck!" He looked up to 3 other officers who were looking at him. "Get forensics on this place right now! I want fingerprints, hair, ANYTHING!"

"Yes, sir," An officer replied as he took out of the building to his car to contact headquarters.

"Another damn long night," The man cursed as he ran down the hallway to follow Jerry.

The cordless phone fell onto the floor with a thud as his hand sleepily reached across to try to grab it. He sighed and reached over the side of the bed to pick it back up. What time was it? The digital clock on his alarm radio read that it was 3am. "Whoever this is….you better have a good excuse on waking me up so early…." He grumbled tiredly into the receiver.

"My apologies, Mr. Frederickson," The voice, on the other end, spoke. "This is Sergeant Marsoli of the New York Police Department. There was an incident tonight at your facility."

Mr. Frederickson's mind instantly became alert by the cop's last sentence. "What do you mean!"

"We believe it to be a theft. We need you, sir, to come down and look the place over to see what the thieves may have stolen."

"Where were my guards!" Mr. Frederickson held the phone with one hand, pressing it between his ear and shoulder for support as he walked over to his closet to find something to change into.

"Dead, sir. This was definitely well planned. The power plant's gridlock showed that the power had been severed to your facility about an hour ago. The thieves must have shut down your security cameras as well. There was also a small fire in a vault room on the West side of the building. I have Forensics combing the building right now. I have reason to believe these were the same criminals who hit Tech Cor."

The blood from Mr. Frederickson's face almost completely drained as he went over the cop's words in his head. "Vault….." Instantly he knew exactly where the cop was talking about. "I'm ruined!"

"Sir," The sergeant spoke once more. "Can you come down to look over to see what they have stolen?"

"I'm on my way." The CEO said shortly and turned the phone off. His mind was swirling with the event. His facility was housed in New York for years and they never had any type of possible break in. With the recent thefts at Tech Cor, Mr. Frederickson spent well over $100,000 to increase the security. He was sure there was no way the thieves could hit the place. How could they get passed everything? In the back of his mind, he already knew what the Purple Dragons may have stolen.

Within minutes, he was already pulling out his driveway in his white BMW. He grabbed his cell and hit speed dial on a number. The phone rang three times before there was an answer. "Hello…?" A sleepy voice asked on the other end.

"Thomas! Get down to Symatradon. Right now!"

"I'm very impressed, Hun," Ruffington chuckled as he looked at the nanochip that Hun was holding up in front of the screen.

"Were there any doubts?" Hun smirked as he placed the chip back into the black bag to which he carried it.

"You do come through. I will have your money sent to you tomorrow. 1 million dollars to be exact."

"The price is now 2 million, Ruffington," Hun leaned back against the desk casually and crossed his arms, the smirk never leaving his face. "I had to go to great lengths to get this for you."

"What!" Ruffington growled. "We DID not agree to that, Hun." Jade and Mel, who were sitting on the edge of the bed in the large room that served as Hun's gym, bedroom, and office, listened to the conversation, and exchanged glances. They both were wearing the same outfits from the heist.

"Very well, Ruffington," Hun waved his hand. He turned and tossed the bag to Mel, who caught it with ease. "I already have another buyer who would be gladly to pay 3 million for it. I will see to it that it gets to him." Mel caught Hun's eye and knew what he was planning. Without any word or gesture, Mel rose up from the bed to leave the room with the bag in her hand.

"Wait!" Ruffington pleaded and then sighed hard.

"What is it? I have a tight schedule you know, Ruffington," Hun said bluntly.

"Fine. I'll pay the 2 million, Hun. You conniving bastard," Ruffington grumbled.

"Temper, Ruffington. That's no way to treat your business partner," Hun chuckled. "Bring me the money in the morning and you will get your chip." Hun motioned for Mel to stop.

"Just make sure you don't lose it, Hun," Ruffington then turned off the monitor, which disconnected the transmission.

"Looks like the boys will enjoy their bonuses this year," Hun smiled as he turned to look at Jade and Mel.

The door to Hun's room slid open and Fang walked in carrying a large leather briefcase. "I got what you wanted, Master Hun." He set the briefcase down gently on the dark wood table in the middle. Hun walked over to where he was standing and motioned for him to unzip the bag. "We hit Circuit City and got the latest model, which was the most expensive."

"Good. Take it over to her and see if she likes it." Hun looked over and beckoned for Mel to sit back on the bed.

Mel, confused on what was happening, returned to the edge of the bed beside her friend to see what was going on. Fang picked up the laptop gently and carried it over to her. When she saw what it was, her eyes went wide. "What's this for?" She asked Hun as she took the computer gently from Fang's hands.

"The best out there right there, baby." Hun grinned.

"But what is it for..?" She asked again as she opened the monitor up to see that it had a 19" LCD screen. Her hands went around the sides delicately to see all the features on it.

"For making my heists very successful." Hun replied as he watched her, seeing the joy in her eyes. "You should get some kind of payment for it and I know that you saw that one in the paper."

"Thank you, Master….I-I don't know what to say," She said as she powered the laptop on. "This is so wonderful…it has almost everything on it."

"Like what?" Jade asked as she watched her friend.

"Well from what I can tell…a DVD and CD Burner and Player, wireless networking, 40GB hard drive…," Mel replied as she scrolled the mouse around to look at the computer's properties.

"You're a nerd," Jade chuckled.

"Yeah…" Mel said with a sad tone in her face; her hands stopping on the sides of the laptop. With her friend's comment, her mind went back to Donatello. She remembered the laptop that Don showed her that he built. Now just having this was making her think of him. "I-I'm sorry…I-I can't accept this…" She stammered as she started to close the screen.

