A night like no other

by Aster Sapphire

"Forget, about it. I guess I was being too pushy. I just wanted to see you." Madison said to the ground. "Believe me; if I step into that light, ya ain't gonna like what cha see." Raph said quietly. Full Summary inside.

Summary: While out on Christmas eve, Raph saves a beautiful woman from a group of Purple Dragons and they end up having a conversation, one thing leads to another and soon enough they find out a lot more about each other than either of them had expected too. RaphaelxOC

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT….yet

It was a night like any other in the sleepless city of Manhattan. The cold, December weather was taking its toll on Christmas day, as people franticly rushed into stores and came back out with bags full of presents for their loved ones. They fished around in their purses or pockets, trying to find money to spare for the Santa Claus standing on the curb, asking for money to give to the Salvation Army, they mindlessly, moved out the way of those who were carelessly staggering through the streets, drunk and singing every Christmas carol they could of, very out of tune and very loud. High above them, perched on a snow covered gargoyle, was Raphael. He stood there smiling down at the scene below him; he was kept warm by a simple vest Donatello had created, that kept their cold-blooded bodies warmer during the winter. This was his favorite time of year. Despite the bitter cold and the constant nagging from Michelangelo about what present he wanted, Raphael loved Christmas time. He took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh scent of Christmas trees strapped to the top of a truck as they made their way to a vacant lot where they were being sold. Raphael sighed happily and began humming along to, Chestnuts Roasting on open fire as it played from a speaker hanging above a jewelry shop. He was halfway through the song when he felt a vibration from the pouch on his belt that held his shell cell. He groaned and took it out. "Probably Mikey, again." He said to himself as he retrieved the device from its pouch. He read the caller ID and to his surprise and relief the caller ID read: Casey.

"Hey Case, wassup?" He said in his Brooklyn accent.

"Yes! It worked!" Michelangelo cried happily from the other end.

"Mikey?" Raphael exclaimed obviously confused and annoyed.

"Yep, the one and only." Michelangelo replied smugly. Raphael could practically feel the ear to ear grin on his face.

"Mikey what do ya want now? And why are ya calling from Casey's shell cell?" Raphael asked immediately regretting asking the orange clad turtle any questions.

"Weeeeeeell, I needed to talk to you and you kept ignoring my calls." Michelangelo replied simply.

"Maybe that's cause ya called seven times askin me ta buy ya mint condition Silver Sentry doll that's almost impossible ta get."

"It's not a doll it's an action figure!" Michelangelo yelled into the phone causing Raphael to wince and pull his ear away from the shell cell.

"Right. Doll. Mikey what do ya want?" Raphael groaned.

"We needed more help with the decorations."

Raphael sighed; he was enjoying his time out by himself. "Can't ya call April or something?"

"She went to go get extra snacks."

Raphael groaned into the speaker. "Alright, I'm on my way. Bye." Raphael said.

"Wait! Raph I gotta ask you something!" Michelangelo said before Raph could hang up.

"What?" Raphael said impatiently.

"About that action figure-

"Good-bye Mikey!" Raphael growled as he hung up. He slid his shell cell back in its pouch and began to make his way back to the lair. As he got closer to home, he noticed the streets weren't as filled with Christmas joy as the ones behind him. Other than the occasional passing car, these streets we're pretty quiet by New York standards. He was about a block away from the lair when he heard footsteps below him. He looked down and saw a woman walking down the sidewalk, with her hands buried in her pockets as she released puffy clouds of air from her mouth when she breathed. She was approaching a dimly lit alley way, where Raphael heard deep snickers.

"Don't go in the alley, don't go in the alley, don't go in the alley." He said quietly to himself hoping the universe would work in his favor and she would go right pass the alleyway, but unfortunately it didn't and the woman turned in the alley as the snickers got louder followed by bone chilling scream.

"No one ever listens to me." Raphael mumbled as he drew his sais and began to head toward the alley. He stood above the scene below him and began to sum up his opponents, as he strained to scan the area to make sure no other gang members were around.

