Chapter two: Awakening in the sewer

Three hours. Mikey had sat next to Alex for three hours straight and had no intentions of leaving. He watched her rhythmic breathing as her stomach went up and down, ever so gently. Her lips were slightly parted and Mikey could see her top teeth, glistening like pearls. How can anything be this,beautiful? He thought to himself, smiling.

"Hey, are you okay?" A voice asked from behind him. Mikey turned around and saw Leo, a concerned look on his face. "Look bro, your spending a lot of time with this girl..." He trailed off, hoping that his brother would catch on. "What's your point? I want to make sure shes okay, that's all." Mikey responded, sounding a bit defensive. Leo shook his head. He knew that wasn't the reason, he was just glad that Mikey would give him a reason. "Hey get in here you two! April's on TV!" Raph called to his brothers. Mikey very reluctantly got up and slouched towards the television, Leo trailing behind.

Everyone huddled close to the TV to hear what April O'Neil, a good friend of the turtles and a news reporter, had to say. "This is April O'Neil, live from The Waverly Substation located on Manhattan Island. The owners of the restaurant have reported their children missing. At around eight forty five, their daughter Alex Russo left to go to a party she wasn't allowed to attend. The parents suspect that their son, Justin Russo went to find Alex and drag her home. But that was three hours ago, and searches are being conducted as we speak. To my left, you'll see their picture. If you know anything, please call the number at the bottom of the screen. Back to you, Tom." The turtles all sat there in shock, while Donny quickly scribbled down the number on a pizza box.

"Justin and Alex Russo. Well, that solves one mystery, but why does The Shredder want them gone so badly?" He asked checking the number on the television and the box to make sure he wrote it correctly. " Well, looks like we can go ask her." Raph commented as he extended a finger to the bunk beds, where Alex was beginning to toss and turn. Donny nodded and went to confront her, with his brothers right behind him.

Mikey slowly crept up to her, gingerly tapping her on the shoulder. "Alex, are you awake?" He asked, voice full of fear. " Leave me alone Justin. I'm sleepy." She responded, her voice slurred by sleep. "We have some questions for you, please?" Alex was getting annoyed, very quickly. She sat up in bed and was about to yell at 'Justin' when she realized it wasn't him at all. But instead, a turtle. The one who saved her life.

Her eyes filled with fear, and amazement. Before her stood four turtles, who could talk. "You saved me... thank you." She eventually sputtered out, slowly inching towards them as she got out of bed. Mikey was stunned, her voice was a beautiful as she was. "Y-your welcome... A-Alex." he replied, weak in the knees. Alex tilted her head in confusion "How did you know my name?" Donny jumped in from there and explained that her parents were searching for her and her brother.

"I took the liberty of copying this number, so you can call your parents to tell them your okay." He offered Alex the old pizza box, she was trying not to show her fear. They obviously wanted to help her, not hurt her. She slowly took the box from the reptile's grasp and pulled out her phone to tell her parents she was okay. She realized that it wasn't her parents number almost instantly, but called it anyway.

Alex held the phone to her ear and waited for a response. She bit her bottom lip and tapped her foot, not because she was impatient though. More than anything, she did it because she was nervous. The turtles all kept their distance from her, not wanting to further scare the young wizard. After around five seconds, there was an answer from the other line. "Waverly Place detective agency, how may I help you?"

Alex's heart sunk in shear fright. Her parents really had reported her missing, Alex had come to the realization that she was listed as missing, she was listed to be gone from the face of the earth. When Donny told her, she thought it was a mistake. But to her dismay, it was anything but a mistake.

"Uhm, hi. My name is Alex Russo, my parents reported me missing?" Alex muttered into the phone in a wobbly tone of voice. There was a long pause from the other end. Man, I hope he didn't think this was a prank. The detective finally broke the silence, saying " How can I be sure that your who you say you are?" Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance before she snapped "Ask me a question about myself, this isn't a joke." Her tone had become more level, some fear slipping away. But of course it was only being replaced by shear annoyance.

