TMNT AU Chapter 2, a ninja turtles fanfic

Back again. Now we move on the to part of the story I've been looking forward to. Raphie and Donnie get to move in with April… well, after a fashion anyway. Please read, and do remember to review!

I have decided to only add a few bits about Raph and Donnie's life with April and Casey, because writing every single story that pops into my head just isn't a viable option and would take forever. So I will be posting all those little stories in a separate little article Entitled 'Tale's of TMNT AU'. Again, if anyone can think of a proper name for this fic please let me know, I'm stumped!

Part 2: The Middle

April O'Neil was twenty two, an orphan, he parents having died some three years ago while she was finishing university. She had been hired, almost straight from her university to work with The Baxter Stockman, the most well known man in technology there was in almost the whole world. She had helped him build and perfect the 'Mousers', small robots that could easily catch any rodent no matter where they were situated. It was something revolutionary to this city, and in the past year the city's rat problems had been cut down to a minimum.

However, the success of the machines did not excuse her from her work, which unfortunately consisted of spending hours running through the footage from the Mousers to ensure they were working efficiently. It was a boring job, and more than once she had fallen asleep watching them. Because aside from the occasional time when they came across a rat, it was just endless images of the sewer systems; which could only hold her attention for so long.

That was until she saw something that made her stop, frowning. There was no telling exactly when the footage had been taken; one's from a year ago had been mixed in with those from this very week. But what she saw gave her cause for concern. There was no sound, but the image was striking enough. The Mousers had attacked some children in the tunnels. What the children were doing in the sewers was strange enough, so the fact that they were wearing some kind of turtle costumes hardly fazed her, after all, children dressed up in the strangest things all the time. It was probably some new super hero or something they had been trying to play as.

But none of that mattered, what mattered was that the mousers had corned the children, and that was a worrying thought.

All this lead her into the sewers, though she couldn't, for love nor money, explain just why she had come down here. After all, it wasn't like the children were going to be here still, and the mousers had all been called in. But still she was down here now; disgusted by the smell of the place, and looking for something she didn't even fully realise she was looking for.

"Disgusting." she groaned as she was forced to take a step into the dirty looking water, looking around at the tunnel she was currently in. It looked identical to any other sewer tunnel and she hoped she didn't get lost down here. She was just about to take a step back up to the dry walkway that ran along either side of the sewer walls when she was barrelled into by something small and green and sent flying into the water behind her.

Racing round the corner, determined to stay ahead of Raph and safe, Donnie didn't notice he was heading straight for a human until he had knocked into it and been sent tumbling into the sewer water with it. But when he did realise he had knocked a human over, and was currently sitting on its stomach, staring into surprised eyes he did the only thing he could think off and yelled.

"Raphie!"

His brother was round the corner in an instant, speeding up at the terror that had bled into Donnie's voice and he froze when he saw the human. Shaking off the fear that gripped him, because this was the first time he had ever seen a real human, he immediately leapt over and grabbed Donnie, pulling him away from the human, and taking a defensive stance in front of his brother.

The human didn't make any move, just stared at them, for so long that Raph was beginning to feel nervous. Should they run? Should they fight? Suddenly the human began to laugh, which made Raph even more perplexed. Was this how it was supposed to go? Wasn't there supposed to be more humans, with weapons, and things to take them away in?

"Donnie, when I say, run." Raph whispered harshly.

He felt his brother's hesitation, but knew he would no matter what.

"No, no. Don't run… I'm sorry, please don't run!" The human said, smiling a little at them. "My name is April. What's your's?"

Raph frowned, staring at her in confusion. Was he supposed to answer? What had Master Splinter said about this? He felt Donnie plaster himself against his shell, one hand wrapping round his arm. He would let go immediately if he needed to, but for the moment the touch was needed.

April looked at the two children, forcing herself to refer to them as that instead of as Turtles, because it would only make her laugh again. Why was she laughing at the idea? It was just the mere fact that she had believed them to be children in costumes when she had watched the footage from the Mousers, had expected to find nothing down her. And yet, here she was, in the sewers, having found two children, two mutant turtle children.

If she didn't laugh she might have screamed.

And from the look in their eyes, that probably wouldn't have been a good idea. She waited to see if either of them would answer her. But when, after a long stretch of silence, she got nothing but confused and frightened looks she tried again, she knew they could understand her, they had spoken, of course they could understand her. Obviously it was just a case of reassuring them she would not hurt them. It seemed to be their first time meeting a human.

"I won't hurt you, I promise. Can't you tell me your names?" she asked gently, pushing herself out of the water.