"Please, leave me alone. I don't have any money." Said a shaky voice from below him. Raphael looked down and saw a young woman around April's age pressed against the brick wall of the alley. She was surrounded by three men, one of which was holding a crowbar. He was tall, skinny and a spiky green mohawk, another man, who was much bigger than the first and was bald, he was armed with a baseball bat, the third (who was also the largest) was unarmed. They all stood on either side of the woman blocking any form of escape. They were all wore black leather jackets that had the purple dragon logo on the back, Raphael grimaced when he saw it. The largest one laughed. "Ya hear that boys? She said she's got no money." His voice was deep and raspy. He had stringy, greasy, jet-black hair that fell to his shoulders.

"Well ain't that a shame." Said the one with the baseball bat.

"A shame indeed." The one with crow bar said shaking his head sympathetically.

"Well, guess you're gonna hafta pay us some otha way aren't cha honey?" The largest on said again. He snapped his fingers and the two men standing behind him reached forward and each grabbed one of the woman's arms and yanked them behind her back she began to struggle as the third man began to unzip her coat. He smiled as he began to unbutton the sweater underneath, Raphael prepared to pounce as she began to scream for help and the one with mohawk hand over her mouth, but stopped when he heard him shout and in pain and pull back. "Dammit!" He yelled as he crouched over in pain clutching his hand.

"What is Spike?" The bald one asked.

"She bit me! That bitch bit me!" He cried staring helplessly at the blood, oozing from the teeth marks in his hand. The woman smiled smugly and spat Spike's blood out her mouth. Raphael's mouth twitched as a smile began to form. The one called Spike saw her and glared. "You think this is funny?" He asked irately. The woman's smile faded quickly. Spike raised his crowbar and said, "I'll show you funny!" He barked. Raphael jumped down from the rooftop and landed in the darker part of the alley. All four of the humans, turned in the direction of the sound of snow crunching. Raphael finally got a good at the woman. She had chocolate brown skin, her eyes were gray and full of fear, and she had curly black hair that stopped just above her shoulders. She was wearing a gray fur coat, black jeans, and furry ankle boots. He found her quite attractive, beautiful even.

"Didn't your mom eva tell ya yer supposed ta be nice this time o' the year?" Raphael asked from the shadows, forcing himself to stop staring at her.

"And just who the hell are you?" The bald one asked.

"Let her go." Raphael said ignoring the question. He saw the woman relax; now knowing that someone was on her side. Her gray eyes were saying, thank you. He returned a smile that she could not see as a way of saying you're welcome.

Spike snorted loudly, "Looks like were got ourselves a hero, Stitch." He said to the largest one. Stitch turned his was and Raph immediately knew how he got his nickname. All over his face were, ugly and sloppy stitches, clearly done by a purple dragon doctor. One of his eyes was shown shut, or at least it was supposed to be. There were tiny gaps in the stitches that lead into his empty eye socket.

"Is that right? I don't really like heroes." Stitch said stepping closer to the area where Raph's voice was coming from.

"Spike, Bulk go show this clown what we do to people who try to be heroes!" Stitch shouted to his henchmen. Bulk shoved the woman away from him and she landed roughly in the snow, only to be snatched up again by Stitch. Spike and Bulk charged into the darker side of the alley, swinging their weapons around in the darkness, only to slice through air. Confused they began to try and see in the dark but weren't able to see anything.

"My turn." Raphael's voice said from behind them.

Stitch stood in the part of the alley that was lit and listened in horror to the sounds of skulls cracking and cries of pain, and then everything went quiet. "Spike? Bulk? Y-you guys in there" Stitch stammered. There was no verbal response. Instead he saw the snow near the area where Spike and Bulk went in, slowly turning red. He called their names again. His grip around the woman tightened in fear.

"They ain't exactly capable of answering you right now." Said Raphael's voice instead. "Now I'm gonna say this one more time. Let. Her. Go."

