A/N: Hello again! I saw that this story had a few views, but no reviews or favorites, so I wasn't really sure if anyone enjoyed it or not. I'm on break for school and I'm thoroughly enjoying writing it, so I'm going to keep updating it anyways, hehe! But everyone's thoughts would be spectacular! Thank you very much!

I, of course, own nothing of any of the turtleverses. Which sucks...


April held up her hands in front of her, palms facing me, her green eyes staring into my dark ones. "Charlotte, I need you to trust me."

I took a step back. "Trust you? Trust you? I don't even know you! All the days I was left to run your store alone you were down here frolicking with monsters?!"

I heard a cough to my left and whirled to face it, looking into the almost saddened eyes of the one with the purple mask. "Um, we're not actually monsters, really. We're genetically altered turtles. See it all happened about –" A cough came from behind me. The purple masked turtle stuttered and his voice got quiet. "Well yes. Its uh…quite a long story I don't think you are quite apt to hear at the moment." His eyes shifted downwards to his clasped hands.

April touched my shoulder to turn me to face her, which caused me to jerk away as if burned. "Charlotte, please. You're a mess. You have no shoes, and no way to get home this late at night. Just come and sit down and let us explain." Her eyes searched mine. "Please Charlotte. Be brave."

Be brave. April had no idea about bravery. Bravery was the root of idiocy. Fear gave you a black and white outlook. Fear made you smart. Fear allowed you to assess the things around you. Fear kept you alive.

"Where's my phone? Give me my phone. I need to call my brother."

The red masked turtle gave an audible sigh and picked up my phone off of a desk surrounded by computer monitors, metal parts and screwdrivers. "I can't promise you you'll get service down here, kid." He tossed it across the room and I caught it awkwardly in my hands. I forced myself to breathe as I looked down at the now cracked screen. He was right, there were no bars. As the screen went black, I could finally catch a glimpse of my reflection. My eye was swollen and black, my cheek cracked with blood and my lip swollen and cut. My neck was covered in bruises that shaped a rather large hand. I sunk to my knees, letting my phone fall from my hands and buried my head in my hands, running them back through my long, thick brown hair.

"I have to be dreaming. Please, let me be dreaming." Tears fell from my eyes, but I would not allow myself to sob in front of these creatures. I did not shy away when April lifted me to my feet, for the adrenaline had past and the pain was back in my body. I limped back to the couch and sank down upon it, April sitting next to me. I just looked down into my hands in my lap, defeated as she began re-bandaging the opened wounds.

The four turtles came and sat in a semi circle around the couch in front of me, the one called Leonardo still rubbing his head. "We are very sorry to have startled you so much, Miss, but we ask that you please understand we were only trying to help you." I looked up into his eyes as he continued to speak. "We were out training tonight, out in Midtown, when we heard the sounds of a fight. We saw the five of them and knew that if we did not stop them, they would surely kill you." He brought his hand down back to sit on his lap with his other one.

"Since there were only four of us, the woman was left un attended. You took care of her. But as we were fighting, I lost track of the one I was fighting and he threw his baseball bat at you. I knocked him out just as his weapon hit you." The purple masked one looked down, ashamed.

"We knew we couldn't leave you there. Once they woke up they would've killed you for sure." The red masked one crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing.

"So we brought you back here man. You were pretty messed up, so we called April here over to help out. Except for April and Casey, we don't get much human interaction." The orange masked one shrugged and offered me a smile.

I ran my hand shakily through my still damp hair. I looked down at my clothes and realized then that I wasn't in the clothing I had been in before I passed out. I was in a pink t-shirt and dry jeans. They must have been April's.

I knew, deep inside me, that they were telling me the truth. My eye caught a clock on the wall to my left. It was 3 am. I had been out for three hours. If they had wanted me dead, they wouldn't have waited this long to kill me. But I still didn't understand what they were, and looking at them struck a chord of fear in me that was un mistakable.

"My sons are not monsters, child." An old, soft voice cut through the silence along with the click of a walking stick from the shadows. His voice held a very obvious Japanese accent, and there was something oddly familiar about it.

"Master Splinter," all four turtles bowed their heads towards the voice as the clacking of the walking stick got closer. I swallowed as I waited for the next monster to step out of the shadows.