The one in the red bandana tensed as she moved, shifting until he had hidden the other completely behind him. So she stopped moving when she had managed to get herself into a kneeling position and looked at them. Her heart softened completely at the sight of them, and all urge to laugh fled her, so did any part of her that had been freaked out by their appearance.

They were just scared children.

"Hey, come on. It's rude to ignore someone when they ask you a question." she said, conversationally, hoping to draw them into speaking.

The red banded one's frown deepened. "How do we know your not just lying to give the other humans time to get us?"

She smiled reassuringly at him. "I give you my word; there isn't anyone else but me down here."

"How do we know we can trust your word?" he demanded roughly.

She looked at him sadly; it was somehow heartbreaking to see that level of distrust on a child's face. But she could understand it; after all, they were mutated turtles, living in a sewer. Which begged the question, who had been looking after them. "Do you have any parents? A mum or a dad? Do they know your wandering round down here on your own?"

The look of sadness caught her totally off guard.

"The monsters got them." the one with the purple bandana whispered softly, arms tightening on the others.

"We don't know that!" the one in red hissed.

"It's been a year Raph." came the response.

April watched them, and felt a little guilty, because she could guess that the 'monsters' they were referring to were the Mousers. And that had been a year ago? They had been alone down here for a year? Well, that did it. She barely registered making the decision, but it was made. Now, how to convince two untrustworthy little mutants to go along with it.

"Would you like to come home with me?" she asked,

Raph (she was glad she had a name for one of them now) refocused all his attention on her and scowled. "Why would we do that, human?"

"Because it's not safe for two little kids to be wandering the sewers or to be living by themselves." she told him. "And I have a name, I'd prefer it if you used it. It's a bit strange being called 'human' all the time." she smiled a little.

Raph shook his head. "We've been doing just fine up till now, we'll be fine."

"Raph…"

"No Donnie!"

April filed the name away.

"But Raphie…"

"No! You know what Master Splinter said about humans. We're not to trust them! They'll lock us up in cages and we'll never get to see each other again!" Raph exploded, and April's heart hurt to hear such things from him, that he actually believed it. It sickened her to realise that it was probably true. If the wrong person had stumbled upon them, they might well have ended up in cages and experimented on. How could she convince them that she would do none of those things? Leaving them there was not an option anymore, and the thought did not even enter her mind. They were coming home with her.

She'd find some way to explain it to Casey later.

"What would it take for you to believe me?" she asked.

That question obviously stumped Raph; she could read it in his uncertain shifting from foot to foot. She looked at him directly; he was the one she needed to convince.

Donnie had inched out from behind Raph, though he kept a good grip on his brother's arm to look at her more closely. "Where do you live?" he asked quietly, ignoring the hissed warning from Raph.

She smiled at him. "I live about two or three blocks from here. I think. It's a big building me and my family used to live in before my mum and dad died. We even have a shop there as well."

"Your family is dead?" Donnie asked. "We don't know what happened to ours. Our father and brothers got separated from us when the monsters came, and we haven't been able to find them. But Master Splinter should have found us by now…" he shrugged helplessly. "I don't want them to be dead. But they should have found us by now…" He looked about ready to start crying.

She wanted to hug him then, but Raph had already turned slightly, still watching her suspiciously, but he wrapped his arms around Donnie. "You really won't hurt us? Or give us to someone who will?" he asked her, eyes wise beyond their years.

"I promise." she said sincerely.

"And say we did agree to go with you. Where would we stay, and what would we be supposed to do?"

"You'd stay with me. There's plenty of room in my building. And as for what you would have to do, aside from not wander about the streets by yourselves in case anyone might see you, and maybe a few chores round the house, I would say all you'd have to do is be yourself and be a kid." In the back of her head she knew she would have to redefine some of those things, but that part of herself could be left until later, when she finally realised just what she was doing and just what she had brought down upon herself.

He seemed genuinely surprised by her answer, probably having expected a long list of things they would be forced to do to ensure their safety. "Wait here." he said finally, stepping away from his brother, grasping his hand and pulling him round the corner. She got to her feet and out of the water and waited for their return.

Because they were coming home with her.

There was no doubt in her mind.

Their conversation had been fast, and somewhat furious, Raph becoming more and more angry as he talked. Until Donnie had looked down and away, whispering. "I trust her." Raph could see he was waiting for him to explode all over again. And he hated seeing that his brother was afraid of him. Donnie hardly acted like he used to, Raph could remember when he would go on for hours about something he had read, or something he had made, or the best way to play a game, or do something. The way he always reminded them that they shouldn't be fighting, or messing about, or doing anything dangerous.

