Again, SORRY!

Chapter 1

April looked around at the men surrounding her. 'At least I think they're men.' The one on her left removed his three fingered hand from her neck, the pressure on her pulse vanishing. "What are you?" The one in blue swallowed uncomfortably.

"Well… miss… uh…" He clasped his hands in a martial art bow of respect. "We're ninjas."

"We're mutants." Red-mask.

"Well technically we're turtles." Purple.

"Oh and we're teenagers." Orange. "But that doesn't mean we can't have adult conversations." April stood up.

"So you're… ninja… mutant… turtle… teenagers?"

"Well when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous."

"See she's looking at us like we're freaks." The red-masked ninja…turtle…teen, whatever, pointed a finger at her. "I bet that's why you took our picture wasn't it? Show all your-" A cracking cut the red-mask guy off. Looking up, everyone saw a figure dropping from the sky.

~ *.* ~

'What the hell? Am I…' Taigā flipped over, her eyes flying open at the sight. She was plummeting straight towards a roof. "HOLY SHIT I'M FALLING!"

'Okay. Don't freak out. I'll just land on that water tank. It'll probably break, but it'll be better than-' "OOF!" A body shot out of nowhere, catching her. Strong arms wrapped around her, drawing her to a warm, armored chest as they flipped down. Her rescuer grunted as his feet made contact with the roof.

"Are you alright?" The girl, panting from the adrenaline and the shock of nearly dying, looked up at the voice. Her eyes widened in surprise. Instead of a man, she was looking at Leonardo. 'He's even hotter in person! Ugh. I did NOT just think what I think I thought.'

Leo cleared his throat, uncomfortable under her emerald-green gaze. "Um… ma'am?" The last word snapped her out of her trance.

"Yes, I'm okay, and don't call me ma'am. I'm not a ma'am." The turtle blinked a couple times. 'Not expecting that.' Mikey chuckled from over his head.

"Dude! Two hot chicks in one night! Sweet!" Leo rolled his eyes, gently setting the girl on her feet.

"Do you ever stop?" When she wobbled, he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, stabilizing her. "Careful."

"Thanks. Um…" She looked up at him again. "What's your name?" Leo blinked again.

"Um… Leonardo. And you are?"

"Taigā." She held out a hand. "Pleased to meet you, Leonardo." Unsure what to do, Leo hesitantly placed his hand in hers. Well, technically over hers, since his was so much larger. She didn't seem to mind, gripping it and shaking.

Mikey jumped down behind her. Taigā whirled to face him, ripping her hand from Leo's grip. "I'm Michelangelo. Pleased to meet ya' dudette." She quirked an eyebrow. Before Leo could get worried, she clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling the giggles. She looked up at Mikey, mirth shining in her eyes.

"You're pretty funny." Mikey beamed, wrapping the girl in a bear hug.

"I like you!" He set her down, keeping his arm around her shoulder. "So…how long you in Manhattan for?" The girl froze at the word 'Manhattan'.

"Manhattan. Right. I'm in Manhattan, New York." She pulled away from Mikey. "Okay…" Taigā massaged her temples. Leo tilted his head.

"Are you alright?" She nodded.

"Yeah…" Taigā took a deep breath. "No. I'm just trying to find a logical explanation for how I got from Santa Barbara, California to Manhattan, New York in…" She glanced down at her wrist, clearly expecting a watch. "Anyone got a watch?"

Donnie stepped up. "It's 11:15 PM this time. Oh! And my name is Donatello." She nodded at him.

"Thank you Donatello. Um… do you happen to have the time when I… appeared, I guess it would be." He nodded.

"11:14 and 35 seconds." Taigā nodded, crossing her arms under her T-shirt clad breasts. Leo blushed when the movement pushed them up slightly, exposing more cleavage.

"That would mean I crossed approximately 2,876 miles, 2,515 as the crow flies, in thirty seconds." Donnie gaped.

"I didn't even know that was possible." The girl sighed.

"Technically speaking, it isn't. It takes a jet plane almost a day to travel that distance, and we are several decades away from teleportation." Donnie frowned, tapping his upper lip with a finger.

"True. So how?" Taigā shrugged.

"You tell me. Seriously. Got any ideas?" Donnie sighed, pursing his lips as he thought. The two began tossing possibilities back and forth.

During their whole conversation, Leo examined the girl. 'About five foot eight, brown, length waist hair, emerald eyes, pale skin. Cotton T-shirt, light jogging jacket, and flannel pajama pants: definitely not appropriate attire for a 45 degree New York night. Perhaps she wasn't lying when she said she was from California. Judging from her grip and muscle tone, she frequently works out. But she couldn't be more than fifteen years old.'

Leo sighed softly to himself. 'Then again… we are only sixteen. But we're mutant turtles, male, and have been trained in Ninjitsu for most of our life. We're bound to have more muscle than her.' His cerulean eyes swept over her body once more. 'Still… there's always the possibility she's a martial artist too.'

Mikey leaned towards his older brother. A playful smirk played at his lips. "Don't think I can't see you checking her out."