"Why not?" Jade blinked, confused on her friend's sudden change. Mel never told her about her past and neither did Hun. From what she could tell, there was nothing that Mel was ever hiding to her.

The smile disappeared on Hun's face and he almost looked disappointed. He bawled his hand into a fist. "Jade, leave us for a minute." Without questioning, Jade rose up from the bed and left the room.

Mel tensed up by Hun's request, her blues eyes remained down on the laptop, and she was starting to tremble. She could tell by Hun's tone that he knew something was wrong. The large man walked over to her and sat on the bed beside her. "Is something wrong?" His voice questioning.

"No…."

Hun's large left hand reached out and gently glided his fingers down the side of her face. "Forget about that freak…" He said.

Mel froze in place instantly. Was he reading her mind? How did he know she was thinking about Don? Goosebumps began to form on her skin as a chill went down her body when he caressed her skin. She felt uneasy being in the room alone with him, but felt like she couldn't speak out. "I-I have…" She stammered her voice shaking as she gripped the laptop tightly.

"Have you?" Hun sneered. He ran his finger from her cheek to her lip. Mel tensed up even more and closed her eyes as she felt his finger over her lip. Hun moved his hand down to her chin and lifted it to make her look at him. He leaned over and took her lips with his, kissing her gently. Mel's eyes went wide and she froze more in place, her hand shakingly rested on his arm. She wanted to pull away, but she was so scared, she couldn't move. After one kiss, Hun pursued her mouth once more, kissing her several times before pulling away. His hand touched her face once more before he stood up from the bed. "You are with us now and with me. Get some rest. You will need it for the party tomorrow." He walked over to the table to retrieve the black bag that had the chip in it. "I am going to take this to make sure it is locked up."

When Hun left the room, Mel felt the tears pouring down her face. She couldn't believe what happened. She was shaking so bad that was she was afraid she was going to drop the laptop that was in her lap. She moved it gently to the floor and then pressed her face against the pillow to cover her face. Was she scared? Why did she not stop him? Even being in the large building with the entire Purple Dragons gang, Mel felt alone.

A large belch echoed against the elevator's hollow walls. "UGH! Casey Jones! Did you HAVE to do that?" April growled as she placed her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Aw lighten up, April. No one's around," Casey whined at the red head.

"I AM here."

"You don't count," Casey nodded his head. April let out a groan in frustration and smacked him upside the head. "OW! Sheesh, April. What was that for?" Casey reached back and rubbed the back of his head. "You messed up my hair."

"Like you really CARE about your hair?" April grumbled as she walked out of the elevator when the doors opened.

"Casey and April are here," Michelangelo replied, keeping his eyes down on the comic that that was in front of him as he was resting up against one of the lair's columns.

"How could ya tell, Mikey?" Raph rolled his eyes as he kept his eyes on the television screen in front of him.

"Hey, guys," April said cheerfully as she walked into the lair. Her green eyes looked over in the middle lair to see the 4 humanoid turtles pretty much doing their own thing: Michelangelo was sitting up against a column reading a comic book about Silver Sentry, Donatello was on the computer at his makeshift lab, Raphael was stretched out on the couch watching the news report, and Leonardo was standing behind the couch watching the news as well with his arms crossed. All the guys had pretty much recovered from their last encounter with the Shredder. Raphael still had several bandages on his arms and plastron, Michelangelo's legs were still pretty sore from healing after being broken, a piece of Leonardo's shell was missing, and Donatello's wrist was still bandaged.

"Yo," Raphael answered as he lifted his right arm up from the couch for her to see and then plopped it back down beside him.

"Yo, Leo! How's it going?" Casey asked as he lightly punched the turtle on the shoulder.

"Fine…I guess…" Leo said with a bit of a sad tone in his voice.

"Awe, come on, bro. Why you still down? I thought Splinter said the trip to the farmhouse would do ya some good." Casey said as he frowned, hating to see the negative tone in his friend.

"Leave him alone, Casey…" April whispered as she walked up beside him.

"Yeah, Leo's still mopey as ever…" Raphael grumbled as he kept his eyes on the television screen. "His woman left him," He added teasingly.

A deep growl came from Leo's throat as he turned and stomped off to his room. "That wasn't very nice, Raph," Casey said as he walked over and sat down on the end of the couch, making Raph sit straight up.

"Well when am I nice, Case?" Raphael hit the volume button a few times on the television to make the sound louder.

"Another break in?" April asked in surprise as she looked at the television screen to where a young reporter with light brown hair was talking about the recent theft at Symatradon, trying to change the subject from Leonardo.

"Yeah…Purple Dragons hit again," Donatello stated as he walked over from his lab towards them. "That's the 2nd large technological corporation they have hit in this city."

"I HATE the Purple Dragons," Casey grumbled as he rested his head on his hand, looking bored. "Bunch of lowlives…"

"Why they getting all that tech crap anyways? Not like they are smart enough to figure it out." Raph asked as he threw out his right arm in annoyance.

"Maybe Hun has someone building something for him? I mean the Shredder had tons of high tech equipment," Donatello stated as he looked at his friends and brothers.

"Makes sense. Those goons don't have many brain cells to share among 'em. Hun's gotta have a nerd working for him." Raphael stretched his legs out and placed his feet on the coffee table in front of him.

"Those attacks are too well planned out, Raph, and Hun's leading them. I don't think he has gotten THAT smart Are you sure it's the Purple Dragons?" Donatello looked back at the television screen. "Security hasn't even picked them up.

"Actually, Don, one of their thefts caught them on tape," April replied as she looked over at him.

"What do you mean?" Don asked.

