Note: Thanks to BubblyShell22, Kameko Saka, syzygy101, & pandasize for reviewing the introductory chapter! Here's hoping you stick with me throughout the rest of it ;p

Dis: I don't own TMNT

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Emma wasn't much of a drinker but the night events sent her to her father's stash in his old office before venturing to the apartment upstairs. Using a single lamp as a source of light she uncorked the bottle and sat with it and a tumbler in the middle of the floor. She shrugged off her leather jacket to reveal a simple black t-shirt then toed off her boots before sitting criss-cross. She eyed the box as if it were a bomb ready to go off and poured a large quantity of something amber into her glass before tossing it back. Whatever it was it burned its way down her throat and singed the inside of her nose: so she took another large shot.

Recovering from a double-double shot party she placed the tumbler on the floor beside her hip before lifting off the lid from an old blue photo storage box. She reached in and picked up a baseball signed by John Franco from the Mets and smiled. One good memory followed another as she searched the last box that's been in his office from the pocket watch she'd given him on his thirtieth birthday when she was five to an article speaking about his gym where he was holding her and her mother was obviously pregnant. Random pictures were in the box of her and Joey and she had to wonder where it all started to fall apart for her family.

A chirping from her phone had her jumping before reaching for it, digging into the pocket of her leather jacket before fishing out her Samsung Stratosphere. The image was of Joey sticking his tongue out at her to show his piercing and holding up two middle fingers. She was tempted to ignore it, but instead answered.

"Joey?"

"Emma, I..." She heard a sigh on the other end and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Sis."

"Joe... Where are you?"

"Outside the gym... I need to know... are you gunna do it?"

"You know I can't," she whispered, eyes looking down at her free hand, her thumbnail and index fingernail clicking together to showcase her nervousness. Something that had often gotten her a swat upside the head from her mother. "It isn't right."

"I know, but Emma... I hate to see what will happen if you don't..."

"Joey..." Emma stood and went to the window. Pulling open the curtain she saw the hunched form of her brother across the street leaning against a building. "Come inside."

"I'm sorry, Emma." He hung up and stepped onto the streets. Five others joined him, obviously Dragons, and Emma's breath caught in her throat as she saw gas canisters as well as someone flicking their lighter. So this was how it would be? She was almost surprised that they didn't just kill her and let her brother hand it over instead... Phone in hand, she dialed 9-1-1 and after calmly telling the operator that someone was trying to burn down her gym while fumbling with her boots she whipped on her coat and rushed down the stairs to the streets. She was squaring off against six Purple Dragons. The ugly, fresh tattoo on her brother's neck had tears threatening to fall.

"Don't make me do this, Emma. Just sell to Hun."

"NO! Dammit, Joey, Dad wouldn't want this!"

"That's where yer wrong, Sis," he said an almost maniacal grin on his face. "He DID want this. He loved the money. How do you think he kept us fed and clothed! Join the Dragons, let's just-"

"You're going to make me kick your ass in front of your new friends, aren't you?" she sneered, earning a few chuckles from the Dragons.

"Shut up!" snapped Joey. "I was thirteen the last time you beat me!"

"And my skills have only gotten better while you wasted your time getting high and drunk." Her face softened, blue eyes pleading as someone once again flicked a lighter. Off in the distance she could hear sirens and she prayed that they got here in time. "Joey... Please."

Joey scratched at his scalp, fingers digging into his platinum white hair while he worried his bottom lip. He WAS high... On what she didn't know but when he suddenly whirled and threw a punch at her she was ready and pivoted to the left and leaned back to dodged before gripping him by the scruff of his AC/DC shirt and using his momentum to push him down to the ground.

The man holding the lighter came next and the first thing she did was kick it out of his hand. As the metallic object skittered across the cracked concrete she threw a one-two combination, nailing the Dragon in the nose then the trachea. While gasping for air the Dragon fell to his knees and it was all she needed to land a powerful kick to his chest, knocking him down for the count, right on top of her brother.

Two down, four to go, and soon objects like knives and chains came out from wherever they had been hiding and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. Boys and their toys... She barely sidestepped a chain as it whistled past her ear and did a back flip to avoid a roundhouse kick. She felt a muscle pull in her back, because its been ages since she's done a flip, and knew she'd be feeling it in the morning. She grabbed a trashcan lid and heard it sing before it connected with one assailant's nose but grunted in pain, almost growling when her hair was suddenly tugged. Forced to backpedal she brought both hands up to the guy's wrist and dug her nails in while stomping down on his instep with the heel of her boot. His grip loosened enough for her to break free but someone had been coming in and soon pain shot up her back as a kick connected with it and her body slammed into a parked Gremlin.

