"G'night, Gia!"

"G'night, Lulu!" Gia called back tiredly. She had just clocked out from Romano's Pizzaria and was so ready to go home. Her boss had had her make over 200 pizzas for a party and she was sore from all the standing.

To make her night worse, she had closed the store that evening and her car was in the shop for repairs, so she had to walk home. In the dark. She wouldn't have been so scared if she had been on the day shift, but eight blocks, at night, in New York City is a long walk to make. Although she did have her Leatherman in her pocket, it didn't make her feel any safer.

Giada threw the hood over her head and brought her arms in closer, trying to keep warm. Snow was on the way and Gia couldn't give less than a care, but if the cold kept the gang members away from her, it was fantastic in her book. Only a couple blocks left and she'd be in her nice, warm apartment.

She rounded the corner onto 3rd Avenue and, not noticing until it was too late, bumped into someone and was knocked to the ground.

"Ow...," grumbled Gia. "I'm sorry, I should have been paying better attention." Gia stood and started rubbing her sore back, only to be slammed into the building next to her, her eyes forced shut from the pain.

"Yes, you should have," growled an intense voice. A few snickers sounded from the shadows around her. "Now...how about some... reimbursement?" the voice purred, menacingly. It was then that Gia chanced a look at her captor.

He was bigger than she expected; he looked like he could be divided into several good sized men. He was blonde and had three scars across part of his face. Her eyes travelled down his arm and noticed a giant Purple Dragons tattoo. Shivers ran frostily down Giada's spine. It was just her luck that she would run into one of the worst gangs in town.

"Please, I'll give you what you want. Just don't hurt me," she begged, clenching her eyes shut once more.

"Oh, really? Well, I'm sorry, but my... pride might be a little too large not to hurt you," the giant man sneered. "Let's just take this away from any prying eyes, shall we?" He didn't wait for Gia to reply, but instead hauled her over his shoulder and carried her down a nearby alley.

He then roughly tossed her to the ground. Gia tried to keep her face from smacking into the pavement, but her right wrist couldn't take the force of the fall and bent at a painful angle.

If she hadn't been crying before, tears definately started then. There she was, in an alley, injured, and about to be raped by a Purple Dragon behemouth. Gia then did what anyone in her situation would do; she cried out for help.

"Help! Someone please! Hel-" a large hand slapped Gia before she could continue.

"Nobody's gonna save you now, you little pest," the gargantuan villain snarled. He raised his hand to slap Gia again, but a new voice interrupted.

"Ya know, I'd say that if you've taken ta beatin' up girls, ya ain't a real man, Hun," the new voice taunted in a thick Brooklyn accent.

"Yeah! And since when are we nobodies? I thought Hun loved his little "freaks"," another voiced cracked, smooching noises following. The huge man, now known as Hun, stared into the darkness of the alley.

"I thought I'd left you to deal with your doom!" Hun shouted.

"If you call leaving us alone with some of your armed goons, I'm sorry to say, that doom was pretty anti-climactic," a third voice chimed in.

"Get the freaks!" Hun ordered. Twenty or so men came into the alley, most of them weilding some kind of bludgeoning weapon. "I'll take the girl." Hun grabbed Gia up once more and headed toward a nearby fire escape, draping his captive across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Help!" Gia cried out again, fighting to try to get free.

"Donnie, go! We'll be right behind you," yet another voice barked. Gia vaguely remembered wondering exactly how many new people there were, but she was too preoccupied by the man carrying her to God knew where.

Hun had finally reached the rooftop and began to jump from one building to another. Since he had so kindly placed Gia over his shoulder, she was able to see a dark figure persuing them. And they were quickly catching up. Gia kept her mouth shut, not wanting to give Hun any kind of advantage of knowing someone was behind him.

After vaulting from several rooftops, Gia suddenly remembered that she had her Leatherman in her pocket. She prayed that it had not fallen out of the sleeve she had slid it up and was rewarded when she felt the cold metal touch her hand. The advancing shadow was still several yards away, so Giada made a rash decision to help her rescuer. She flicked the knife open and with as much force as she could muster, she thrust the blade into Hun's shoulder!

Hun cried out in surprise and dropped his captive to nurse his now injured shoulder. "You insignificant worm!" Hun insulted, leaning down to slap Gia once more. The first slap had given her a bruise and a little swelling, but this slap was enough to make her cheek swell enough to force her left eye shut. Then he grabbed her by the neck and brought her up to meet his face. " I should just end you, right now," growled Hun, squeezing for emphasis.