"Don, you know that high priced laptop you were showing me that you saw in a sales paper? Well there was also a report on the break in at Circuit City around 2am last night. Security cameras picked them up and it turned out to be 2 of the Purple Dragons. They only took one thing…that laptop."

"Looks like they are against ya, Donny…they're stealin' all the stuff you practically drool over ya besides your girlfriend." Raph snickered, Casey joined in.

"Guys!" April whispered sternly to them. Her green eyes flashed nervously over at Don to see the discomfort in him. She knew that it had been almost 3 months since Mel left Don, but the guy still hurt inside, and now his brother, Leonardo, was facing the same obstacle in his life.

Donatello kept his eyes on the television screen, trying to block out his thoughts that were starting to come up by Raphael's comment. "What would they want with a laptop anyways?"

"I'm somehow feeling the truth…I can't handle…. Let's get this party started! I'm sick of begging you…You make me feel insane…!" The words blared throughoutthe room from the large stereo system in the back. They were from a song by Korn. The large ballroom on the right side of the building was filled with the entire Purple Dragons gang, who were mingling with one another, talking about their heists, their goals, and what they were going to do with the large sum of money Hun had promised them.

"Gentlemen," Hun greeted them as he walked inside the room. He was wearing a dark black suit with a dark maroon dress shirt underneath that brought out the brown of his eyes. A pleasant smile of pleasure was on his face as he walked in with Jade holding his arm with hers. Jade had on a pair of black jeans with the Purple Dragon's emblem on both sides and a green sleeveless top on. Her hair was up in a bun with 2 jade chopsticks holding it up.

"Yo, Master Hun!" One of the Dragons said as he held up his drink cup in his left hand as if he was toasting him.

Hun gently slipped his arm away from Jade and turned to her. "Get me something to drink, baby." Jade smiled and turned to walk over to the cloth covered long table on the right side of the room that was filled with appetizers and alcoholic beverages.

Mel was the last one to enter the party, her mind had been swirling all day with the previous day's events. She was so use to dressing up a lot with her student teaching at college that she dressed up for the party that Hun was having. She had on a red spring dress that came down to her knees that had mid shoulder width straps and with matching red slip on sandals. Jade had taken the time before the party to help braid a portion of her hair that was in the middle, with the remainder of her hair down. Her blue eyes skimmed the people at the party and immediately saw Hun standing at the table with Jade beside him. Hun was talking to several of his men and had an empty cup in his hand that did contain some sort of alcoholic beverage. Mel couldn't quite tell what they were serving because the table was half away across the room for her and the room was darkened and was only lit by some spotlights on the ceiling.

Seeing that Hun had not seen her, she stepped over to the corner of the room to keep hidden away from the lights. She really didn't want to come to the party, but knew that if she didn't Hun would find out.

Handing his empty cup to Jade, Hun made his way over to the front of the room. He glanced to the back of the room to where Fang was standing next to the stereo and motioned with his hand. Fang nodded his head and had the guy next to the stereo system to cut off the music. With the sudden loss of music, the Dragons glanced up towards the front to see their leader standing before them with a huge smile on his face. As soon as the room got silent, Hun paused for a moment, surveying the area with his eyes, then finally spoke, "Gentlemen, I'm very impressed with your efforts these past few months. The Shredder has deceived me, but you have remained loyal. Now with him out of the way, we have shown the city who we are! We are not some lowlives on the streets anymore. We have evolved. We are the Purple Dragons!" The room filled up with cheers and fists in the air from Hun's speech. "Now, Dragons, enjoy tonight. You have all deserved it!"

Hun walked back over the long table to get another drink. Few of the Purple Dragons that were standing there said hi to him. Hun picked up another cup that was filled with beer and took a sip of it. He gazed out into the middle of the room to see his gang members still talking and having a good time. His brown eyes flashed across Jade who was over talking to 3 of his men. Her hazel eyes caught him and she smiled shyly. Hun stood there holding the cup to his mouth, his eyes lusting over her as he felt a primitive urge inside him. A low chur came from his throat as Jade smirked back over to him, seeing her lover's need. Hun tilted the cup more to allow gravity to let the few remaining sips flow into his mouth. Setting the cup down, Hun motioned Jade to follow him with his eyes. Taking another look at his men, he turned and started to walk towards the door. Without saying a word to her guests, Jade followed him.

Seeing the large man heading her direction, Mel casually moved within the cover of the darkness to the corner behind a group of men to keep out of sight, afraid that he was going to try to approach her again. To her surprise, Hun walked right passed her without another thought, a few seconds later Jade was out of the room with him. Blinking in confusion, Mel slowly approached the main entrance to the room to see Hun and Jade making their way up to his room. Knowing what the outcome would be, Mel felt a sickening feeling in her stomach as she tried to block out the images that filled her thoughts. Her mind instantly flashed back to the day before to where Hun had kissed her. Becoming so terrified inside, Mel moved quickly to her room.

The room that both her and Jade shared was still dark since she knew where her friend was. The room was large enough to serve almost as an apartment instead of a bedroom! The room originally belonged to Jade, but Mel had a feeling now that her friend wouldn't be sleeping there anymore. Keeping the light still off, Mel moved through the darkness using the light from the streets that was pouring into the window to guide her. Rummaging through the top drawer of her dresser, Mel pulled out the case that contained her laptop. Placing it on her bed and unzipping it to make sure everything was there, Mel zipped the case back up and went back to the door. Gazing around to make sure no one was watching, Mel quietly walked down the hallway and towards the building's front entrance. She just had to get passed the guard. "Why you going out for?" The guard asked. He appeared to be an ordinary Purple Dragon; probably they were taking turns in watching. He looked to be around her age with dark brown hair that wasn't neatly combed at all. A toothpick was sticking out of his mouth. He eyed her suspiciously she could feel it.