Now the four remaining came at her at once and while she blocked some punches and kicks, others hit their mark. Her head snapped to the side as a fist connected with it and she tasted blood on her tongue as she did a dirty move and kicked one of the Dragon's in the balls, something her father often chastised her for when she was younger and boxing in his gym... Probably against some of the Dragons depending on when they started to take over. The boy that she made sing 'mother' went down with a whimper and she pulled the metal pipe from his weakened grip and whipped it downward at the closest Dragon, connecting with his knee and sending him down just as red and blue lights whipped around the corner.

"Shit! It's the cops!" Two of the remaining Dragons glared at her. "This ain't over bitch!"

In a blur of motion, two cop cars came upon the scene. Officers were immediately handcuffing Dragons that were still on the ground and one chased after the two that went down an alley between the gym and its neighboring building. Emma watched, blood trickling from the side of her mouth and pipe still clung tightly in her hand, as her brother was carted away and then suddenly everything snapped into focus as a female officer stood before her with calm brown eyes. The officer's hands guided her to the curb and soon questions were being asked and Emma answered them to the best of her ability. She refused medical attention, much of Officer Jane's indignation, but she honestly wouldn't be able to pay the medical bills and had gauze as well as peroxide waiting for her upstairs in an apartment she no longer felt safe in.

"Anything else to add?" asked the officer.

"No," said Emma, now tossing the pipe she had wielded as a weapon aside. "Ask THEM why they attacked me."

"Do you know any of them?"

"The blond Dragon's name is Joey Tate. He's my brother."

"Oh-I-Uh... I'm sorry," stammered the officer, obviously not having expected that.

"Yeah," said Emma sadly, watching as a cruiser drove her brother away. He looked back at her, hate evident on his face. "Me too."

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Raphael was awakened by the familiar ring of his shell cell. Groaning he blindly searched for the device on the milk crate he called a nightstand and cursed as he knocked over his sai, bandana, and a glass of water he'd brought to bed with him before clasping his olive green fingers around the annoying piece of shit phone. Jamming his finger into the button he held the phone to his ear, eyes still closed as his free hand rubbed the oncoming headache that was forming at his temple.

"WHAT?!" he growled.

"Sheesh, Raph, its Casey."

"Case...What time is it?"

"Noon."

"Shit," muttered Raphael, knowing he was probably going to get his shell kicked for missing morning practice again from both Splinter AND Leo.

"Emma was attacked last night."

"What?" Raphael sat up in his bed, happy he got rid of the hammock ages ago otherwise he was certain he'd have just flipped over and landed on the floor. "What happened?"

"Dragons, her brother included, came ta burn the place down. She fought them off long enough fer the cops ta show up. They arrested four Dragons, her bro included. It's just the beginnin', Raph."

"Shit. I'm going ta go talk ta Leo now."

"Thanks, Man, I'll owe ya."

"Yeah." Raphael ended the call and tossed his phone to the side, it landing softly on the mattress before he stood. He rolled his neck, making it pop before stretching his arms above his head. Eyes adjusting to the darkness he found his belt, sai, and mask and put them on along with his pads which had been tossed around his room before pulling back the thick red curtain.

Quickly he strolled down the hall and once he got to the railing that overlooked the expanse of the lair from the calm water pool to Donnie's supercomputer and the couch Mikey was lounging on he flipped over and landed softly on his feet with a small grunt. He straightened and readied himself before heading into the kitchen area where Donnie was tinkering with the toaster Leo probably broke again.

"He's alive," said Donatello, sarcasm evident in his tone. "Leo's pissed."

"I bet," said Raphael, pulling back a chair, letting it scrape against the floor before twisting it around and sitting on it backwards. He leaned forward, feet flat on the floor while the chair balanced on two legs before hunching forward, forearms resting on the table. "Had an incident last night. Friend of Casey's got attacked at her gym."

"The Tate girl?" Raphael nodded while Donatello looked up from his project, pulling up the magnifying goggles. "It was on the news this morning."

"She doesn't wanna follow in daddy's footsteps and the Dragons are putting on the pressure."

"I see. What are we to do then?" asked Donatello, calmly setting down the soldering tool.

"Case has asked that we help keep an eye on her."

"From what I heard she fought them off pretty good last night," said Donatello, abandoning his project to pick up his coffee mug and refill it at the kitchen counter. "One of them was her brother."

