Ch. 1 Meet the Family

A/N: I don't own TMNT… if I did then the world would be amazing… ah, well.

This is a rewrite of my story "Roomates" that is now on hiatus. It is VASTLY different in plot but the OCs are the same. If you haven't read that then here's the introduction to the four friends. Usually I hate these things, so I'll try to make it short.

Sarah-She is hyperactive and silly, the comic relief. She is also the baby of the "family" at 17. Because of their complementing personalities she is closest to Jessa and vice versa. She hates for her friends to fight, so she usually tries to play it off by being immature and distracting.

Jessa- Klutzy like Sarah . Her geeky attitude annoys hot headed Danielle a lot and vice versa. 18 years old. Hates Danielle's cat, which Sarah ironically named Michelangelo. She disagrees with Danielle's impulsive attitude and usually blames her for making bad decisions.

Danielle- Temper problem. (Remind ya of anyone?)She is very impulsive and protective of her "family". At 19 years old she is closest to Angie and vice versa. She also strongly denies the allegations that she has taught her cat to destroy Jessa's office area.

Angie- She is slightly serious and the "decision maker". She loves books and her quiet time to herself. Strongly dedicated to "family". Mediator between Jessa and Danielle. 19 years old. There has been some debate over whether Danielle is older than her.

There you go! Now on to the story….

Mutant Ninja

Sarah bounced excitedly on the couch, looking ever the part of the young child. She spotted Danielle coming from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. She grinned. Danielle always made the best popcorn.

"Ooh! Popcorn! Gimme!" She reached for it but Danielle easily raised it so she couldn't reach it. Sarah scowled.

"Popcorn? I'm sorry. We don't serve popcorn to the vertically challenged." Danielle smirked as Sarah jumped in a futile attempt to grab the popcorn bucket.

Sarah frowned at her. "Hey! That's predju- predict- uh…"

Another voice shot in. "Prejudiced."

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Jessa."

Angie entered with the sodas. "Oh, Danielle for the love of everything good, just give the girl the popcorn. You made plenty to share."

Danielle grinned. "I know. But its so much fun teasing the little kids."

Sarah gasped. "That's so mean! It's not my fault I'm so short and you should-ooh! Popcorn!"

Sarah quickly grabbed the bucket Danielle held out to her and jumped on the couch, spilling a few pieces in the process. "Hey! Be careful with that!"

Sarah ignored her and shoved a few pieces into her mouth. "Mmmm… popcorn…"

"Move over and lemme have some too." Danielle plopped beside her. Sarah gave her signature goofy grin before handing over the popcorn. "Popcorn hog." Danielle said affectionately.

Angie sighed. "You two are impossible." She set the sodas on the floor near the couch. A table was not available in the sparse apartment. "Jessa, are you sure you don't need any help?"

Said girl brushed her dirty blonde hair out of her eyes. She had it tied back in a pony tail but her bangs always found a way to get in her grey-blue eyes when she was working. "I got this."

Danielle chuckled. "She can hack into any computer system in the world, build a computer out of a toaster, but give her something simple like setting up a movie…"

Jessa blushed as she finally got the dvd set up. She stood up, glaring at Danielle. "This coming from the girl who left tin foil in the new microwave."

Sarah nearly snorted her soda. "New? That thing was prehistoric. It was so old, I'll bet it knew Mr. Clean when he had an afro!"

They stared at her blankly. "How bout 'It was so old, it's birthday is written in roman numerals."

The three girls groaned. "Make it stop!" Danielle tossed a pillow which bounced off Sarah's head. "Hey! You're just jealous that I'm so funny! I was just saying that it wasn't anything fancy."

Angie sighed. "It was new for us, Sarah." They had found the fossil of a microwave after somebody had thrown it out. Not ones to be picky, they'd taken it home, cleaned it out and kept it. It was nice until Danielle forgot to unwrap the leftover pizza before she heated it up.

"Yeah, and Danielle just had to ruin it because she doesn't think before she acts." Jessa rolled her eyes.

Angie held up a hand to stop Danielle's retort. "Please, if we don't start the movie now we won't get a chance to watch it. We do have work tomorrow." They quickly seated themselves on the couch.

They were young, ages 17-19. They were clever, bright and most importantly, street smart. They'd also been living together for about 3 years. (A/N: No, not like that you sickos.) They had run away from their homes at very early ages for various reasons.

Sarah had been kicked out of her home after it was discovered she was the result of her mother's affair.

Angie was an orphan who'd ran away from her foster home after a particularly disturbing "accident".

Jessa's parents were dealers. She ran away after they tried to use her as a bartering chip to keep themselves safe.

Danielle had ran away from home when her dad had killed her mom right in front of her.

So they had taken to the streets. They used their gifts to make whatever money they could and whatever kept them from selling themselves. It was hard, and gritty. All four of them had gone through a lot and when they finally had the opportunity to give it up, they took it.

After roughing it on the streets for a while, they had found each other. Each of them took up a legit job to help pay for the rent of their current apartment. After all, there were dozens of kids living on the streets of New York. Why not have four of them live in an apartment?

Life wasn't much easier for them now then when they'd been on the streets, but at least now they had a roof over their heads every night. Still, it got depressing.

So, about once a month, they pooled their money and bought one movie from the highly questionable movie "entrepreneur" down the street. The quality wasn't the best, and the DVD player they found in a dumpster had seen better days. But with patience and Jessa's knack for all things electronic, they had a wonderful tradition.