"Master Hun gave me an assignment," Mel said quickly motioning to her laptop. "Do you mind?" She asked in a snappy tone. Without a reply back, the young man stepped to the side and motioned her to continue. Keeping her face with a stern look, Mel walked by him and out the building. Knowing that she was probably still watched, Mel didn't hesitate at the end of the sidewalk to turn right, even though she had no clue where she really wanted to go. She just wanted to get away from everyone. A light rain had settled in the city for the night and she could feel the cool Fall raindrops hit her skin as she walked. Her sandals splashing through the tiny puddles on the sidewalk as she continued her way downtown.

"Well, well what do we have here?" Lou asked as his brown eyes caught Mel leaving the building. Her red dress made her stand out in the darkness. He leaned over and nudged Raul, who was sitting in the passenger seat, dozing. The late hours were getting to them both. "We got her. Tell the boss."

"Got it," Raul said sleepily as he pulled out his flip cell phone from his suit jacket's pocket. Lou kept his eyes on Mel as she was walking; he slowly moved the car into gear as he glanced over at his partner who was talking to Gio. "Right boss. We'll follow her. No witnesses…we got it." He closed the phone and looked over as he slipped his seatbelt back on. "He said to take care of her…without anyone seeing us. So just follow her for now."

"Easy enough," Lou replied as he glanced at his side mirrors to make sure no other cars were coming before pulling out into traffic. "Just don't lose sight of her!"

"Piece of cake," Raul replied as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his pistol.

The night's wind ripped through the cloth of his purple bandana making the tails lift up some, as Donatello looked around his haven: the junkyard. He shivered as he felt the rain's coolness touch his reptilian skin, moistening it. There was a damp cardboard box about 10 feet away from him that contained different odds and ends that he collected for future projects. The box mostly contained computer parts: USB cables, system boards, monitor tubes, and damaged drives; among other things that he felt were desperately needed for the Battleshell.

His eyes caught glimpse of a muffler that was on the bottom of a pile of metal rods in the center of the site. The muffler appeared to be in pretty good condition. Even though he didn't need one right now, Don felt that perhaps he may have use for it later on. Leaving his box in place, Donatello walked over and knelt down on his knee to retrieve his prize. As he pulled firmly on the item, the metal rod shifted position and fell down, hitting his injured wrist. Donatello cried out in pain from its impact and threw the rod over on the ground in annoyance, then bit his lip, trying to suppress his throbbing wrist.

"I should have known you'd be out here, nerd," A familiar voice chuckled behind him. Like instinct, Donatello used his right hand to retrieve his weapon and spun around on his heel, standing straight up in a defensive position to face his visitor.

The sound of the cars rumbled underneath her on the bridge as Mel walked down the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge. Her blue eyes skimming the dark black waters of the river underneath her that divided Manhattan and Brooklyn. She shivered lightly as a cool breeze pressed against her, making the rain water on her skin even colder. The heavy laptop she was carrying was starting to take a toll on her arm and she switched hands and continued on. She didn't really felt like she was in that much of danger among the other civilians and tourists on the bridge. No one seemed to pay that much attention to her. "Bet they never would have thought I was the one who helped the Purple Dragons…" She said to herself as she walked.

Pausing at the middle of the bridge, Mel turned her head back to look at the busy, lit skyline. Deep down inside, no matter how troubled she was at the current moment, she knew that she was home. Time seemed to pass by without her realizing it as her body started to plead with her to get some sleep. Realizing that she should be going somewhere, her attention then went towards the direction from whence she came. Her thoughts on Hun once more, Mel became scared and then turned and walked in the direction of Brooklyn. Fear crept in the back of her mind that made her quicken her pace along the bridge, almost afraid that she would be seen by one of the Dragons.

Minutes later, Melinda had reached the end of the bridge on the Brooklyn side. She paused a moment to slow down her heart rate since she was basically in a power walk. The distant sound of the city's busy streets made her move forward, as she wanted to block it all out. She almost regretted coming back up to the city. But if she stayed at her house, what would have become of her? Would she really be happy teaching? What about her health?

After walking several blocks, Mel almost felt alone. She hadn't taken any turns so she knew she wouldn't really get lost because all she had to do was turn around and walk straight. The sound of a car's engine approached her, but it didn't bother her since cars had been passing her. However, this car's engine was louder but the car never passed. She glanced back shortly to see a white BMW following her. The car's headlights made her unable to make out anything but 2 dark silhouettes in the car. Becoming scared, Mel tensed up and started to debate in her head if she should turn around and quickly and run off to the bridge or keep walking. Wasn't it only a few blocks back to the bridge itself? If she ran fast enough she could make it. She continued to walk casual as if she was trying to act like she didn't think they were following her, but when her mind had chosen to keep walking but try to lose them, she started to quicken her pace into a power walk.

"Is she onto us?" Raul asked as he looked into the car's beam, which was fixed on her.

Letting out a terrifying cry, Mel took off in a sprint, knowing she could be running for her life. She knew that the car looked too nice looking to be just some ordinary punk; afraid that it was the Dragons, who were trying to take her back, she ran harder. Her sandals plodding heavily on the sidewalk, her briefcase weighing her down; in her mind she was cursing herself for not changing when she left because she needed a pair of good tennis shoes.

"She knows! Get her!" Raul screamed at Lou as he undid his seat belt, becoming antsy.

"Calm down, Raul. She ain't goin' nowheres!" Lou said as he stepped on the pedal hard with his shoe. The car's tires squealed and the car's engine revved louder.

