Disclaimer: I own nothing.


"So, what do you think?" The news reporter and camera man recently got off of work and are now walking to the cold streets of New York, trying to make their way home.

"What?" April keeps walking as he tries to catch up with her fast pace. She stops to listen, to what he is trying to say, once he steps in front of her path.

"What do you think about going to this new twenty-four hour restaurant with me tonight?" Vern has his hands in the pocket of his jeans. He shifts off to the side while he waits for her response, showing a shy smile.

"Oh, umm, I may be a little busy tonight." She is not trying to be mean; she really did have other plans. He stares at her for a couple of seconds before responding.

"Alright. How about tomorrow night? Lunch? Breakfast, maybe?" He leans in closer to her face as she backs off slightly.

"Work." She lifts her right hand in front of her, placing it on his chest, lightly pushing him away. "I think I'm gonna be busy with work, for like, the rest of the week." She smiles at him. He really is a nice guy, but she only sees him as a friend.

"Oh. Well, call me when you're free." He shows disappointment on his face by her rejection. He knows that he is way out of her league, but he has to at least try.

"Sure." She nods and slightly shivers from the cold November air.

"You want me to walk you home?" She ponders at the thought as she places her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"No that's alright."

"Okay, well, be careful." He waves as he walks towards the subway. He abruptly halts and quickly spins around. "O'Neil!" She turns at his direction. "Can you text me when you get home? You know," he places a hand at the back of his neck, "so I know that you got home safely?" She smirks.

"Mmm, sure." He nods and walks off. She strolls to the direction of her apartment, parting ways from her co-worker. It is close to midnight as she passes by many closed and abandoned stores. The clicking of her boots sound loudly through the empty street of Manhattan. Her phone vibrates; she reaches into the pocket of her signature mustard-colored leather jacket and takes out her smartphone. She grins and answers it.

"Hey, you." She continues to walk as she converses with her new friend.

"Hey." She blushes at his rough, deep voice. She finds it extremely attractive.

"So what's with the late night call?" April bites her lower lip.

"Jus' 'cause."

"Oh, really?" He snorts on the other end of the phone call.

"Ya heading home?"

"Yeah, I just got done with work. I had a long day." She likes conversing with him; they had grown closer after they met. Her relationship with Raphael has escalated more than with his other brothers, but she still has a special place in her heart for each one.

"You gonna visit me?" Her tone sounds playful, trying to coax Raphael out to visit.

"Look up." She glances at the rooftops and there he is, waving at her with his overlarge three-fingered hand. April scoffs at him and hangs up. He glides down the fire escapes and lands hard and loudly in front of her. He stands tall as he lowers his gaze at her petite form.

"Have you been following me all this time?" She crosses her arms in front of her chest and cocks to the side. Raphael shifts uncomfortably and stares down at the littered sidewalk.

"…Yeah."

"Since when?" She tries to look at his eyes, but he stills has his full attention at the ground.

"Since da human nerd asked ya out on a date." April senses a hint of jealousy in his voice and notices his fists tightening at his own remark. She finds it cute.

"Really?" He grunts. "…I turned him down though."

"I know, but—" He lifts his bright eyes to her as he begins to speak with a deep authority in his voice. "—he should know his place while I'm around, as I try to protect this corrupt city from the likes of him." After a couple of seconds, she bursts out laughing while he frowns, slightly offended. She squats as she continues to laugh with her hands stretched out in front of her. He steps back as he crosses his muscular arms in front of his broad chest. After some time has passed, her laugh disappears and looks up at him.

"That was so out of context, but—ha ha, you really like Batman, don't you?" He shrugs.

"S'ma favorite movie." Her chuckles die out and she places her hands on her knees.

"Of course it is." She rises up and rests an arm on his bicep. "I like it went you impersonate him." He furrows his brows.

He releases his small rare smile that he rarely ever displays and stands tall while placing his large fists onto his hips and looks up at the sky. "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I can do those things. Because I'm not a hero, not like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be." His husky voice tantalizes her and brings a smirk on her face.