The rules of choosing which movie to buy were simple. Everyone had to agree, unless it was one of their birthday months. Only then did they get a veto. This month was the new TMNT movie.

Sarah was still bouncing. "This is gonna be SWEET!" Danielle grinned quietly. For all the crap she gave Jessa about being a Techno-Nerd, she was a closeted comic book geek. This also included the other media forms of some of her favorite superheroes (Hellboy, Ghost Rider, TMNT) After all, she hadn't exactly put up a fight when Sarah suggested they name Danielle's hyperactive crack kitten 'Michelangelo'.

Now she simply nodded. "Yeah, Ninja turtles rock. I remember watchin the cartoons wid my brother back in the day." Angie shot Danielle a look of concern mixed with sympathy. Danielle's brother had died in a tragic car accident when they were both little. Angie opened her mouth to say something but Danielle cut her off.

"What are ya waiting for Jess? An open invitation? Play it already." Jessa rolled her eyes before pressing the 'play' button. She smirked at Danielle's eager tone.

"Cripes. And you call me a nerd."

Angie smacked both of them with a pillow. "Will you two shut up and watch the freakin movie?"

Mutant Ninja

After the movie they got up and stretched. Jessa switched off the TV. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."

Danielle frowned, scooping up the empty cups off the floor. "Are ya jokin? That was awesome. Amazin. Incredible."

Jessa raised an eyebrow. "Look who bought a thesaurus. Gee, Danny. I didn't know you could read."

Danielle put on a mock innocent face. "Maybe you would notice if you took your head outta you butt sometime…Jessie."Danielle shot back. And the battle was on.

Jessa scowled. "Comi-con geek."

"Computer nerd. And yeah, I'm proud to be a comic book geek! You got a problem with that?"

"No problem here. I'm not the one infatuated with the elementary and remedial plots of those stacks of fire wood."

"Stick in the mud."

"Hot head."

"Pushover."

"You are such a Raph- temperamental and moody."

"Better than being a pacifist, nerdy Donny!"

"You're just as nerdy as I am!"

Danielle popped a piece of cold popcorn in her mouth. "Geeks and nerds are not the same. Geeks are smart while nerds are lame."

Sarah grabbed Angie's arm like a lost child. "Ang, Danielle is speaking in rhymes. I'm scared."

Danielle glared at her. "Keep your comment to yourself, midget or I'll be coming after you next."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Yay! Mean Danielle is back!" She hugged the startled brunette. Jessa rolled her eyes.

"Careful, Sarah. You don't want to get fleas from that mangy cat of her." Danielle glared, extracting herself from Sarah's bone crushing embrace. "Mikey does NOT have fleas. If anyone does its you with that rats nest you call hair."

"This coming from the girl with an afro sticking out of her head." Danielle ignored the comment. She knew her impossibly curly hair was virtually unmanageable and she'd gotten over it. Besides, she didn't get upset or self concious about her looks… like she knew Jessa did.

"Packing on a couple of chewy bars aren't ya Jess? Maybe you should get away from your computer sometime…" She smirked. While Jessa scowled, though a look of hurt flashed in her eyes. Angie knew it was time to step in.

"Danielle! Apologize to Jessa. That was completely uncalled for, not to mention ridiculous. If there is one thing us girls don't have a problem with is eating too much." They knew it was true too. Many days they lived on water and stale sandwiches.

Danielle glared at both Angie and Jessa for a moment before her shoulders relaxed slightly. "Sorry Jessa."

"Now you, Jessa." Jessa was still frowning but she was nowhere near as stubborn as Danielle. "I'm sorry too, Danielle."

"Good. Now can we please clean up?" They nodded and scurried to do as told.

Honestly, Angie felt like their mother sometimes. She was the same age as Danielle but vastly more responsible. She sort of got elected as the leader/peace keeper of the group. They respected her as an older sister of sorts and she looked out for them. Danielle sometimes disagreed with her suggestions or decisions, but they were still very close. They were the oldest and there was no doubt that Danielle was Angie's second in command, much to Jessa's chagrin.

Angie and Danielle were the protectors. While the group relied on Angie for guidance and leadership, Angie relied on Danielle for her strength and forceful attitude. Naturally a peace lover, Angie didn't have the aggressive spirit that Danielle had. Make no mistake, she was more than willing to fight to protect her "family", but Danielle seemed to live for the fight, while Angie did her best to diplomatically avoid it.

And Danielle most certainly did live for the fight. Sometimes she grew restless with her "safe" life. When that happened, she threw herself into her job with even more energy until she was spent. She was the least likely out of all of them to give up. She had a determination and fighting spirits that came from her being on the streets nearly twice as long as the others had. That's why she dedicated herself as a protector to her new found family. She had to protect them from the horrors she'd faced as a child.

As for Jessa and Sarah, they were the "kids". While they were by no means sheltered, they were also the least pro-active when it came to tackling problems. Sarah usually took things in stride, cracking a joke to lighten the mood or distracting them from their troubles with one of her shenanigans. They often told her to calm down, but her endless energy often served as a morale booster. Sarah rarely listened anyways.

Jessa preferred to take problems from a different angle, tackling them from a side nobody else saw. She was the shyest and quietest of the four. Like Angie, she was mostly non-confrontational but would resort to violence if she had to. The one exception to Jessa's "no fight" policy was Danielle. Her relaxed, casual approach to every situation drove the OCD girl completely mad. Jessa took every opportunity to express her disdain at Danielle's impulsive nature and Danielle was more than happy to return the favor.

All in all, they were a mismatched, misplaced, bunch of miscreants… and they were a family.