" What's your full name?" Asked the detective in a very professional voice. "Alexandria Margarita Russo. Now do you believe me?" Alex asked, voice growing in annoyance. She heard the detective talking to someone in the background, his partner she supposed. " Not quite. When where you born, Ms. Russo." She stomped her foot in anger, fuming "I was born December fifteenth nineteen ninety two, in the back of taxi cab number 804! Stop asking me these dumb questions and let my parents know I'm okay!" She was screaming each sentence now, tears beginning to flow.

The detective tried to end her sobbing. "Okay, I believe you alright? Now, is your brother with you?" He asked, a bit of irritation in his tone. Alex's eyes grew wide, she'd forgotten all about Justin. She turned to the turtles and demanded "Where is my brother,is he here?" Raph nodded his head to behind Alex. She turned around and saw him sleeping in a bed that was next to hers, in her panic she hadn't noticed. "Yes, Justin is asleep. Both of us are okay, please tell our parents." Alex begged through desperate tears. "Alright, can do. Now, were are you?" Alex was then required to preform her specialty: lying.

"Oh, right. Justin came to take me away from a party in Queens, and we decided to take the subway home. Anyway, the train is broke down and Justin decided to take a nap." Alex lied with a slight smirk on her face. The detective wasn't buying it, things just didn't add up for him. "How'd you know my number then?" He asked skeptically. Shoot, he caught on to me. Gotta think fast. Alex racked her brain for a few seconds until she finally got an answer. "Justin gets news alerts on his phone every hour, that's how I know." She replied slyly, proud of her great lying skills. "Alright. As long as the two of you are safe, I'll notify your parents and explain the situation." Then, he got another thought " Why didn't you notify them, Ms. Russo?" She didn't have to think about that one, she quickly replied "Because I wasn't ready to get chewed out for going to the party." The detective let out a light chuckle and hung up the phone.

"Woah, what up with the lies dudette?" Raph asked Alex as she placed her phone back in her pocket. "Do you really think he would've believed that I was in a room full of talking turtles?" Alex asked, cocking her eyebrow. Raph smirked "Your a smart alec , I like that Russo." He said holding up his hand for a high five. Alex hesitated for a moment, but eventually slapped his hand in a quick jerking motion. "Well, you know mine and my brother's names. But what's yours?" She asked shooting collective glances at the four scaly brothers. Mikey smiled because she was coming around, and wasn't very afraid of them anymore.

Raph patted her shoulder and gave her a half smile "The name's Raphael, my bros call me Raph." Alex nodded as a greeting, turning to Donny. He grabbed her hand and shook it, he smiled "Donatello, but I go by Donny usually. Pleased to meet you Alex." From what she could gather, Raphael was a bit rude and Donatello seemed a lot nicer, and smarter. "Okay, Raph and Donny. That'll be easy to remember." She commented grinning widely. Leo waved to the young wizard, saying " And I'm Leonardo. But if you want you can call me-" Alex cut him off, guessing "Leo?" The turtle laughed heartily. "Yeah, dudette! I'm really glad we were able to like, save you and junk." Alex grinned at the friendly reptile. "Me too."

Then, It was Mikey's turn. To introduce himself to the image of pure beauty standing before him. Alex smiled at him, flipping her hair out of her stunning brown eyes. "Okay, so who are you... dude?" Alex asked playfully, finally completely loosening up. "I'm... M-Michelangelo. N-nice to meet y-you." He stuttered, turning bright red. Alex laughed at the spectacle before her, a tongue tied turtle. "Dude! What's up with the stuttering, bro?" Teased Raphael, earning a smack to the head from Michelangelo.

"So, were are we guys?" Alex asked her new friends as they all walked back into the room containing the couch and TV. How do they get cable down here? She wondered to herself as she set her attention back towards Donny, who was explaining their location. "We are in Master Splinter's dojo. All of the skills we know, we learned here. He's sorta like a dad to us y'know?" Alex nodded, then asked "So there are five of you turtles then? Including Master Splinter?" Donny then shook his head, said "Well, actually he's a rat." Alex raised her eyebrows, causing her forehead to scrunch up. She could handle a few turtles, but a rat? That was pushing it. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere..." Alex pulled the turtle back by his arm, gaining a confused stare from him. "That's okay Donny, I'll meet him some other time." She assured him trying her best not to show her discomfort, she had no malice to talk to a giant rat.