Gia's vision started to fade, but she was just able to make out an advancing shadow behind Hun. Before everything went black, Gia heard a loud cracking noise, like a baseball bat hitting a home run. Hun's hand released her throat and Gia dropped back down to the roof, slipping into unconciousness.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Donatello had to admit, stabbing Hun in the shoulder was a pretty bold move. This girl definately had some pluck if she was able to do that. Seeing as how Hun was now unconcious, himself, he couldn't very well oppose to Donatello taking the girl back from him. Don carefully gathered the girl up and carried her back to his brothers.

From what he could see, the girl's cheek had swollen and become slightly purple and if the coloring in her wrist wasn't some kind of movie makeup, her wrist was badly sprained or even broken.

As Don carried her across the last few rooftops, he couldn't help but feel as though he had seen this girl before. Well, maybe not her, but her hoodie was somewhat familiar.

Finally, he returned to the alley where his brothers were all and immediately got an answer to his gut feeling.

"Bro, isn't that the chick we saw the other night?" Michaelangelo pointed out.

"What 'chick from the other night'?" Raphael questioned. Leonardo gave Donatello a look, obviously wanting an explanation, as well. Don groaned internally at the disappointed look his brothers gave.

"Mikey and I saw a girl when we were looking for my locater, but she didn't see us," I quickly replied. "But this can't possibly be the same girl. The odds are too exponential."

"She got a wallet on her, bro? We can see if she's got the same name from the note," Mike offered. Leo's stare became harder.

"Although I doubt it, we can still drop her off at home and I can tend to her injuries," Don sighed.

"Are you sure, Don?" Leo asked. "We don't want to risk exposing ourselves."

"Of course. With the combined loss of consiousness when Hun choked her and the, more than likely, stress of the whole experience, she'll be out until, at the very least, dawn. Besides, it'll only be a few minutes," explained the brainy turtle. From the look on the leader's face, Don could tell Leo was debating with himself.

"Alright," he concluded, "but take Mikey with you. He wanted to get take out, anyway. Raph and I will make one more round before we head home."

"Aye, cap'n! We be castin' off now!," the youngest turtle joked with a naval salute, to which Raph responded with a bonk on the head.

"Keep your Shell Cells on and call if anything happens. And no, Mikey. That does not include if you stub your toe," ordered Leo in his Fearless Leader voice. Then, he and Raph went on their way, leaving Donatello and Michaelangelo alone with the girl.

"Okay, Mikey, I think I can feel a wallet in the back pocket on her right. Be careful when you grab it, though, because she might have," *SLAP!* "...reflexes...," Don tried to warn. Mike had reached under her and, Don guessed, accidentally moved too fast, so the girl's reflexes acted on impulse.

"Dude," Michaelangelo complained," she's almost as bad as Raph. I'm just glad she didn't have a blade in her hand." He laughed as he rubbed his jaw and flipping her wallet open.

"You know, speaking of blades, she stabbed Hun in the shoulder with some kind of pocket knife," Donatello responded conversationally.

"Really?! Neat-O!" Mike cheered in awe. "And guess what? Unless there are two girls with the same name living on the same street, this is so the chick!" HIs grin got even wider as Don looked at the girl in his arms in mild surprise. "Why is it that everyone takes a bad license picture? One of Casey's eyes looks bigger than the other, April has some weird smile with just two teeth showing, and this girls's glasses caught the flash, so you can't see her eyes. Kinda reminds me of Bishop," a shudder ran through both turtles at the mention of that cretin.

"What's the address? I don't like the color her wrist is turning," Don asked. Her wrist had gotten a bit darker, Don could see, even in the dim light.

"Just a couple blocks away, man," Mikey answered. He tucked her license back into her wallet and put the wallet into his belt and off they shot.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

She didn't know how long she was out, but a slight tugging sensation on her wrist and a cold rag on her head was what brought Giada to semi-conciousness. Her eyes were closed, but she could tell she was on a couch and from the familiar smell of cinnamon apples and dog, she was sure she was on her couch. What happened? Giada thought to herself. Her brain struggled to recollect her last memory, but it came back to her after a minute or two.

The cold from outside, bumping into a giant man with a Purple Dragon's tattoo, almost being raped, heroic voices from the shadows, being hauled across several rooftops, stabbing her captor... all of it. Except how she got back home.

Donatello, who had been wrapping her wrist, had to retreat quickly because the girl had woken with a start. There weren't many places to hid and Donnie hoped that the shadows of the unlit room hid him well enough. He watched the girl gaze about the room before her eyes settled on where he was. Donni'e heart beat hard, as if it wanted to give his position away.