Stumbling as she ran, and nearly tripping over the sidewalk's curb, Mel turned quickly down a small alley between 2 buildings that was only wide enough for a person. There was no way that the car could pursue, but Mel didn't care, she kept running as if the Devil was at her heels.

"You goin' to lose her!" Raul screamed at Lou.

"No were not!" Lou yelled back as he turned quickly to the right a few feet above her alley and went down another one that was for trucks to make deliveries. The car's shocks couldn't keep the car from stop bouncing up as it jumped the curve, knocking some boxes out of its way with the hood. The car barreled down the parallel alley.

Mel ran out of the alley, panting hard to catch her breath, her body wanting to double over as she felt her lungs wanting to burst from the sudden overwhelming intake of oxygen. Her knees gave way and she knelt down on one of them, clutching her briefcase. Her eyes grew wide in horror as she heard the car approaching. She glanced around, but couldn't tell where it was coming from, though it was getting closer! Stumbling back some, Mel started to walk backwards, her head darting back and forth, trying to find out where the vehicle was approaching from. Then she saw it…the headlights flash up against the next alley's walls as the car screamed out, the loud sound of its tires echoing throughout the suburb. "There she is!" Raul screamed. "Get her, Lou!"

Mel screamed louder and ran faster down the alley across the street, knowing it was the same size as the one she just came out of. Seeing a metal dumpster up ahead near a fire escape that was tall enough for her climb up on, she made her way to it, in hopes she could trick them. She glanced back to make sure that the car would pursue her in the next alley, but this time they didn't. Lou jerked the car quickly to the right and stopped it suddenly. Both men got out of the vehicle, armed with pistols! Abandoning her plan, Mel looked ahead towards the end of the alley. Just as she was about to pass the dumpster, a dark black car pulled up beside the alley on the other end and another man in a suit with a gun stepped out. "Where ya goin', girl?" He taunted.

Now her only choice was to go up! She threw her briefcase up onto of the dumpster, at this point, not caring for its wellbeing but her own, she gripped the top of the dumpster and let out a slight grunt as she pulled herself on top, her right sandal falling off her foot as she pushed off with her foot to get on top. Struggling to get back onto her knees, Mel lifted her hands to start crawling up the fire escape ladder. "No you don't!" Lou said as he jumped up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down instantly onto the dumpster with a thud.

Mel cried out as her knees impacted against the metal and struggled desperately to get free. "Let me go!" She screamed out.

"You're not goin' anywhere, girlie," Lou chuckled as he kept his fingers tightly on her ankle to the point she knew he was going to make bruises on her skin.

"Look! You guys can have the laptop! It's really expensive!" She said as she picked up the briefcase and threw it at Lou, making him let go of her ankle. The briefcase collided with Lou's face and he cried out.

Just as she was about to climb up, Raul replaced Lou, but this time grabbed her entire waist, pulling her down with one quick jerk. Mel struggled as hard as she could against his tight grip, her dress' material pulling up some. Raul laughed and shoved her hard onto the ground. Mel's body collided with some garbage that was in the alley and her face hit a small puddle of collected rain water. She let out a groan of pain, her dress was covered with filth. The 3 men stood over her, laughing. Mel clenched her teeth and looked up at her attackers, one of them catching her eye. Her blue eyes looked squarely at Raul. "It's you!"

"Yeah…you pretty smart, girl. But not smart anymore," Raul smirked. "You should do a report on your own attack." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Enough playin' around," Tony grumbled as he picked her up roughly by the arm and pinned her up against the building's brick wall. "Hun won't save ya now." He pressed the pistol's barrel up against her neck.

"You act like you ain't happy to see me, Donnie?" Giovanni smirked as he crossed his arms.

"Well Gio…you do work for the mob. It's hard to trust you," Don said plainly as he walked over to place the muffler in the cardboard box.

"Hey…we ain't comin' after yous guys. You my bros! You're family," Gio said as he watched him with an annoyed look on his face. "I take care of my family. It's like…an Italian thing."

Don sighed as he placed the car part into the box. "That's not the point, Gio. Being with the mob…is like saying you are with the Purple Dragons. There's no difference. What good is the mob? You can have a better life without them…"

"You beginnin' to sound like Leo, Don. Don't EVER compare us to them. They ain't us, capishe?" The mob turtle growled.

"Okay…I am not going to argue," Don sighed. He looked around the junkyard trying to see what else he could find, and to avoid any further conversation with the other turtle.

"What bummed ya?" Gio asked as he lifted his eye ridge.

"Nothing. So why are you out here for? I thought you mostly stayed around Little Italy," Don replied changing the subject.

"On business," Gio said shortly. "We're lookin' for someone."

"Who?"

Suddenly Don looked over to the right when he thought he heard the sound of a young woman crying for help. Every muscle in Don's body tensed as he listened carefully. Could the voice really be who he thought it was? "You're creepin' me out. What's wrong?" Gio asked who didn't seem to hear anything.

"Someone's in trouble!" Donatello took off in the direction to where he heard it, his bo staff in his right hand, leaving Gio standing there confused.

Mel tensed her entire body as she tried to back up closer against the wall, her fingers desperately clinging to the brick as if she was trying to pull away from the 3 men. Fear had caused her emotional side to kick in and tears were streaming down her face, moistening her skin. She felt the cool metal pressed up against her neck as Tony held the gun to her. "Please let me go…," She cried.

"What should we do with her, boys?" Tony asked in amusement as he glanced back at his friends.

An evil chuckle came from Raul as his eyes fixed on her, finding pleasure in seeing her so afraid. "Let's see if this Dragon can swim, Tony."

"Awe and ruin her dress?" Lou sneered as he lifted her dress up some, feeling the soft red material in his hand.