"No, no, you can't! You're not!" He beams at her Commissioner Gordon impersonation and continues with his batman-like speech as he looks up at the dark sky again.

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me, because that's what needs to happen, because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded." He finishes and brings his hands down and lightly bows while April claps for him.

"Wow, Raph that was really impressive." He grins and stands up from his bow. "Have you seen the new movie, yet?" Raphael's eyes widen and steps closer to her.

"Have you? I've been tryin' to find myself a copy, but haven't yet." She giggles.

"Yeah, I have a copy." She tucks in a piece of her dark wavy hair behind her ear. "Want to come over and watch it with me?" He grunts.

"Walk me home then?"

"'Course." They begin to walk throughout the city. No one is around at this hour so it is perfectly safe for an oversized six-foot-tall mutant turtle to walk her to her apartment. She slips an arm under his and he blushes. She chuckles at his shyness. Once they arrive to her apartment, he slips away to the back towards the fire escape on the fourth floor. April enters and quickly texts Vern before she forgets to do so.

I'm home

She gets into the elevator and patiently waits. She smiles to herself as the elevator dings at her floor. She reaches her door and unlocks it with her key. Her phone beeps.

Great, sleep tight O'Neil

She enters and sets her phone down on the coffee table of the open living room and hears a tap. She turns and goes over to the window and opens it for Raphael to get in.

"You want popcorn?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." He shuts the window behind him and walks over to the couch. She goes to the kitchen for about five minutes and comes back with a big bowl of extra buttery popcorn and places it on the coffee table in front Raphael. He breathes in the buttery fragrance. He then notices April rummaging the book shelf filled with DVDs.

"Found it!" She holds it up high into the air as he smiles at her. He has noticed that he mostly smiles whenever she is around, but he can get used to it. "The Dark Knight Rises, I have to admit, it is better than The Dark Knight."

"Is the Joker in it?" She looks at him sadly as she lowers the DVD.

"No…the actor passed away, so the Joker doesn't make an appearance in this movie."

"What?" He furrows his brows as he lowers his gaze. "How did he die?"

"…It was an overdose."

"Oh." Silence fills the room for a couple of seconds.

"Do you still want to watch it?" She lifts up the movie.

"'Course." She opens the case and takes out the disc as she turns on the television and DVD player. He waits patiently on the couch and reaches out to grab a handful of popcorn. She walks towards the long beige couch and sits right next to him.

As the movie starts, Raphael is immediately entranced.

"Woah," he exclaims as the new villain, Bane, makes his appearance. "He's a badass." He stares with wonder as Bane speaks and intimidates the crew on the plane that he eventually hijacks. She glances at him and lets out a giggle.

After the two and a half hour long movie, April turns to him as the credits roll while the entrancing soundtrack plays in the background. "So, what did you think?" He faces her and puts his hands onto her shoulders as his golden green gaze focuses on her.

"It. Was. Amazin'!" He lets go of her and stands up and jabs and hooks the air. "He was so cool! His moves, his style, his voice! I think he's my new favorite villain—next to the Joker 'course." She is glad that he enjoyed it. She turns off the TV and leans back on the couch.

"I'm guessing you're gonna start quoting him, huh?" He grins.

"I am the League of Shadows, and I'm here to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny!" His new found accent of Bane surprises her. "The fire rises." April never knew he had such talent, well, aside from his ninjitsu skills.

"So, I uh, I guess I should head home." Raphael briefly moves away from his seat.

"You don't have to." He sits back down. She feels awkward as they say nothing. "Do you want to do this again? You know, a movie night?"

"Y-yeah. What movie are ya thinkin'?"

"Mmm, how about horror? Think you can handle it?" She jokingly bumps her elbow to his arm.

"Ya kiddin'? I love horror movies." He shifts. "Which one are ya thinkin' of?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a huge horror collection of films." He leans forward.

"Like?"

"Like—Sinister, The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, Saw, Dead Silence, Texas Chainsaw Massacre—"

"Da new one or da one from da seventies?" He points a finger at her direction.