"Hello?" Giada greeted to the out of place shadow that was Donatello. Yet, he refused to answer as he felt his body tense. "If you're the person that saved me, I'd like to thank you," she continued. Still, Don did not answer. He was just about to move before the girl spoke again. "I know you're there."

Donnie sighed and cursed under his breath at how he'd been caught. "You're welcome," he replied, a defeated tone to his voice.

Giada could tell that the shadow was uncomfortable. "Are you alright?" Gia was genuinely concerned about how the stranger reacted.

For a brief moment, Raph's voice floated into Don's head saying 'Said the victim to the hero.' Don struggled to find the right words so he wouldn't scare her. "It's just... I... wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon. I was going to leave after I finished setting your wrist," he explained quietly.

After hearing what the figure had said, Gia looked down at her wrist with an expression of shock. Her wrist had almost been completely wrapped in an ace bandage and even in the dark, she could tell that this person was an old hat at it. "Oh, wow," she pronounced, "thank you very much. Very rare a soul would go out of their way like this."

Donatello couldn't help but chuckle. Indeed, there were few rescuers that would take a victim home after rescuing them and even fewer of them would bother to give the victim medical attention. What made Donnie really chuckle, though, was that there was only a select few that were giant, walking, talking, mutant turtles. "Well, i guess I am that," Don replied with a smile in his voice.

Giada smiled as well, from her place on the couch. "Would you mind if I turned the lamp on? It would probably be easier to see what you're doing and I'd like to see the face of the man that rescued me," suggested the girl.

Donnie shifted uncomfortably at her suggestion and tentatively replied, "I'm not so sure that would be a good idea." He certainly didn't need a human screaming about his appearance.

"Well, if my dog, Bandit, trusted you to let you in the apartment, why should I be afraid of you? You did just save my life, after all," Gia tried to reassure the shadow. "Where is she anyway? She normally sits on the recliner when I'm in the living room."

"Oh," Don caught, "uh, my brother took her outside. I didn't want him to break anything when he started playing with her." He immediately realized he'd just let slip a slightly important fact and hoped she wouldn't react badly.

"You have a brother with you?" she instead asked, curiously.

"Yeah...," Don sighed. He watched her relax even more than she already had before she spoke again.

"So, may I ask why I can't turn the light on? I have no reason to be afraid or distrustful of you, thus far," Giada asked. She saw the figure tense again and prayed she wasn't breaching on an awkward topic.

"It's not that you shouldn't trust me... but rather people normally don't..." Don struggled for a moment, searching for a good word," understand why we look like we do." He felt awkward as he tried to explain and guessed that was what caused her to giggle.

"As far as I know, there is not a single perfect being on the planet; everyone has flaws that make them unique. Yours is probably one that people envy, or as you said, don't understand fully. I cross my heart that no matter what you may look like, I will not criticize or judge. I will respect who you are," came an honest promise. True, this way of thinking had led her to meet many different people in the past, and several of them had been rather unpleasant, but Giada preferred to read the book before looking at the cover to learn what experiences it had undergone.

Don stood still as he thought long and hard. Should he reveal what he and his brothers were? What would Leo do in this situation? Could she really be trusted? There was only one way to find out for sure.

"Fair," he said, trying to sound brave and intimidating, "but I'm going to have to cover your mouth to keep you from screaming if you go back on your promise. If you can't accept me, I'll leave and you'll never hear of me again. Deal?"

"Deal," Gia smiled. She readied her hand on the lamp and closed her eyes. Then, she felt a slightly cold, yet gentle hand cover her mouth firmly.

"Ready?" Don asked. The female nodded against his hand. "Okay. Turn the lamp on."

Giada did as she was told and her eyes met a peculiar sight. The first thing she noticed, was the fact that he was green. Not really a light green, but like a dusty green. As she let her eyes travel across his body, she could see that he had a yellow plastron and what looked to be like a shell on his back. Giada's eyes continued to take in what she was looking at and immediately came to the conclusion that he was a giant turtle man. She looked at the hand that wasn't covering her mouth and saw that he had but three fingers on each hand. He was lithely built, muscles clearly visible on his body. Then, she looked at his face. It was the same color as the rest of his skin, save for the slightly darker spots (which she suppossed were freckles) that lined across the bridge of his face. His eyes were he deepest and most breathtaking chocolatey brown she had ever seen and they were attempting to hide behind a purple mask that was tied around his head.