Mel's eyes went wide and she pulled away sharply to get his hand off of her. "Looks like she showed you, Lou," Raul chuckled.

"What's dat mean?" Lou growled angrily and turned towards him.

Seeing the men being briefly distracted, Mel took the chance and moved quickly away from them and headed in the direction where the black car was. Seeing the men hollering and pursuing her, she stopped briefly to take off her other sandal and threw it at Tony's feet, tripping him and making him stumble, falling against Raul. Ignoring the pain of her bare feet touching the asphalt, Mel pressed on. Knowing they were only seconds behind her, she turned quickly to the right to along side of the car and opened the back door, leaving it open to serve as a barricade to block her entrance and ran as hard as she could to another alley. Hearing the men shout out in annoyance by the door's blocking, she realized she had gained a few more seconds, which she prayed would allow her to find some sort of way out.

Just as she turned alongside of another building to head down another alley, her body collided with another person hard. Instinctively, Mel reached out and grabbed the other person's arms to keep her from falling back as her body pressed up against them by the inertia. Recognizing the feel of their arms, Mel froze in place, her hands trembling on their smooth reptilian skin. "Melinda…?" A soft trembling voice spoke.

Mel slowly lifted her head to look up at her lover. Shock both filled their eyes from their sudden encounter. It seemed at that point that time had stopped and that they were the only 2 people in the entire city. The danger that she was in seemed to fade away. Before she could speak, reality kicked back in as she heard her 3 pursuers nearing. A low growl escaped Don's throat as he too heard them and tensed his arms as his grip on his bo staff tightened. With one swift motion he moved Mel behind him.

The 3 men entered the entrance of the alley, their sights now on Donatello who was standing in front of Melinda, guarding her. "Get away from her, freak," Tony said as he held his gun up towards Donatello.

With one swift motion, Donatello pulled out a shuriken from his belt and threw it. The star flew through the air, striking Tony's gun, knocking it out of his hand. As quick as lightening, Donatello jumped towards the 3 men, hitting Tony swiftly in the stomach with his bo staff, then doing a right side kick to Raul, knocking him against him the wall. Lou growled and pointed his gun at Don, but Don twirled the bo and then used the blunt end to knock his weapon out of his hands as well.

Seeing Don attacking the men, and too frightened to confront him already, Mel took off down towards the opposite end of the alley. Deciding in her mind that she would go retrieve the laptop and head back to the Purple Dragons once again to be away from Don. She had noticed his bandages and was hurt deeply inside. What all had happened while she was gone? Everything had changed so much. She had just been gone a few months, but everything almost seemed like she had been gone longer than that.

Seeing that she was fleeing, Tony grabbed his gun as Raul was still fighting Don and cocked the trigger, making a clicking noise that Don heard. Tony aimed the gun towards Mel, whose red dress made a great target. "NO!" Don screamed as he redirected his attention over to Tony, tackling him to the ground and making the mobster drop his gun. The impact of the gun hitting the ground made it go off, luckily the barrel was pointing upwards to the sky.

"I got her," Lou said as he desperately aimed his pistol and shot without really aiming. The bullet struck a trashcan near her since his aim was off. Mel let out a terrifying scream as she heard the bullet strike.

"Get out of here!" Don screamed after her, concerned for her safety as he shoved Lou to the ground and faced his other opponents.

Mel moved quickly to the right around the corner and in the direction of the first alley she went into to retrieve her laptop. Seeing the metal dumpster into view, Mel ran towards it, the fear in her subsiding. As she neared it, she noticed that the laptop case was nowhere to be seen. She stopped and looked around. She knew she left it there and those guys weren't carrying it, so what happened to it? In confusion, she stood there and looked around. This was the same alley that she was in. Everything looked familiar…everything but the missing briefcase. "This doesn't make any sense…" She said.

"Ya lookin' for something?" A voice asked.

She looked in the direction of where the white BMW was still park to see what it appeared to be another humanoid turtle…one she did not recognize. His skin color was a mix between Mike and Raph's and he had on a lighter green bandana, with a brown fedora on his head. In his hand was the briefcase she was looking for. Mel stepped back a little as she looked at him seeing his threatening demeanor. "What…do you want?" She asked.

"We owe ya a little payback for helping those Dragons." Gio smirked as he dropped the briefcase on the ground and punched his fist into the palm of his other hand; a huge smirk was on his face."

Mel stepped back a little further, and then turned to take off again in the direction that she came in. Giovanni took after her and was much faster than she was. Within a few seconds he was up to her and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back to him. "Let me go!" Mel screamed as she fought desperately to get out of his grip.

"Better be lucky I have more respect than to smack a woman," Gio growled in aggravation as he gripped onto her tightly. "I'm sure Hun won't miss ya though."

"Let me go!" Mel cried out more.

"Let her go, Gio!" Don yelled out as he rushed the turtle, making him stumble forward and releasing Melinda. She pressed up against the wall to keep herself standing up instead of falling. She looked back to see Donatello glaring at her attacker on the ground; the brown fedora off Gio's head.

"Don…you're REALLY startin' to piss me off…" Gio growled as he reached over to grab his hat as he stood up, and dusted it off before placing it back onto his head. "I told ya to stay out of my business."

"Well it IS my business when you attack her!" Don stayed his ground.

Forgetting about the laptop, Mel ran off towards the other end of the alley. Catching her leaving, Gio cursed under his breath and then faced Don. "What kind of game ya playin', nerd?"

"Those goons were AFTER her," Don said. "You put her IN more danger by keeping her here." Just as he finished his sentence, he heard a gun click right near his head. He froze and glanced back to see that the 3 mobsters that were attacking Mel were now right behind him, all of them had their guns on him.