"And neither am I." A large, humanoid grey rat stepped forwards from the dark. In his hand he held a very simple brown walking stick and wore an old, brown kimono. He was hunched over slightly, and his pink tail swung back and forth. His right ear was ripped where he would have lost part of it, in battle perhaps?

I wanted to be afraid of him. Just as afraid as his so called 'sons' had made me. And yet, looking into the eyes of this creature, I saw nothing but wisdom and safety. He reminded me of a time of my past, when things were simpler and everything made sense.

This rat, Master Splinter as the turtles had called him, walked towards us with care, his eyes never breaking my stare. "Yes child, my sons. As you should know better then anyone, sometimes the most loving family we can have, are not the ones we were born into." He stopped in between Leonardo and the purple masked turtle, continuing speaking before I could ask him how he knew about my past. "These are my sons. Michelangelo," the orange masked one waved and gave me a big smile. "Donatello," The one in the purple mask lifted his shoulders and gave me a small smile as well. "Raphael," This time it was the one in the red mask. He gave me a curt nod. "And Leonardo."

Splinter finally released my gaze and nodded at April. "And I believe you already know of Miss. O'Neil." April placed her arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze. "I believe it is time for some explaining, would you not agree, Miss…?"

"Just call me Charlotte." My last name was too complicated to explain.

Splinter nodded respectfully. "As you wish, Miss Charlotte. Donatello, would you be so kind as to fetch us all some tea? And Raphael, bring over a table. Leonardo and Michelangelo, you may aid your brothers in bringing in the mugs." The turtles complied without a complaint.

Splinter settled himself down on a cushion brought to him by Raphael and laid his staff across his crossed legs. Looking at him sitting there, as frail as he appeared, something told me he didn't really need the staff for walking, and that he used it for many other purposes. "Now, Miss. Charlotte, let us explain to you the predicament you see us in."

I pulled my legs up onto the couch and crossed them, leaning back into the soft cushions as Donatello passed me a steaming hot cup of tea. I mumbled a thank you and took it. Due to the size of his hands, his and mine brushed, and I was slightly surprised not to find them as disgustingly scaly as I had through when I looked at them to begin with. Looking at the turtles now as they all sat down, I began to notice the human qualities they had opposed to the…mutant ones.

Splinter took a sip of his tea before continuing. "It all began seventeen years ago, when I witnessed an accident. A young boy carried a glass jar with four, pet infant turtles. An old blind man was crossing the street when he was almost run down by a large truck. One teenage boy jumped forwards to save the old man, pushing the young boy to the side causing him to drop the glass jar, sending the infant turtles down the drain. As the truck swerved, a metal canister bounced out of the back. It smashed open, releasing a glowing ooze which covered their bodies. I took pity, gathering them up in a coffee can, thus making contact with the ooze myself. I took them to my new burrow. The next morning I woke to find that the four had doubled in size! The ooze had affected their growth, and changed me also, making me larger, and more intelligent.

They followed me everywhere, except above ground. I knew the people of the surface would not understand. We are so…different. I was amazing by their dexterity, but even so I was not prepared for what happened one day. They actually spoke! My name! Soon they were all speaking. Intelligence followed soon after. Realizing that the world above is sometimes a dangerous place, I began teaching them ninjutsu. The secret arts of stealth and power. And all that I knew of this world from a battered book on renaissance art that I fished out of the storm drain. I chose names for each of them. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo." He motioned to each of his sons again as he renamed them. From hearing the story, the boys seemed much lighter hearted, and they laughed and nudged each other.

I sat and watched them for a moment and thought of my own brother. Though it was true since he started university he had little time for me, we still shared a stronger bond then many siblings, one much like the one I saw in front of me. Perhaps these creatures weren't exactly…creatures.

Splinter must have noticed this change in my eyes for he gave me a small smile. "As you can see, Miss. Charlotte, we are not so terrible as you had thought. We are merely pawns in this insane puppet show of life as you are. I think you will find yourself to enjoy the company of my sons." I offered him a small smile. Maybe I could.

"However," His face turned grave once more. "You must understand, Miss. Charlotte, that the people of the surface world do not understand our ways. We ask that you keep our existence a secret. To keep us, Miss. O'Neil, and of course yourself safe."

"Yeah man, they'd lock you up in the loony bin if you squealed!" Michelangelo laughed and grabbed a remote off the ground, aiming it at the plethora of televisions that sat behind Splinters back. He seemed much more at ease, if possible, now that we had all calmed down.

