Thanks for the patience, guys! I've been taking an online school course and between that and writer's block, I just haven't been able to post anything.

Hope you guys enjoy this new chapter!

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"That's it! Come on, just a little further!"

Raph gently encouraged the puppy as he coaxed him out from his hiding place under Mikey's bed. His innocent younger brother had taken Bear from Donnie's lab and tried to play with him, but the still nervous pup had hidden from the playful, hyper turtle at the first chance he got.

Bear slowly crept forward and out from under the bed, the whites of his eyes showing as he looked around nervously, one tentative step after another as he inched towards Raph. Finally, he was close enough that Raph was able to gently reach over and pick him up and, while he stiffened at the contact, Bear did not scream.

"I just wanted to play with him…" Mikey whimpered guiltily. He expected his big brother to be angry at him, but instead Raph quietly turned to him and nodded. "I know, but he's only been with us for a week. He's still nervous, so you gotta be slow and gentle with him. Think you can do that just until he's used to us?" Mikey nodded, and Raph gently gave Bear over to his younger brother.

Mikey gently pet the pup's thick brown fur, being careful not to touch Bear's bandaged head. "Sorry for scaring you, little dude." he spoke softly. His apology was cautiously accepted with a cold nose tucking into the crook of his arm as the two brothers left the bedroom. They were about to enter their brother's lab when they discovered, a bit too late to react, that April had come over.

"Hey guys!"

Bear flipped out, his oversized puppy paws scratching Mikey's plastron with stiff legs as he struggled to escape and run, ultimately landing himself partly on the turtle's shoulder and partly on the top back part of his shell as Mikey made a careful yet hysterical run to Donnie's lab with a scream of "DONNIECATCHHIMFAST" as the pup's claws could be heard making panicky scratching noises against his shell, no doubt beginning to slip.

Leo had stepped out of the dojo just in time to see the spectacle of equal puppy-turtle panic and turned to their visitor. "Hey April! You're early today."

"You could say school finished early. Some idiot pulled one of the fire alarms. Some sort of weird prank… Was that a puppy?" The red head gestured to where Mikey had made his mad dash into Donnie's lab. Raph walked over to where Spike was lazily munching on a leaf, petting the pet turtle's shell. "Yeah. We found him about a week ago and Splinter's letting us keep him."

"And his name's Teddy Bear, Bear for short." Leo interjected. April smiled and awwed. "Can I meet him?" Raph pretended to think about it. "Well, he's pretty nervous. Think you can manage no sudden moves or loud noises?"

"Okay, okay." April laughed, "Come on, I wanna see him!" The two turtles led her into the lab, where Donnie immediately became flustered upon April's entrance. "A-April! Hi!"

Another presence in the room was also immediately aware of April. Tucked away in a safe little corner of Donnie's lab, Bear sat in a large box that held a warm blanket and bowls of food and water. The box was only temporary, to prevent him from getting spooked and running off into the sewers. The puppy sat up on his hind paws, just barely managing to peek out of his little safe haven at the newcomer.

A female human. Humans were evil as far as Bear knew, and their very scent made him anxious.

The turtle with the purple mask gestured for the human to follow him, and he led her towards the box. Betrayal! The pup scrambled over and squirmed his way under the blanket, unaware his little brown tail still stuck out. Somehow, his genius hiding tactic was foiled, and a large green, three-fingered hand gently removed the blanket and picked him up.

Bear immediately began to shake and whimper as he was picked up.

"Aww, you poor thing!" April reached forward, gently cupping the puppy's face as she noticed the bandage. "What happened to him?"

Donnie explained how they'd found Bear, and how they suspected he received his wounds. April could only shake her head in disbelief. "Any idea why someone would hurt him, then dump him?" Raph couldn't help but ask. April gave the red masked turtle a sad look. "Some people…are just mean for the sake of being mean. They don't think they need a reason to take it out on an innocent animal. They just…do."

Bear had stopped whimpering, but still quivered in Donnie's gentle grip as April stroked his thick, fluffy brown fur. April laughed gently, at which Donnie couldn't help but blush furiously at how sweet she sounded. "Oh my gosh, his paws to so big compared to the rest of him! He's gonna be huge when he grows up."