"Want us to off this freak, boss?" Raul asked who had a bruise on the side of his face to where Don had struck him.

"Boss? These are YOUR men, Gio!" Don asked in disbelief.

"Yeah now why the HELL did you let her go! You better have a pretty damn good excuse!" Gio said as he got up right to Don's face.

Don glared at the turtle, becoming annoyed with the whole situation by how Gio was acting and how he was the one who attacked Mel…but then his mind flashed to her. He felt his heart tugging at him, wanting to desperately go find her. "Because…" Don said, his voice fading off, trying to hide his emotions deep inside him.

Gio lifted his eye ridge in confusion as he looked at him, seeing the immense turmoil within Don. Then he began to put the pieces together. Don wouldn't get so angry over just some person…she had to be special…special to him. "Don…you GOTTA be kiddin'…." His voice was in disbelief.

"What?"

"WHAT! Don, WAKE up. SHE's with the Purple Dragons: Hun to be exact. She's bad news, brainiac. I don't know HOW ya got mixed up with her. But she doesn't love ya, I can tell ya dat much." Giovanni said, his voice softening as he spoke, the anger had subsided.

"What…s-she isn't…I know her," Donatello's voice began to break as his heart seemed to be drained of whatever life he had left in him.

"My boys been trailin' her. She's the inside person that's been helping Hun pull off these geeky heists. Listen your girlfriend…if she was…is with THEM now. Hun practically has his arms around her." Gio continued.

Don moved away, dropping his weapon, whatever danger he felt he was in earlier had left. He covered the sides of his head with his hands as if he was trying to block whatever else the mobster turtle had to say to him. "NO! You're WRONG, Gio. She ISN'T with them! I KNOW her!" He clenched his eyes tightly as if he was trying to wake himself up from the hellish nightmare.

Gio motioned for the 3 men to put their guns down seeing how the truth was crushing his friend. "Don…if ya don't believe me then look at dat." He replied bluntly, motioning to the briefcase that was on the ground nearby. "Dat's what your girlfriend was carrying. I have a hunch on what it is."

Donatello stood there for a moment, looking at the 4 and then over to the briefcase. His mind swirling once again…he was trying to put the pieces together, but all he could think of was her face…the moment when he saw her once again. Finally forcing him to move forward, Don walked over and knelt down in front of the item, his hands shakingly reaching out: one of them resting on the top of the bag, while the other began to slowly unzip it. Pausing to take a breath, Don slowly lifted the top to reveal the proof that his friend needed to prove his theory into law: the stolen laptop.

Her feet throbbed in pain from the impact of her bare skin hitting the asphalt. She wasn't use to such a shock on her feet. She was lucky it wasn't broad daylight because people would be looking at her funny since she was walking around without any shoes on. Her red dress has a few tiny rips in it and the pretty red color had been covered by the garbage muck. It seemed that she walked a lot longer on the way back then she did when she was first out. She was now in Manhattan, near 5th Avenue, but she had stuck close out of site, afraid that someone would see her. It felt like to her that she had been walking for hours, but it had only been an hour if that…her body was begging for sleep. Her feet were starting to refuse to walk another step and she knew she had several blocks to go. She didn't have any cash on her to get a cab and she didn't have her cell phone to call anyone.

As she stopped to rest a bit, she glanced up to see an Old Catholic cathedral. She can tell by the light through the stained glass windows that there had to be someone inside. Glancing around, she turned and slowly made her way up the stone steps towards the front door. Old historical buildings always attracted to her, and this was no exception. The doors didn't even look modern. As she neared the cathedral's entrance, she heard the sound of pipe organs playing inside. Their soft melody beckoned her to proceed. With one slow motion, Mel pushed the door open and walked inside.

The architecture of the building was so beautiful to her. The roof was in a Gothic style with buttresses and arches. The entire building looked like it was made out of an old grey stone. On each side of the building were beautifully designed stained glass windows that contained images from different scenes of the Bible. Mel's attention then fell upon the center of the cathedral that contained wooden pews where a few people sat spaced out with a small wooden gate entrance that had several candles lit. Going from one person to the next, Mel noticed that most of them appeared to be either homeless or drunk who had nowhere else to go but to this sanctuary.

A soft murmuring came from the back right corner of the church. Melinda looked over to see a woman who appeared to be in her late 20's talking softly to a young child who appeared to be her son in her arms. The little boy's eyes glanced at the windows with fascination and his tiny arm reached out and pointed to the figures. The mother's voice was soft as if she was afraid to disturb anyone, but Mel also detected sadness. Reality hit her as she looked on. The young woman and child had to be in here for another reason than just tourism since it was so late. Trying not to stare to figure it out, Mel looked away and a soft smile stayed on her face. A sense of calmness entered her. Sitting down in the pew on the right in the back row, Mel decided to rest some…well at least rest her feet because the hardness of the wood made it very uncomfortable for her to get any sleep.

"Mommy…an angel!" The little boy exclaimed loudly as his mother held him, Mel's back was to them so she couldn't see what was going on, but just listened to their voices.

"Yes, sweetie, that's an angel," The mother replied gently in a quiet tone, trying to have her son do the same. Mel couldn't resist but to turn her head to see what they were looking at. The young boy was pointing to the window right in front of them that contained an image from the Bible to where the angel approaches the Disciples to tell them of the Lord's resurrection. The mother was gently bouncing her child trying to make him go to sleep, her green eyes flashed nervously back at the front of the church, afraid that she was going to disturb the others, but when she turned back, she caught Mel's glance and smiled sweetly at her. Mel returned the smile.

"Do I have an angel?" The boy asked with such earnest. His eyes still fixed on the image.