"Hey, Russo! Are ya hungry dudette?" Raph asked Alex, this time in a bit nicer voice. Alex turned her head toward Raphael, who was picking up a beaten up pizza box. The wizard girl examined the room and noticed there were loads of pizza boxes, most of them empty. Wow, they must really love pizza. Raphael walked over to Alex and opened the box, revealing a pepperoni and mushroom pizza. "EEEW! Barfarooni dudes! There's mushrooms on this one..." He commented sticking his tongue out in disgust. "But there wasn't this morning man..." Leonardo pointed out. Upon further examination, Alex discovered that the mushrooms were growing out of the pizza. "Uh, I think I'll pass Raph." Alex muttered, followed by a chorus of 'me either' coming from the other turtles.

"Sorry 'bout that Russo, we don't get very much fresh pizza anymore." Raph griped as he threw the box over his shoulder then stomping his foot. "Anymore, why is that?" Alex asked , turning around to see if Justin had awaken. "Because were not supposed to go above ground, unless it's to fight those lame-o Foot Ninjas." Leonardo explained, looking for an edible pizza. "Until around three weeks ago, our friend April would bring us fresh pizza every day. But nowadays, she's so busy with work that she can't do it anymore. Never the less, she still makes an effort to see us once a week." He concluded, playfully juggling his swords. Hm, Leo's got the answers to everything. I'm gonna guess he's like their leader, or something. Alex thought to herself before asking "Why can't you guys go up above ground just for the heck of it?" Raphael's eyes shifted in anger.

"People are cruel. They'll hurt ya just 'cause you ain't like 'em." He scoffed in disgust. "That's why Master Splinter is very particular about us leaving the sewers." Pointed out Mikey, who had just worked up the courage to speak. "Since April is so busy, we sneak behind pizza shops at night and get the pizza's that were left under the heating light for too long. They aren't too bad, just a little crunchy." Donny joked, positioning himself upside down on the couch. Alex had began helping Leonardo look for an edible slice of pizza when something caught the corner of her eye. Justin had just sat up in the bed, rubbing his head.

"All right , Justin's awake! Right on, dudes." Leo blurted out pointing towards the groggy wizard. Alex stopped them before they could run to greet him. "Guys, Justin is gonna freak when he sees you. So just hang back here for a sec, okay?" Three of them nodded in agreement, but Mikey went a little over board. " Sure, Alex! Whatever you say." He beamed eagerly. Alex gave him a quick smile and said, "You seem very easy to manipulate, I like you Mikey." His eyes perked up at this "Back atcha, dudette!" Alex let out a slight giggle and headed to confront her brother.

Alex sat on the side of the bed next to her brother. He was looking around, dazed and confused. "Alex, were are we?" He asked slowly, wincing at the pain in his head. "Were in the sewers, they brought us here last night to recover." She explained to her confused brother, who was still rubbing his sore cranium. At the word 'sewer' Justin let out a small shriek, pulling a bottle of hand sanitizer from his front pocket and rubbing his hands vigorously. Ugh, why does he have to be so neat all the time? "They? Who is They?" Justin asked very quickly, still sanitizing his hands. "The Ninja Turtles, don't you remember last night?" She asked, smacking him lightly on the arm. "Oh my gosh, it wasn't a dream?" He asked , eyes widening in amazement. Alex shook her head side to side, saying "Nope. Listen, they want to help us and they are really cool guys. So remain calm when I introduce you, okay?" Justin hesitated for a second before finally nodding. "Okay."

The two siblings made their way back to the room were the turtles were pizza hunting. "Guys, I'd like you to meet my big brother Justin." The turtles all looked up and gave him a friendly welcome. "Hey man, sorry 'bout whacking you earlier. My bad." Donatello apologized to the frightened boy. Justin said nothing, standing still looking straight ahead. Raph went to touch Justin on the shoulder, and asked "Hey, are you all right pal?" But before he could touch him, Justin bolted back to the bed and covered his head with the covers. Alex rolled her eyes at her brother's ignorance. "Captain Jim Bob Protect me!" He cried over and over. This is gonna take some work...