Mikey popped up over his flustered brother's shoulder, making Bear jump. "You know what kind of dog he is?!" April shook her head, but Donnie jumped in. "Actually, I've been looking online at different dog breeds that, in description, grow to be large, have brown double-coat fur, with floppy ears an-"

"UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

"Donnie. Seriously. Just tell us what he is."

Donnie deadpanned at Mikey's over-exaggerated groan and Raph's annoyed statement, shortening his answer. "Bear's a breed known as the Leonberger."

"Coooool!" Mikey awwed, then stopped. "I don't know what that is."

Donnie rolled his eyes, but gently placed Bear back in his box and went to his computer where, to Mikey's utter joy, he pulled up pictures of the breed Bear supposedly was. Raph joined them.

"DUUUUUDES! They actually look like bears! Look at that one on it's back feet! It actually looks like a bear!" Mikey giggled.

Raph snorted a laugh. "Well, you're not wrong."

April laughed. "Hard to believe, with how tiny he is right now." She slowly reached into the box towards Bear, letting the nervous pup sniff her just before he went and hid under the blanket again. "You've got a long way to grow, lil' guy."

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Early the next morning…

Bear was restless. The human girl knew the location of his safe haven. He had to find a new bed! These large, green, shelled creatures who'd taken him in seemed nice enough, but he couldn't be certain that they wouldn't show her his new hiding spot. The pup jumped, squirming over the cardboard wall in classic clumsy puppy fashion until he tumbled on out. Once on his paws, the pup slunk along the lab wall, eyeing the green creature with the purple face warily. It appeared to be sleeping….sitting up? The puppy didn't question anything, and proceeded to quickly scuttle out of the lab in search of a new sleeping place.

Meanwhile, in the dojo, Leo had already been meditating for at least an hour. He wasn't one to brag about his obedience and dedication to training, he just liked to get some time to himself before his brothers woke up. His ninja senses alerted him to movement near the door to the dojo, and he peeked an eye open, seeing Bear sniffing around the door frame.

At first, Leo contemplated getting up to get the pup before he wandered off, but decided to wait and see what would happen if he remained still. When he noticed the turtle in the center of the room, Bear froze up in a stance that looked like he was ready to bolt, but then began to tentatively approach with slow paw steps, eyeing the turtle nervously.

This green creature was different from the others. While it didn't interact with him as often as the others, Bear knew that this blue faced one was very gentle and patient. He slowly began to feel safe with this one.

It took half an hour, but eventually the puppy was sniffing Leo's crossed legs. Leo now had both eyes open, meditating momentarily forgotten, but he remained silent and smiled ever so slightly as Bear's big brown eyes looked up at him with a nervous hopefulness, just before the pup cautiously crawled into his lab and curled into a snug ball.

Leo smiled a bit more, and gently brought his hand to rest on the pup's back, mentally noting that the pup was not shaking. "Good boy, Bear." He spoke softly, barely even a whisper, for fear of scaring the puppy away. Giving yet another pleasant surprise to the eldest turtle brother, Bear's tiny floof of a tail gently thumped against his leg, eyes staring up at him with a nervous curiosity that was softly changing to a more gentle look.

A look of trust.

Later that morning, after Donnie had awoken to find Bear gone, he, Mikey, and Raph had begun searching the lair for the pup. At one such point, Raph looked into the dojo, quickly freezing as to avoid disturbing his meditating brother and the sleeping puppy in his lap. Smiling, he backed out and went back to his other brothers.

"Raph! Didya find him?!" Mikey ran up, panicked.

Raph smiled. "He's fine. He's sleeping with Leo."

At the looks on his brothers' faces Raph gave a short laugh, looking back at the dojo. "I know. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it."

"Th-this is a big step! I mean, with everything that's happened to Bear….A-and if he's learning to trust us.." Donnie's face was almost split with a grin, almost unable to contain himself.

"Dudesdudesdudesdudes! Does this mean we can start teaching Bear tricks?!" Mikey excitedly squeaked out, just too happy to even speak.

Donnie looked to the dojo, smiling. "Seems like that could be pretty likely real soon, if this continues going as well as it seems to be."

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Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out!

FYI, I highly recommend researching the breed. Leonbergers are such majestic dogs! :D

Obligatory disclaimer, as many people need to know this: if you want a particular dog breed, ALWAYS do your research on it. Leonbergers are lovely dogs, but are very large and very very hairy. XD

TMNT 2012 © Nickelodeon

Bear, story/idea © KaraTheFangirl