"Of course, Josh, everyone has an angel. One is watching over you and me right now." The mother replied as she gently let her finger caress her son's brown hair, then kissed him softly on the forehead. "You should really rest, sweetheart."

The little boy layed his head on his mother's shoulder. "I miss, daddy…" He said sadly.

A huge sorrow overwhelmed Mel as she turned her head, feeling the tears filling up in her eyes. Her blue eyes glancing back to look at the angel on the stained glass window, the mother's words echoing in her head. She stared at the image as if in some kind of trance, her memories began to show her the first encounter she had with Donatello. It was almost like what happened that night. She was out in the Bronx, which was pretty stupid of her, but at that point in her life she didn't care. A group of thugs had attacked her and planned to do more with her than just showing her the city like they said they were going to. She knew for sure that she would lose her life that night, but Don had rescued her to safety to the park. When she had came to, she shyly asked if he was her Guardian Angel. Since that fateful day, her and Don had developed a relationship that everyone else in her society would dub as being very doubtful and not "right."

The warmth of material covering her arms made her wake up. How long had she been asleep? Startled, she looked behind her to see the priest, who appeared to be in his late 60's, placing a black hooded coat over her, a warm smile on his face. "Rest, my child," He spoke softly.

Mel felt her face flush in embarrassment, as she feared by her appearance that he may have taken her as someone else. She glanced over to see the mother and child over in the pew at the end sleeping. "Thank you, Father…" Mel replied politely, her mind still trying to wake up. "How long have I been sleeping?" She asked, not directly at him.

"It is almost 3am if that helps you," The priest replied back. "Are you troubled by something?"

Mel hesitated for a moment…not really wanting to say anything, but knew it was wrong to lie to someone in the house of God. "There is…but I-I don't really want to discuss it. Let's just say I have sinned a lot…" She sighed hard.

"Well I am here if you wish to talk to me. I will never judge you…it is not my place." He smiled and turned to walk back to the front of the cathedral.

Mel shivered as she felt her body adjusting to the warmth that the coat had provided. She knew if she lingered there any longer, it would make her more suspicious if her disappearance got back to Hun. After making one more glance over to the young mother and her son, Mel rose up from the pew and made her way to the aisle. Her blue eyes flashed back to the center to catch the glimpse of the elderly priest. Remembering that she still had his coat, she started to slip it off, but he motioned with his hand for her to keep it. She smiled politely and pulled the coat tighter around her, covering up her torn, dirty dress.

Stepping out of the sanctuary, Melinda pulled the coat's hood overhead and went back towards the Purple Dragon's hideout.

The door buzzed as the automatic locked slid back allowing Mel passage back into the Dragon's warehouse. There was no need of identification since the guard recognized her. She held the coat tightly to her to hide her dress appearance, but there was nothing to conceal her bare feet. Her appearance wasn't really neat anymore and her body ached from the sudden amount of heavy exercise. "You been gone a long time," The guard said and then motioned down to her bare feet. "What happened to ya?"

"It's more comfortable walking without the shoes and I needed to take them off for a stealth reconnaissance," Mel said as she kept walking. "Everyone else asleep?" Wanting to move the subject away from her.

"Yeah for the past hour. You missed one hell of a party." He called after her.

"I'm sure I did…" Mel said to herself as she kept walking down the middle of the open lobby. She lifted her head to first glance at the 2 large dragon emblems on each side of the open window out of Hun's bedroom. Her eyes then moved to the window itself seeing Hun standing right in the center at the window, his cold dark eyes looking right at her. He still had on his suit and his face showed no emotion. Mel stopped in her tracks as she studied his face, wondering if he did suspect something. Seeing his stern expression, she could tell he wasn't happy…and he wasn't happy with her. A feeling deep inside was telling her to turn around and run out of there. But just his looming eyes on her made Mel so paralyzed. Like as if something else was controlling her brain, Mel started to continue onto her room, her eyes looking away. Why was she going deeper into the Dragon's den? Was she scared? Half of her was yelling at her for not staying with Don. What was pushing her away from him?

The darkened bedroom was exactly where she had left it. She didn't even bother to turn on the lights as she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her blue eyes looking across at the wall in the darkness; her body felt so frozen. Again she asked herself…why didn't she just stay with Don? A sickening feeling overwhelmed her as she looked down and gently placed her right hand on her stomach. Was she trembling?

Nervously she looked over at the bedroom door that was still open. Fearing that Hun would walk in to demand where she was…or worse…Mel sprang up and shut the door silently, her fingers gently pressed on the button on the handle to lock the door. Stepping back, her eyes stayed on the door as she waited there…motionless…listening for his thundering steps. But there were none. Regaining some courage, Melinda moved fast over to the side of the bed where her bag still was that she brought with her along to New York. Fishing through large compartment, she took out her cell and skimmed her contacts to find a particular number. It seemed like it took forever to find it even though she didn't have a lot of contacts in her address book. She clutched the cell phone to her tightly as the number dialed…counting the rings…

STORY INSPIRATION BY THE SONG "TOUCHED" BY DELERIUM

Delerium - Touched Lyrics

TOUCHED (feat. Rachel Fuller)

You are my angel and I believe that you were sent from above

Showing me guidance with unconditional love

And I know that it?s true

You are my best friend, I can?t believe that you came into my

life

Giving me strength and I feel so safe in your arms

I will come to no harm

chorus

Every time you go away, I will follow you

When you?re running scared

and you hide away

I?m right beside you

I am there

I have never been touched like this by another

Or moved or kissed or loved by my lover

Like you love me

You are my angel and I thank god that you came into my life

You are one thing I see when I close my eyes

I?m in the dark of the night

chorus

You take me down and bring me back again (x2)

Take me down