As she gazed at him, taking in his features, he was doing the same to her. Her hair was a dark brown that easily caught the light to make it shine and her eyes were a sparkling emerald green. Her skin was slightly dark, as though she had just gotten a little sun. Her magenta colored hoodie was several sizes too big for her and hid most of her body. Her hands, he noticed, had several calluses but had long since become smooth. Donatello's eyes went back to her face to try to find any hint of fear or anger. There was none. Her eyebrows were knit in a curious concentration as she continued to study him.

"Are you going to keep your word?" Don asked softly after several moments. The girl nodded. "Okay, I'm going to remove my hand now. Please do not scream." His hand moved away from her face slowly, cautiously, not wanting to frighen her.

"Mozzafiato..." Giada sighed in amazement, which the turtle didn't seem to hear.

"I'll understand if you want me to leave," Don said as he motioned to the door.

"No, no! Please stay. I'd like to make a friend of a rescuer," Giada smiled genuinely as she offered her uninjured hand for a handshake. "Giada Ingranaggio."

"Donatello Hamato," replied Don as he shook her hand eagerly. "Don or Donnie for short."

"Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Donatello," Giada greeted with a grin. Donnie couldn't help but feel... lighter as she smiled at him.

As they continued some easy conversation on the couch, Don finished wrapping her wrist. He was pleasantly surprised when she had told him that she was a somewhat successful computer technician. Giada had received some surprise in return as Donatello told her about some of his less important inventions.

Donnie wasn't giving her many details about his family or his life, but he did share some interest with Giada, such as technology and books. However, they didn't get to chat long due to an impatient Michaelangelo walking in with Bandit the Dog trotting at his heels, bearing a big doggy grin.

"Yo, are we gonna get some food or what? I'm dying of starvation," the new turtle dramatically exaggerated.

Mikey didn't seem to notice that Giada was studying him as she had Donatello just minutes before. As Donnie stood and started conversing with his brother, she decided to compare them.

This new turtle was several inches shorter than Donatello was, but he seemed to be a little stronger in the arms and legs. His skin was also darker than his brothers, giving off a slightly bluish-green color. Like his sibling, he also wore a mask around his eyes, but his was bright orange which made his baby blue eyes pop. A girl would definitely swoon for those kinds of blues, thought Gia. Other than the slight differences in characteristics (and the obvious fact that they were both giant talking turtles), one could tell that the two were brothers just by the way they talked to each other.

Finally, as if he could feel her gaze on him, the new arrival turned to look at the girl on the couch. His face bore and expression of confusion as he looked from her, to his brother, then back again.

"Dude, she doesn't think this is a dream, does she? April's reaction was weird enough," Mikey managed to say after a moment. Don looked like he was about to answer, but Giada beat him to it.

"Oh, my, no. My imagination could never concoct something as magnificent as you guys. That, coupled with the pain in my wrist, was enough to tell me this is real," Giada explained thoughtfully. Mikey stared at her for a moment as she absentmindedly started petting the dog he had had so much fun roughhousing with on the roof earlier. "So, which brother are you?" Giada asked, still curious. Michaelangelo suddenly perked up at the chance to officially meet someone new.

"I'm Machaelangelo, the handsome one," he beamed, "but call me Mikey. And you would be?" Mikey asked (though he already knew) and bowed in a goofy manner.

"Giada Ingranaggio. A pleasure to meet you, Mikey," she replied with a slight bow from the couch.

"I'm sorry, Giada, but we've got to go," Donatello interrupted. "Our family is probably wondering how much longer we'll be."

"Oh, gosh. I dind't mean to keep you so late," apologized their new human friend. She got up to follow the turtle men as they went to her window with the fire escape. "Will I get to see you guys again?" she asked, her emerald eyes unknowingly sparkling, catching Don's eye.

"Course ya will, Dudette! As long as you tell me where the closest 24/7 Chinese restraunt is," Mikey bribed with a half evil grin.

"Certainly. Just go to 5th Avenue from here and there's a fairly good place. I'm a frequent over there, so I get twenty percent off. Feel free to mention me and they'll give you my discount," happily offered the human. Mikey and Don's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected good fortune. Mikey recovered and embraced her in a tight hug.

"A woman after my own heart," he fake cried.

"Are you sure, Giada? We wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Donatello voiced. Gia waived off his unnecessary concern.

"It's no problem," she replied from over Mikey's bone-crushing hug. "Besides, it's the least I could do and I've got a t.v. dinner that will be calling my name after I finish a quick programming appointment." Mikey relinquished his hold and stepped out the window to wait for his brother.

"Well, alright then. If you're sure," conceded the purple turtle. "I'll be back tomorrow evening to check out your wrist."

"It feels better already. Oh. And Donnie?" she raised as he got halfway out the window.

"Yes?"

"Call me Gia."