"Shit," said Raph, rubbing his face roughly with the palm of his hand as Donatello poured a second cup of coffee, loaded it with sugar, then set it before his larger and angrier brother. "He's an asshole fer takin' their side over her."

"No kidding," said Donatello before resuming his project.

"Leo break the toaster again?"

"Mikey and I keep telling him he can't stick a knife in a toaster when its plugged in."

"And we call MIKEY the dunce of the group," said Raphael with a roll of his eyes before chugging down his coffee. It burned his tongue, but he needed Don's super strong brew to wake him up for the conversation he was going to have with Splinter and Leo. He stood swiftly, silently like the trained ninja that he was: abandoning his coffee cup for Don to clean up later.

"Have fun," said Don cheerfully and Raphael raised his middle finger up while exiting the kitchen and heading to the dojo where he heard grunting and sure enough there was Leo practicing with their Sensei whom was still surprisingly spry at his age. Leonardo managed to disarm Splinter blindfolded, then flipped backwards to avoid Sensei's cheap shot with his tail. Raphael hated to admit it, but Leo was good... ALMOST as good as him but soon he was on his shell and Raphael fought the urge to smirk.

"Good afternoon, Raphael," said Splinter, turning to him. "I'm happy to see you are actually alive. I was getting worried."

The sarcasm was so thick Raphael could cut it with one of Leo's katana.

"Sorry, Sensei. I was out with Casey last night. His friend was getting harassed by the Dragons. Apparently she was attacked after we left."

"Is she all right?" asked Splinter, concern evident while Leonardo adjusted his bandana then sheathed his katana.

"Yeah, she fought them off. Leo, remember Tate? It's his daughter. They're wanting her ta turn and she's tellin' them no. They're goin' aftah her 'n Case is askin' as a friend that we help out."

Leonardo frowned, arms going over his chest. "We know nothing of this girl."

"We have Case's word that she's all right."

"Raphael, he's a good friend, but he's been mistaken before..." said Leonardo, filled with doubt.

"Don't be stubborn on dis, Leo! Normally I'd say let the humans fight it out but she's Case's friend and ya didn't see her last night. I did!"

"You were seen?" asked Leonardo, eyes widening.

"No! I ain't stupid. I kept hidden. C'mon Leo..."

"My Son, Casey has always aided us in our battles. Perhaps you should help him on this matter..." Splinter's tail and whiskers twitched. "Remain hidden in the shadows... Be her protector until a solution can be formed."

"All right, Sensei," said Leonardo, unwilling to challenge a suggestion from their father. He then turned to Raphael. "You missed your training this morning."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make it up later," said Raphael, rolling his eyes. "So what's the plan, Leader? Stake out her gym?"

"Mike can stake out her gym," said Leonardo. "While we check out the Dragon HQ. Don's been wanting to test out some new spy gear."

"Ya trust Mikey not ta mess up? Yeah he's gotten bettah at keepin' quiet during stake-outs but..." Raphael trailed off, amber eyes rolling.

"Well as leader I need to go to the HQ... Only Don knows how to work the gear... You wanna watch the girl while we deal with the Dragons?" asked Leonardo, crossing his arms over his plastron.

"Fine," growled Raphael, hands clenching. No way in hell would he miss an opportunity to bust Dragons heads! Plans never really went as planned in their case, and if the Dragons found out they were there he needed to be there to draw blood. "Mikey can watch her."

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Michelangelo sighed while getting comfortable on the ledge of the roof directly across from the gym he was supposed to be watching. Almost pouting he crossed his arms over his pectoral plates and huffed. He hated always getting the short end of the stick, however... Grinning slyly he pulled his bag out and dug inside until coming up with his comics. So maybe he had circled back to get his bag before getting to the gym because no way in SHELL was he sitting out here in the cold with nothing to do. Humming to himself he opened his comic to the first page and he was halfway through with "Zombie Attack on Mars" issue number fourteen when a noise had him looking at the gym. There, standing with her window open, was Emma.

She was cute, in human standards, with blonde hair and a kind face. She looked sad now, though, and pulling out his binoculars and swearing to himself that he was no perv he peered through them to get a good look at her. Yeah, she was definitely sad, and he felt a small slice of anger when seeing her bruised face and split lip. Stupid Dragons... Why couldn't they just disappear off the face of the Earth?