Now, instead of that old confidence, Donnie tended to whisper the words, never looking him in the eye. Falling silent even before he had launched into one of his rambling talks about nothing and everything. It was like he didn't know how Raph would react, and Raph could not work out why.

He wanted to protest, tell Donnie that they needed to pack up and move nests again and soon. But an old lesson of Master Splinter's reared its head. He needed to trust his brother, and looking at the dejected slump of Donnie's shoulders he could tell his brother expected him to disagree and be done with it.

To be honest he could understand why Donnie would want to trust her. After al they were only nine years old, and they both craved some kind of parental figure, someone who could look after them. Raph knew he wasn't doing enough to look after Donnie, he was trying his hardest, but he knew it wasn't enough.

Heaving a sigh he looked again at Donnie. "Fine… let's go get some clothes if we're going. We can't go topside like this."

Donnie looked at him in complete shock, before breaking into a happy, grateful smile, and Raph's stomach twisted. He didn't know whether to be happy he'd brought that smile out or sad. It was like a sign, showing him just how bad he had been managing, if Donnie was so willing to trust a human. He vowed to work harder at taking care of his brother.

Donnie was relieved, because if this worked out, and he believed it would. There was just something in the human--Aprils-- eyes that told him she was telling the truth and he should trust her. But if it did work out then it would mean that Raph wouldn't have to try so hard anymore. Donnie hated to see his brother work so hard trying to provide for them while he stood on the sideline's uselessly.

This would be a new beginning.

Getting the two turtles settled in the big empty building her parents had bought and paid for was surprisingly easy. Donnie seemed to trust her, though he never once left Raph's side to take a look around, or move any closer to her. But he asked questions. She noticed that Raph was watching her with a mix of suspicion and sorrow in his eyes, and she wasn't sure how to deal with that. She had left them in the living room watching the TV, their eyes wide with amazement. They'd never seen one before. It finally hit her when she was pulling out clean blankets and spare pillows just what she was getting herself into.

Taking in homeless children was one thing, but these were mutant turtles…

The sudden appearance of her boyfriend, Casey Jones, could have gone better. She had heard the front door open, and then the noise as both he and the turtle reacted to each other. She was out of her bedroom in an instant to find Casey standing stock still by the door, glaring at Raph, who stood on the opposite side of the room by the kitchen, Donnie behind him, glaring right back.

She had smoothed things over as much as she could, introducing them properly. And the evening passed a lot better than she had thought it would. The two turtles were quiet, and Raph still looked at them suspiciously, but a little after midnight Raph fell asleep, Donnie having given up much earlier and nestled down into Raph. April had covered them with a blanket.

She and Casey had talked then, properly. But he was surprisingly easy to win over, kissing her to stop her rambling, he said. "That red one reminds me of me when I was a kid, and the purple one's sorta cute in a mutant green turtle kind of a way."

"So this is ok?" she asked him softly.

"Reckon it prob'ly is." he shrugged.

Months had passed, and Raph's suspicions, no matter how much he had tried to hold onto them, had faded. The two humans were honest, he could see that, Casey more bluntly than April definitely, but Raph found he liked that. In the beginning he and Casey had reached an understanding, in that he didn't trust him, and Casey was ok with that. But it had somehow developed without Raph even realising, until he and Casey sat together and talked about the sports shows on TV, or about the motorcycles in some of Casey's magazines, to where he had stopped waiting for more humans to arrive every time Casey or April left the apartment.

He still kept a very close eye on Donnie, refusing to let him out of his site for longer than five minutes at a time. He knew Donnie was the same, because whenever he came back downstairs from the apartment upstairs Casey and April were redoing to make a bigger place for them, and Donnie hadn't been with him, or hadn't realised he'd gone, he would be treated to a quick hug, and then Donnie followed him round for the remainder of the day.

Even though April had gotten them bunk beds they still chose to sleep together, it was comfort and not much else. The need to know the other was right there.

April had been amazed by Donnie when he had fixed some little things in her kitchen, and Raph had been quite proud of his little brother then. She had started teaching him how to work her computer, and build some simple electronics from the ground up, she had been further surprised when she found he could build almost anything with only spare parts.

They were settling in a lot faster than Raph had ever thought possible, and instead of feeling resentment for that he found he quite liked it. Not that he would tell April or Casey, or even Donnie that.