"Lay off 'er, Mikey. It ain't every day someone gets the shock of seeing your ugly face." A smirking Raphael pushed his brother to the side, snatching the remote and changing the channel, ignoring his brother's shout of protest.

"Guys, please. Be serious." My eyes moved to Leonardo, the obvious leader of the four. He looked like someone who had not smiled in a very long time. I had to wonder why.

I looked to Donatello, who smiled bashfully and scratched his head. "We're still teenagers. We turn seventeen in a month, we still have our moments of immaturity."

I couldn't help but laugh, thinking back to my birthday dinner, a month before, when Gabriel had shoved my birthday cake in my face, causing a full out food fight in the middle of our kitchen. "Its okay, I understand, I have a brother as well."

April started to clear the table and Donatello, stood and hesitantly took the seat beside me, giving me a respectful distance. "Really?"

I smiled at him. He was a very sweet…boy?...turtle?...person? Whatever he was, he was very kind, and I couldn't imagine him ever trying to hurt me. Even still, I pulled my knees into my chest. "Yeah. His name is Gabriel. I don't get to see him very much; he's 22 and has a full scholarship to Colombia University. He's working on his PhD in biology."

"Sounds like another nerd for you and LH to hit it off with, Donnie!" Michelangelo called out with a laugh.

Donatello didn't acknowledge his words. "Wow! A full scholarship to Colombia? What a lucky guy! I wonder if he's into biotechnology, or even chemistry! I would love to see what his thesis is and the experiments he's working on!" I laughed as Donatello, or Donnie, as his brothers seemed to refer to him as, prattled on about how amazing my brother was.

"Give it a rest, Don, you'll scare her off before she even decides if she likes us or not!"

"Yeah Raph, because your welcoming attitude is helping out oh so very much." I smiled at the amount of sarcasm Donnie shoved into that one sentence.

Raph turned around and shook his fist at Donnie. "I'll show you welcoming!"

"Enough, my sons!" The turtles all stopped and looked at Splinter, who stood with the help of his staff. "Unlike us, Miss. Charlotte is not a creature of the night. She, as have we all, had a very emotionally stressful night and she needs her sleep." He turned to face me. "I would offer you one of the beds of my sons, however I am afraid that all of them snore quite loudly. The couch, does however, pull out, and Raphael would be happy to assist you in making up the bed." Raphael didn't look happy with that job at all. "The rest of you, to bed."

The boys made their ways to their room, with such agility it made me wonder if they were more cat-like then turtle. Splinter was right, their dexterity was incredible.

It was the first chance I got to really look at the place I was in. It was a huge cylinder cavern, with three levels that I could see. The one that we were on held a training room in the center, the couch and television where I sat, and a computer and construction desk that I assumed was Donatello's. Columns held up the second story, a circular deck that led to four different rooms, one for each of the turtles I assumed. Splinters room seemed to be behind two Japanese doors across from where I was sitting. There was a third level, but I couldn't tell what was up there.

Raphael walked into a closet space and grabbed a pile of sheets. He was walking back over as I was pulling out the cushions

"You know, Splinter's right. We're really not that bad." He grabbed the other cushion and helped me pull the mattress out. "Sure, Leo is an egotistical bastard, Mikey is a dimwitted bozo, Donnie is a smartass and I'm a stubborn asshole," He threw the sheets across and we started tucking them in. "But we're good people. We're in it for the right reasons, you know?" I threw the other sheet over the bed as he started putting pillow cases on the pillows.

I thought back to the way they threw themselves into danger for me. How they dropped their weapons the moment the realized I was scared, and how they didn't just kill me as collateral damage. They trusted me enough to tell me the truth, even though they didn't know me. They were a family, they loved each other and they protected each other. I smiled a little. "Yeah, I see that now."

We threw a blanket out over the bed and he stepped back, crossing his arms. "Good." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. "Night, kid." I watched him walk away, and just as he was about to jump up to the second level, I called out to him.

"Hey, Raphael?" He stopped, and his head turned slightly as if to look back at me. "Thank you. For saving my life. Without you and your brothers, Gabriel would be hearing about the police finding my body in the Hudson River." I thought I heard a small chuckle coming from him, but I could have been wrong. "Can you just tell your brothers I said thanks?"

"Sure thing, kid." And without another word, he jumped to the second level and disappeared into his bedroom.