Stitch grimaced. He shoved the woman away from him and she hit the brick wall hard before falling. She quickly sat up and watched as Stitch made his way towards the area where he had lost the others. She isn't running. Why isn't she running? Raphael thought, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gun clicking and Stitch making his way to the darker side of the alley. At first nothing happened, then there was a load cry of pain, Stitch began to run away but tripped and was dragged back into the darkness. His begging and pleads for mercy were cut off by the sound of a skull cracking. More blood began to appear in the snow, turning it into a dark red. The woman slowly stood up and walked over to where the gun with the ninja star lodged in it. She carefully took it out, being careful not to cut herself, and walked over to where she last saw Stitch. "Thanks." She said shakily. "I don't want to think about what would've happened if you didn't come when you did."

"No problem." Raphael said gruffly. "You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Madison said. "Did you want this back?" She asked stretching her arm out.

"Nah, plenty more where that came from. You keep it." He said simply.

The woman shrugged and put the ninja star in her coat pocket. "I'm Madison. What's your name?" She said.

"Raphael."

"Raphael," Madison repeated softly. "That's a beautiful name. It really rolls of your tongue."

"Thanks, my dad tells me I was named after the renaissance artist." Raphael said plainly.

"Creative. So Raphael," She said his name slowly and coolly, "Looks, like you've been doing this vigilante thing for a while now." Madison looking around the now empty alley that was once infested with sick-minded thugs.

Raph grinned in the darkness. "Well I don't wanna brag but yeah, I'm kind of a pro."

"That's a fact speaks for itself." Madison said with a smile.

"So what were you doing out here all by yourself, Madison?" Raphael asked. He didn't really know why he was engaging in conversation with this woman that he'd just met. But there was something about her, that made her easy to talk to. Perhaps it was the way she decided to get to know him before asking questions, or maybe it was the fact that she trusted him the entire time and didn't protest to him trying to help her. Whatever it was, he just felt that talking to her just felt, right; good even. He'd never had a conversation with any one he'd met while out bashing skulls since he'd met Casey (that is if shooting insults back and forth while fighting each other before finally making a truce was considered a conversation).

"Just clearing my head. It's kind of a bad habit of mine; I do it when I'm upset. I just decide to start walking to where ever my legs take me. This isn't the first time this has happened." She said as she sat down against the wall opposite of Raph, in the part of the alley that was still lit.

"Well if ya don't mind me askin, what's got ya so upset?" Raphael asked.

"A lot of things. But, if I had to pick one of the top of my head, I'd say coming home after four hours of Christmas shopping for my boyfriend only to find him in my bed, my bed, with another woman. And not just any woman, my best friend." Madison said with a grimace on her face.

"Damn, that's a whole new kind of low." Raphael said.

"Tell me about it. I mean, I give that guy the best years of his life. I was loyal, we connected, I was honest with him. And this is how he repays me? And my best friend? Ugh, those two deserve each other. You know, it's funny. I find it funny how someone you've trusted for such a long time can end up being such a backstabber. I was stupid to ever trust either of them." Madison said angrily. Then she laughed. "I'm sorry; I know you didn't expect this to turn into a therapy session. You, just…you just seem like such a good listener."

Raphael chuckled. "Well, seeing as how I ain't much of a comforter, listning is the least I can do." He said.

"Well, that's strange I certainly feel a lot better now." Madison said smiling at the ground.

"Well that's good to know." Raph said, feeling glad that probably made the stranger feel better. There was a silent pause before Madison finally said, "This is really akward."

"Whatdoya mean?" Raphael said as he began to blindly draw in the snow.

"I mean, it's weird. I'm sitting next to three unconscious thugs who tried to rape me, spilling my sorrows to my rescuer, who I can't even see, even though he can see me. It's not…odd to you." Madison said with a thoughtful look on her face.

Raphael snorted. "The word odd isn't in my vocabulary, despite the fact that I'm a living definition of the word."