It was nearing Christmas now. Donnie had mentioned that they should probably get something for April and Casey for taking them in and looking after them. Raph had snorted, but all that had gotten him was Donnie lapsing into silence and looking away. Mentally slapping himself he had told Donnie that he was right, they should. But how? It wasn't like they could wander the streets, go into shops, and even if they could, they had no money.

Surprisingly it was Casey who had, even though he hadn't known of their idea, come up with a plan. In the months they had known him Raph and Donnie had seen him only as April's Boyfriend, who they knew went out most nights to take care of the criminal element of the city. They knew he was a bit of a bonehead who broke more things than anyone else. But as Christmas approached he had taken to wearing a Santa hat and carting around decorations, enough to cover the whole building, and maybe half the block as well. Singing Christmas songs as he went.

The two turtles had watched him in awe, their own Christmas's (though they tried not to think back to when their family had still been there) had been small affairs, with a limited amount of decorations and one present each. To them this level of preparation was amazing to behold.

Casey had caught them staring, and ignoring the fact that Raph immediately moved in front of Donnie, despite the fact that he knew Casey would not hurt them, he had suggested that maybe they could all go out Christmas shopping. April had protested, stating it wouldn't be safe for them, and she had become far too fond of them to let anything happen to them if they were to go out. But Casey had won her round, in a surprisingly logical fashion for one Casey Jones.

No one would be able to see what they were under the coats, scarves and hats they would be wearing anyway, and it wasn't everyday they would get to see New York in all it's Christmas finery. Besides, how were they going to know what to get them for Christmas if they didn't let them see what the cities toy stores had to offer?

Finally April had agreed.

The four of them set out for a whole day of Christmas shopping, April and Casey walking behind the turtles, who were bundled up in a red and purple jacket respectively, trousers, boots (that had been an interesting conversation), and black and white (again respectively) scarves and hats. They held hands, because they didn't want to lose each other in the crowd.

It was in a mall, a huge place, covered in decorations, with hundreds of shops. Raph and Donnie stared wide eyed at the huge number of things on display, pressing their faces against the glass to see closer. It was at a jewellery shop that Casey squatted down beside the turtles and whispered. "Any idea's on what we can get April for Christmas?"

Donnie turned worried eyes to him. "Um…"

"We can't get her anything." Raph muttered. "We don't have any money."

Casey smiled, a goofy smile he reserved for when he was really enjoying himself. "I know that. That's why I said 'we'. You guys can help me choose it, because I'm awful at picking presents, and I always get her the wrong thing. So if you guys pick it, and I buy it, then it'll be a present from all three of us. What dya say?"

Raph looked at Donnie, who nodded just slightly, shyly. It made sense.

Casey clapped both their shoulders, making them stagger a bit, before getting back to his feet. "Great! Come on guys."

In the end they chose a pair of earrings, not nearly as expensive as Donnie seemed to be worried about, but they were very pretty.

April gave them the chance to get something for Casey. Something for the motorcycle he was rebuilding. And both humans watched very carefully in the toy store they had gone to to see what the turtles looked at the most.

All in all, this Christmas had gone a lot better than last years. There was a definite sadness when Raph and Donnie remembered their father and brothers, and that had persisted for a number of days before Christmas day. April watched them sadly, knowing it had to do with the family they thought was dead. They never spoke of it, at least not to April and Casey, and stayed closer to each other. But they brightened on Christmas day when they saw the presents they had received, and they spent the whole day distracted by the toys and games they had received.

"You guys know how to fight?" Casey asked, completely out of blue on day.

Raph, who had been sitting on the couch beside him watching the football, turned to him with a frown. "Yeah." he said. They had been here six months now; there was no more suspicion in his tone anymore, just some exasperation, because Casey always came out with the most random of things.

"Really?" Casey seemed surprised.

Raph rolled his eyes, though he supposed he should have been surprised Casey didn't know. He always did his practices early in the morning before breakfast while he waited for Donnie to wake up, he could leave the bed now but not the room before Donnie was aware in the mornings, he knew Donnie still had nightmares, and waking up alone tended to spur them on and Donnie would be clingy for weeks. Not that Raph really minded, he sort of enjoyed Donnie shadowing him everywhere, he felt like a proper big brother then. But he didn't like Donnie having the nightmares. It wasn't fair to him.

"Yeah." he responded to Casey's question.

"What about Donnie boy?" Casey persisted.

Raph frowned, Donnie didn't practice, at least not where he had ever seen him. He sometime's joined in on a 'kata', but only very rarely. "…yeah."

Casey's eyebrows furrowed and his face settled into his worried look. "That don't sound too good."