"The seventies, of course." He leans back and places his muscular arms onto the back of the couch, spreading them wide. April cannot help but notice his bulging muscles that she wishes to graze and feel them with her fingertips, though she holds back at the temptation.

"Yeah, that's the best version. Lots of gore."

"Don't forget the cannibalism and sadistic torture."

"And the human flesh that is spread around the house."

"Also, the lunatic that wears a face on top of his own face." They stare at each other before they burst out laughing.

"When did you see that?" She wipes away a tear as her laughter lightens up while she tries to speak.

"Oh, when I was like twelve. I found a VHS copy in da sewer when me and my brothers were scavengin'. I didn't tell Splinter, 'cause I knew that he would freak, so I hid it until one night." April shifts to face him while he tells his story. She tucks her legs underneath her and nods for him to continue as she places her elbow on her knee and her palm to her cheek.

"I remember that it was like 1AM and I went to da livin' room and put in da tape in da VCR. After like five minutes I heard one of my brothers leavin' their room. It was Leo. I thought I was screwed 'cause ya know how he is. But after me beggin' him not to run off and tattle, he agreed to watch it with me so I wouldn't be scared. Pfft, like I would get frighten'. Then after ten minutes, my other two brothers came in. Ohhh man." He chuckles at the memory.

"Mikey—he was so scared that he started cryin'! I had to cover his mouth so Splinter wouldn't hear us. Donnie eventually left half way through the movie and Leo looked like he was gonna puke da whole time! Mikey and I were left, but he passed out when he saw Leatherface cuttin' up sum human flesh. I ended up watching da whole thin' myself." He laughs aloud as he slaps his knee with his hand, which startles her since she never sees him at this state. He is always so serious. He leans in to April's face and whispers, "I never told anyone this but—" He looks around before he finishes. "I was scared of humans back then." She furrows her brows. "Of course, later over the years, Donnie did research and said that even though the movie was based on a real story, it wasn't exactly how it was portrayed." She nods in agreement. "And I found out that not all humans were lunatics." Her smile widens and pats her hand onto his knee.

"Of course, Raph, not all humans are lunatics." She grins. "Not all, except for me of course." His eyes widen, but smirks.

"Makes sense, with you havin' all those horror films and hangin' out with mutants." She chuckles at his response. She soon yawns as she places her hand over her mouth.

"Ya gonna hit the hay?" She nods.

"Maybe." She rests her head onto his bulging bicep and wraps an arm over his chest. "I liked your story, do you have more?" He grins.

"'Course. Do ya want to hear the time where Mikey almost broken his arm? Or when Donnie lost his glasses in da sewer water and smelled liked feces for days? Or when Leo and I escaped to watch the fireworks in July?" She shakes her head, tickling his arm with her long brown hair. He leans in closer. "Or how 'bout when we got to pick out our masks? Since of course…" He clears his throat. "The mask is not for me, but for the people I care about." She rolls her eyes.

"How about…when you and your brothers first met me on the rooftops?" He smiles down at her.

"Okay. Well, it was a cold dark night, and me and my bros were fightin' off the foot clan and as we reached up high on the roofs, to celebrate our win, this one chick found us out." She shuts her eyes as she continues to listen and imagine that particular day, the day when she first met them. She snuggles up to him while he continues his tale throughout their midnight date.


I hope ya'll like this one. I really liked Vern in the 2k14 'verse. He was very comical, plus I am a fan of Will Arnett, he's too funny (and old.) It was amusing seeing him flirt with a girl who is obviously way too young for him (not that there is anything wrong with that) and that she always ignored him. Tee-hee.

NOTE: This takes place sometime after 'Something About You'. Although they haven't started their intimate/physical relationship yet, they are very 'touchy feely' with each other. I think with the 2k14 'verse of Raphril, I'm going to like mesh/interweave them together, but the fics may or may not be uploaded chronologically…probably not. Whatever ideas pop into my head, I will write it down and try to incorporate it into this timeline.

P.S: As I was revising and uploading this, The Dark Knight Rises was on TV! Coincidence or what.

Thanks for reading!