"I'm judging her threat level, Mikey."

"I'm not a threat Leonardo." Both jumped at her voice. Taigā turned, recrossing her arms under her chest. Before she could say anything else, another voice rang across the roof.

"I'll be the judge of that." Raph jumped down from the water tower, glowering down at the girl. "Who's to say you won't call the cops on us? If we let you leave."

Taigā scoffed at him, cocking a hip. She rested a pale hand on the fleece-clad body part. Leo hated to admit it, but he was impressed. 'She's not intimidated by him. By any of us, now that I think about it.'

"Were you even listening? I live in SAN-TA BAR-BA-RA CAL-I-FOR-NIA." She gestured with her arm to the left, swinging it in an arc. "On the OTHER side of the COU-NTRY. My closest relatives live in Arkansas." Taigā huffed, placing her other hand on her left hip, completing the image of a ticked-off teen. "I couldn't call for help if I wanted to."

Raphael glared at her, trying to not show his surprise when she glared back. "So back off, Fruitcake. I'm not going to hurt you or your brothers." Leo stepped up.

"Wait. How did you know we were brothers?" Taigā shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the leader.

"Fifty-fifty. You were either that, or best friends. I went with the more likely of the two. Considering your interactions with each other and all." Donnie chuckled.

"You're pretty smart, Taigā. I'm impressed." She blushed, ducking her head.

"Thanks." The sound of someone clearing their throat made everyone look to the right. April stood there, arms crossed and a foot tapping the roof.

"I'm still here you know." Mikey facepalmed.

"Idiot!" He grabbed Taigā's hand, dragging her over to the other woman. "Taigā, April. April, Taigā." The two females shook.

"Pleasure." Taigā smirked, retrieving her hand.

"Nice to meet you. So…" She looked around the group. "Are you guys a theater group or something?" Raph let out a bark of sarcastic laughter. In return, he got a glare. "It was a legitimate question, jerkwad." He just looked away, grumbling.

"Uh…. no." Leo swallowed uncomfortably. "We're… teenage mutant ninja turtles." Despite what he had already seen from Taigā, he expected a reaction akin to April's. Even so, he wasn't entirely surprised when she smiled.

"That's awesome." A breeze swept across the roof. Everyone save Taigā was prepared for it. She, on the other hand, shivered violently, drawing her jacket around her. "Yeesh. Aren't you guys cold?" Mikey shook his head.

"Nope. We're New Yorkers, babe. We don't get cold."

"Of course." Another shiver racked her body, causing her to huddle her arms closer to her chest. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to keep warm. Mike stepped towards her, his arms outstretched. Before his brothers could stop him, he embraced the girl, drawing her to his chest. He shifted his body so his shell blocked the wind.

"Better?"

"Much. Thanks." A beeping sounded on Donatello's comlink. Lifting it, he blanched when he read the hologram.

"Leonardo. If we want to make it home before Master we got to hustle." The leader nodded.

"Right." Mikey looked at his elder brother, a pleading look in his eyes. "No."

"Ah come on bro! She doesn't have anywhere to go!" Taigā glanced between the two ninjas.

"If you were planning on asking Leo if I could go with you guys, you don't have to." Mikey recoiled from the girl, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"Are you loco homey?!" She shrugged.

"I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've slept outside. I'll find some alley or something to sleep in. No big." Everyone stared at her. Taigā looked around, confusion written all over her face. "What?"

"You know nothing of New York, do you?" the brothers chorused. Even Raph.

"Nope." Mike drew the brunette teen to him again. Instead of talking to her, his strangely serious voice addressed his siblings.

"Look, I'll take full responsibility of her. I'll explain things to Sensei, and, even though I'll probably be sent to the Hasshi, I'll take it." He draped an arm across her shoulders. "But I'm not going to let her be on her own in New York at night. Especially with you-know-who still out there."

Leo, Donnie, and Raph gaped at their youngest brother. It was Don that spoke up first. "Who are you and what have you done with Michelangelo?"

"Dudes, even I can be serious sometimes. Not a lot, but I can. Like right now." Ignoring the others, Mike looked down at the girl huddled against his shell. "Is it alright with you if I take you home?" Taigā chuckled.

"So long as it's out of the wind, warm, and safe, I don't care if it's a dumpster in an alleyway." She thought about that for a moment. "Okay, I'd really prefer it not be a dumpster, but I think you get the idea." For an answer, Mikey scooped her up bridal style.

"I do." Taking his skateboard off his back, he flung it on the ground, shooting past his brothers. "See you back home!" They just stared after him.

Donatello sighed. "We gonna go after him?" Leo nodded. Before he ran after his youngest sibling, he turned to April.

"Do not say a word of this to anyone. If you do, we will find you… April, O'Neil." The brunette nodded dumbly. When the turtles were off the roof, she fumbled in her jacket pockets.

'Come on. Come on. Yes!' She drew her phone out, taking shots in the direction of the turtles. As the last one came out, she looked up. Even though they were out of sight, she could still hear them. "I seriously need to go home."