Raph sighed. "Why?"

Casey shrugged, but he looked serious enough. "Was just thinking is all. I mean, you guys are gonna get bigger, and older. And I figured it would probably be a good idea if you knew how to defend yourselves incase, ya know, anything ever happened to me or April, or something. Not that anything will--" he hastened to add, seeing the well guarded fear enter Raph's eyes at that. But Casey wasn't known for his tact, he knew they had lost their family over a year ago, and here he was talking about something happening to him and April. "But, ya know, just so you'd be prepared."

Raph looked down and away. "Master Splinter was teaching us Ninjitsu… how to be a ninja."

"Like proper martial arts stuff? Cool."

"Yeah…" Raph looked back up at Casey, his jaw set. "But I don't know enough to be a real ninja. An' I can't protect Donnie with what I do know. Not really." it was about as far as he was going to go in asking for help.

Casey nodded in understanding; he had meant it when he'd told April that Raph reminded him of himself as a kid. "I'll teach ya some moves. And maybe when you're old enough we can go out and bust some heads together. Make the city a little safer for Donnie and April, huh?"

Raph smiled gratefully, glad Casey understood. "Sure. Now shut up, yer making me miss the game."

Casey laughed, but went back to watching the game with him.

When Raph and Donnie turned fourteen, Raph had gone out with Casey for the first time. He had promised Donnie he would come back, but Donnie still stayed up most of the night waiting for his return, unable to sleep without knowing his brother was safe. Idly working on his new computer. He was listening carefully for the door.

When he did hear it he was out of his computer seat, out of his room and down the stairs in an instant, throwing his arms around Raph as soon as he reached him. It took a moment for embarrassment to seep in and he pulled back, looking sheepishly at his big brother, who he found was smiling at him foolishly, though there was a warm hint to his eyes that told him Raph was going to let him get away with the hug.

Casey was smiling like a crazy person behind Raph.

"So?" Donnie asked finally.

Raph grinned. "It was great!"

"He's a natural." Casey added with a proud grin of his own.

"We really kicked some Purple Dragon butt." Raph added.

Donnie couldn't understand what was so fascinating about hurting others, even Purple Dragons (who Casey had explained were the root of all evil on the streets), but he accepted it as just being his brothers way, like Raph accepted his obsession with electronics. Raph had been looking forward to this day for years, and knowing how his brother had reigned in his tendency to explode around him, knowing it upset him, he couldn't begrudge Raph the time he needed to get rid of his frustrations. He had been dragged into enough self-defence lessons to know how much Raph enjoyed fighting.

"Right, bed you two or I'm gonna have April chewing my butt off for keeping you up all night." Casey said, hustling them forward.

Donnie turned, and rather impulsively hugged Casey too, before letting go and latching onto Raph's arm to pull him towards the stairs and to their bedrooms.

Casey smiled to himself as he locked up and made his way to his and April's room. It wasn't often that anyone other than Raph was treated to a Donnie hug, and when you were, it shared a wealth of emotion and you knew exactly why you were getting one.

They were sixteen now, and had spent seven years with April and Casey, and it had been good. Raph had just been presented with a motorcycle that Casey and Don had been working on for months. Don had been given his very own lab, so that little bits of dangerous things would no longer be left hanging round his room. Raph and Casey had done most of the heavy lifting and decorating, while April set up the numerous little things Don had collected over the years.

It had been a good birthday.

It had become a birthday tradition for Don to make his way into Raph's room (when they had started sleeping in separate rooms) and into Raph's bed where they would just lie there and talk softly, about their brothers, Master Splinter. What it would have been like had they been here. What Leo and Mikey would be like now. What they would have gotten them for presents.

They normally talked all night. It was the one time they could talk freely about it, the rest of the year they tried not to think about it too much. Though Christmas tended to turn out much the same way as birthdays, with them sharing a bed and talking long into the night about the family they had lost.

And the one they had gained.

In the last seven years April and Casey had become their family, it was hard to say if they were like parents, or older siblings, or even like aunts and uncles. They just were.

While they talked, quietly, snuggling together in a way that they should have grown out of years ago, and had (kind of), except for special occasions. Neither could even begin to guess what the year ahead of them had in store. Or just what… Or who, they would find.

Hehe… don't kill me. This chapter refused to write it self correctly, it's evil. First April wouldn't stop hogging the first part, then the settling in process was awkward. Probably still is. And I had such big ideas for this chapter --sob-- Anyway, like I mentioned at the beginning, any little stories on their time with April and Casey will be posted in a separate article thing.

Please Review!