"Is that why haven't you let me see you yet?" Madison asked as she slid the ninja star back in her pocket.

"Maybe." Raphael said with and unseen shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, what else could it be?" Madison challenged.

"I'm…comfortable over hear." Raphael shot back quickly. He glared at her but was disappointed when he remembered she couldn't see it, so instead he tried to change the subject. "So, what's your story? You know besides the one you already shared."

"Are you changing the subject to avoid answering my question truthfully?" Madison with a small smile.

Well damn. "That depends…is it working?" Raphael asked half-jokingly.

Madison's laugh echoed of the walls of the alley. "Unfortunately for you, no. But I'll play along for your sake." She said with a hint of amusement in her voice. "I was born in Portland, Maine on February 5, 1987." Madison said with a reminiscent look on her face. "I moved here when I was 23. Pretty nice city, you know, minus the muggers, killers and rapist. It's a nice place to settle down in my opinion. I preform on Broadway." Madison continued to go on about her life telling Raphael, who sat and listened to every word, all about her life. After a little begging, Raphael finally convinced her to sing a Christmas song for him. Her singing voice was amazing, very original she sang: All I Want for Christmas is You. When she was done he applauded and she stood up and took a dramatic bow causing Raphael to laugh. When she raised her head again she barely had enough time to dodge before a snowball hit her in the face. "What the hell! That is so not fair! I wasn't ready!" Madison protested with a mock-glare. She kicked some snow in his direction and he yelped as is hit him the face. Madison gave a cry of satisfaction only to be hit in the face another snowball. "Stop that!" She said with a laugh as she leaned against the wall and tried to block the snowballs flying her way, soon enough she was on the ground howling in laughter as the snowballs continued to assault her. She took of her white glove and waved in back and forth franticly. "Ok! Ok! You win! I surrender! I surrender!" Raphael lowered his arm and dropped the snow ball that was in his hands and watched in pleasure as Madison continued to laugh. When her laughter finally subsided and she caught her breath she asked, "So what's your story?" Madison slid her glove back on and shoved her hands back into the toasty pockets of her fur coat.

"My story; is long and very, very, complicated." Raph said back, no longer feeling the pleasure he was before.

"Well…I happen to like complicated. What would life be without complication?" Madison asked brushing snow off of her coat.

"A hell of a lot easier." Raphael mumbled dryly.

Madison giggled again. "Well you'd be making things easier for me if you came out of those shadows and let me see. I won't bite."

"I'm sure Spike would beg to differ." Raphael said with a grin.

"Well that was Spike; I had a reason to bite then. You, on the other hand have given me no reason to sink my teeth into you flesh. So why hide?" Madison asked with a grin of her own on her face.

"Like, I said. It's complicated." Raphael mumbled.

"Well why is it so complicated? I'm not asking you to do much I only want you to-

"LOOK I SAID NO! WILL YA JUST FREAKING DROP IT ALREADY!" Raphael yelled, immediately regretting it. Madison opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again; he could swear he saw her shaking. There was a look of pure heartbreak on her face that made Raph want stab himself in the neck for putting it there.

"I'm sorry….I just-

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at ya like that. I've been known to be sort of temperamental." Raph said sadly. Madison raised an eyebrow and gave a lopsided smile.

"Okay, very temperamental." Raph admitted.

"Forget, about it. I guess I was being too pushy. I just wanted to see you." Madison said to the ground.

"Believe me; if I step into that light, ya ain't gonna like what cha see." Raph said quietly.

"That's what this is about? Look, I don't really care what you look like. We're all humans here, so what would difference does it make?" Madison said softly.

Raph bit his tongue to hold back a laugh at what he'd just heard. "A huge difference; I can guarantee ya, that whateva ya think is wrong with me is way off." Raph said with a smirk.