Grumbling he tossed the binoculars down on top of his bag and continued to watch until Emma closed the window then turned off the light. When certain she was going to bed and not leaving the gym he went to go turn back to his comics when the sound of someone kicking what sounded like a soda can as well as a curse had him deftly moving to the other side of the building. Sure enough, a group of at least ten Dragons were approaching the gym and Mikey smirked while setting down his comic and drawing out his nunchaku.

'Raph is going to be SO pissed that he missed this,' he thought before leaping off the top of the building, swinging from window ledge to ledge before dropping down on top of an unsuspecting Dragon.

"Hello, Ladies," said Mikey with a grin and twirl of his weapons. "Who wants to dance with the Mikester?"

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Emma sat up in bed when hearing what sounded like fighting outside her window. Rushing from beneath the covers she went to her window and lifted it up before peering out. Yes, there was something going on in the alley and she heard someone curse before they were tossed out of the alley and to the pavement. A Dragon, from the looks of him, and a thought came to her.

"Casey, you idiot," she muttered before slipping on her coat and grabbing the bat she had stowed by the bed. Is this what he had meant by helping her fix things? Battling Dragons when they came in the middle of the night? The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt because of her so she hurriedly slipped on a pair of tennis shoes, skipping the socks, and sprinted down the stairs, through the gym, and out the front door just as another battle cry sounded. She had slept the day away and woke up sore as hell so everything was pulling the wrong way as she finally made it to the mouth of the alley, another body falling right before her feet.

Damn, Casey was GOOD.

Rushing forward she barely ducked before what looked to be a nunchaku hit her in the head. Cursing she pressed her back against the alley wall then looked in the area where the flying weapon came from and her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

There, holding the foot of a Dragon that had tried to kick him in the head, was a... Turtle? Oh, was she dreaming? Her head hurt from the punch she took in the face the other night... Maybe she was hallucinating? The bat she had held so tightly fell from her hands and clattered to the pavement. She saw him slowly turn his head to her right before he twisted the foot of the Dragon, making him squeal before the turtle knocked him out with a direct punch to the face.

There were about five more Dragons and seeing her enter the fight they all booked it out of the alley and she was soon alone with the turtle that was barely taller than her and looking nervous as hell as he ran a three-fingered hand over his bald head and it was his nervousness that had her stopping the need of bashing him with her bat or screaming like a girl.

"I, uh... Hi? Please don't scream," he said, putting his hands out in a way a person would with a wary animal. "I'm a friend of Casey's."

"I... I wasn't going to scream. Casey? He... You know him?"

"Uh, yeah, its hard to explain but I was sent to watch the place," he answered while she clenched and unclenched the bat that she somehow got back in her hands. "I know its a lot to take in, Dudette, but know that I'm a friend: not an enemy."

She tilted her head to the side before reluctantly lowering the bat. She nodded, then shivered... Aware now that she was standing in the freezing cold wearing nothing but her tennis shoes, blue tartan pajama shorts, and a white tank top. She ran a hand through her blonde hair while regarding the turtle that was now walking toward her wearing a belt, an orange mask, and some pads. He passed her to pick up the nunchaku that had almost hit her in the face then tucked it back into his belt.

"So Casey sent you?"

"Yeah."

"Huh..." She motioned to the gym with her head. "Well then Mr. Protector... Wanna come in? It's cold out."

"Oh! Uh... Yeah, sure... Let me just get some stuff."

He was gone then back in a flash holding a canvas bag and soon he was following her to her gym. There were no signs of the Dragons as she opened the gym door then locked it. She made a mental note to get a security alarm for the place in the morning since it was now two nights in a row the Dragons have tried something.

"I'm Emma, though I'm sure you already know that."

"Yeah." He smiled brightly and she blinked. He was a friendly one all right! "I'm Michelangelo, but you, pretty lady, can call me Mikey."

Emma couldn't help it. She laughed, for the first time since her father's death, then motioned for her new friend to follow her up the stairs. This creature, this turtle, had just entered her life and she was more at ease with him than her own mother! Upon making it to the apartment she made sure the curtains were drawn before flipping on a small lamp. There wasn't much for furniture save for a saggy chair and a sofa that Mikey parked himself on, plopping his bag onto the scratched coffee table. Slowly, Emma went to the opposite side of the couch Michelangelo was sitting on and perched her bottom on the arm of it before giving him a curious glance.

"Ok..." she said, brow wrinkling slightly. "Now that I'm sure I'm not dreaming or hallucinating... Can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Well, you see..."

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TBC...

As always reviews are welcomed! :)