Madison sighed, she stood up and walked over to where she heard Raph's voice coming from and sat next him, still on the side of the alley that was lit. About six inches of darkness separated them. Raphael could smell her perfume now, vanilla with a hint of jasmine. She turned her head so he was looking her right in the eye, and was then and there that Raph realized how beautiful she was. Her cool, innocent, gray, eyes; her short, ebony curls; her smooth dark brown skin, and that smile. That bright, white smile that could blind you from across the room.

"Show me, Raphael." Madison gently demanded.

"I really don't think that'd be a good idea. We have a good thing goin here, I don't wanna mess it up." Raph said.

"You won't ruin anything Raphael. I promise. If you think I'm going to forget about how you saved my life and run away just because of the way you look, you'd be wrong. Very wrong. I'm not that kind of person."

Raph sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll come out; but don't say I didn't warn ya."

Madison smiled triumphantly as she stood and backed away. "Whenever you're ready, Raphael."

Raphael slowly began to emerge from his shadowy haven. He inched out carefully until he was finally in the light. Madison just stared; her eyes and mouth were a perfect circle. All she did for a few minutes was stare at the red clad, six foot turtle standing in front of her, neither of them said anything.

"Well? Say something!" Raph said louder and more harsh then he intended.

Madison just smiled warmly and stepped closer. "You sounded like you would favor the color red." She said simply, eyeing his bandanna.

"That's it? No screaming? No name calling? Nothing?" Raph asked.

"Well you were right about my guess on what I thought you looked like being way of; but…seeing as how, I wasn't raped, then brutally murdered because of you; that wouldn't be very fair on my part now would it?" Madison asked.

"No, no I guess not. Bout time someone said that." Raph said back, elated that he had finally gotten the recognition he deserved.

"It's amazing how ignorant some people can be, you save their lives and that's how they repay you? Why do you waste your time on them? If they aren't grateful for your help then they don't deserve it." Madison said darkly.

"They're not all like that, believe me. We have two other human friends; they treat us like equals, not freaks." Raph said. "And besides, if I did that I wouldn't have met you."

Madison blushed brightly, large crimson circles appearing on her dark cheeks. "Wait a minute…us…we?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, I've got three brothers." Raphael replied rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Fascinating." Madison said with an approving nod. "Well if you want my opinion, I think you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." She turned her attention to his shell, "May I?"

"Knock yourself out." Raphael said with a shrug trying to hide the fact that his heart raced at the thought of Madison touching him. When Madison got behind him she began run her hands up and down the rough texture of the carapace, he began sweating bullets. She began to trace the pattern with her fingernail and felt Raph tense. "You- you could- you're able to-

"If you're asking if my shell has a sense of touch, the answer is yes." Raphael said as Madison appeared in front of him again. She hesitantly raised her hands to feel his plastron; she began to run her hand up and down just as she did with his shell, except that this time, it wasn't experimental. This time she just wanted to touch him. She paused leaving her hands resting on either spot on his plastron and looked up to find him staring back at her like she was the most amazing in the world. His hand, despite his commands not to, began to stroke through her dark curls, she apparently didn't mind, in fact she liked it, because she began to smile that bright smile of hers. His rebellious hand then fell to the nape of her neck, and then; ever so slowly he pulled her closer until their lips met, and sending an intense spark through their bodies, which only got more intense as they kissed passionately. Raphael's other arm found its way around Madison's waist and pulled her in closer. They continued to kiss until finally they pulled away from each other for air. Madison was staring at Raphael with a pure look of shock on her face.

"God, Madison I'm sorry I didn't mean to-

He was cut off as Madison pushed her lips back against his own, and they kissed until they pulled away again. "Did you feel that too?" She asked wrapping her arms around his neck.

Raph smiled, relieved that she wasn't repulsed. He looked down at her beautiful face. "Yeah I felt that too." He was leaning in again when he felt his shell cell vibrating. "Oh, crap." He said as he fumbled to answer it remembering that he was supposed to be on his way back to the lair. He looked at the caller ID. It read: Leo. "Double crap." Raphael said spitting the words out as if they were poison in his mouth. He quickly answered it. "Hello?" He said, preparing for the lecture from Leo. He looked up at Madison. What is it? She mouthed.

Brother Raph mouthed back, and then he put a finger to his lip. Madison winked and copied him with a smile.

"RAPH! WHERE THE SHELL HAVE YOU BEEN! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AND HOUR AGO!" Leo yelled into the phone. An hour? It's been that long?

"Sorry, Leo. But I got caught up, ran into some Purple Dragons trying to start some trouble." Raphael said.

"Oh," Leo said in a much softer tone. "You alright, bro? Do we need to come and get you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Raphael responded, a wave of relief rushing through at the sound of Leo's mother hen voice. He's rather be smothered by Leo rather than out up with his lecturing, that feeling lasted for all of five heavenly seconds.

"Ok, good. NOW GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND HELP!" Leo said, and then the line went dead.

Raphael turned back to Madison who was trying to hide a giggle.

"I should probably get going now. Don't wanna give mom a heart attack." Raphael said with a laugh. He slid his shell cell back in its pouch and turned to Madison who was frowning.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'll see you again right?" Madison asked. She sounded like a five year child and had a puppy dog look on her face that could out Mikey to shame.

"Yeah, just keep walking into dark alley's like that and I promise you we will." Raphael said reassuringly.

Madison giggled, "How about I just give you my number and my address?" She said.

"Even better." Raphael said with a smile. He waited as Madison scribbled down her information on a small piece of paper and gave it to Raphael.

"Goodnight, Raphael." Madison said as she planted on last kiss on his cheek and walked away.

"Hey Madison!" He called after her. She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Call me Raph."

Madison, nodded and smiled. "Okay then, call me Maddie." She said back.

"Got it." Raphael said. Madison turned and walked away, looking back one last time smile "Merry Christmas by the way!" She called before turning out of the alley. Once she was gone Raphael took a detour to make sure got home safely before finally heading back to the lair. When he finally got back he saw April pacing at the entrance and angrily drinking a bottle of Dr. Pepper. She was wearing a red reindeer sweater, a pair of furry, wedged heel black boots and a pair of blue jeans. Her rose red hair fell loosely to her waistline. When she saw him she pointed at him and angry squeal escaped her mouth. She took one last angry swig and marched over to Raphael who was silently laughing at her.

"Hey, Ape, you seem angry." He asked with a smirk.

"Angry? Oh, I am beyond angry. I am pissed. Leo is going freaking insane in there! Listen to this." April yelled, She cracked open the door to reveal the utter chaos happening inside. You couldn't see anything but you could Leo's voice booming through the lair as he barked orders.

"MIKEY GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO ARRIVE BEFORE WE EAT! DON STOP MESSING WITH THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS I ALREADY TOLD YOU THEIR BRIGHT ENOUGH! CASEY GET OF THE COUCH AND GO DECORATE THE TREE! APRIL WHERE ARE YOU! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE- April closed the door before she could the rest of the order Leo barked out.

"Wow, that sounds horrible. I'm sorry." Raphael said, not trying at all to his grin to hide his grin. April growled and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, screw you Raph. Where the hell have you been? And why do smell like," April paused to sniff the air. "Vanilla and jasmine perfume?" April asked taking another swallow of her Dr. Pepper.

Raphael smiled then answered, "I'll explain later." He said as he put an arm around her shoulder and guided her back towards the door of lair. "Until then, let's go and help Leo before he gives himself aneurism." When they got in the lair, Leo began screaming at him just as expected. But Raphael didn't hear him; all he heard was the song playing from the stereo.

I don't want a lot for Christmas,

there is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents,

underneath the Christmas tree,

I just want you for my own,

More then you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you.

(A/N): Awww, Raphie's in wuuuv. I don't own the son either. "All I Want for Christmas is You" is Mariah Carey's please R&R! Thank for reading, and forgive me for any mistakes.