I'm back! Miss me? Yeah, sorry about taking so long with this chapter. I know it was quite a cliffhanger last chapter and I wanted to post this one pretty quickly, but that didn't happen. I actually had this typed for about a week, but I was too busy/lazy to revise it. Ha ha ha ha... please don't kill me!
Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
"Oooow," Kaylin cried weakly.
"Kaylin!"
All four brothers, even Leo, forgot all about the purple dragons- who scampered the heck out of there- and rushed over to aid their friend, her body limp on the sidewalk. Donnie was the best doctor of the team, so he quickly took Kaylin in his arms to examine her wounds.
As Donatello scrutinized her, tears continued to fall out of Kaylin's now bloodshot eyes. Her chest rose rapidly for short breaths of air. Suddenly, the oxygen in the atmosphere didn't agree with Kaylin. After their terrible beating, Kaylin's clothes were dirty and torn in several places, but no skin was visible through all the red ooze. Blood painted the walkway around the girl in a small circle.
Leo watched in horror as Kaylin suffered. "Her blood paints the walkway."
Now, his chest swelled with guilt. If Kaylin died that night, it was because he made her run off and find the gang attacking the clerk. He would have caused her death. And for what? What did Kaylin really do wrong? Befriend Leo's brothers? That wasn't a crime and Kaylin definitely didn't deserve to die!
"But she won't die!" Leo screamed in his head, "Not now, not ever! And I'll make sure of it!"
"Kaylin?"
From the sound of Donnie's voice, their friend opened her eyes. To give them one less thing to worry about, Kaylin forced her tears to dry up and stay behind. She peered at Donnie for one second, and then switched to Mikey and Raph. Finally, Kaylin gazed relentlessly at Leo, causing him to feel just as uncomfortable as he made her feel a few minutes ago.
"Are you alright?" Mikey asked anxiously.
For a moment, Kaylin simply glared at the ground, like she wanted to hit something. But then, her legs found their motive. Kaylin began shifting her weight on her feet again, attempting to stand up and stop looking like a helpless person.
Before she could even sit up all the way, though, Kaylin winced and stopped all her movement.
"Whoa," Donnie cooed, "don't try to get up right now."
Mikey whimpered like a sad puppy. "Is she going to be alright, bro?"
He didn't answer, but Donnie smiled at Kaylin in a comforting way. "You're very lucky. That bullet could have punctured any number of vital organs, but it merely grazed your chest."
Donnie took hold of Kaylin's left arm. As she recoiled, Kaylin cried out once more.
"Sorry about that," Donnie explained, "When you fell, after it scraped your torso, the bullet lodged itself into your arm. There won't be any permanent damage, but it looks like your humerus bone is fractured. I- just need to- remove the- pellet-"
"OW!"
"There," Donnie held up a bloody round object, "much better."
"Speak for yourself," Kaylin mumbled.
For the first time in awhile, everyone laughed. The air felt much lighter.
In next to no time, Donnie had cleaned and wrapped up Kaylin's chest and arm wounds. Feeling a great deal better, the girl cautiously lifted herself up and took a few practice steps. Everything looked fine. Kaylin turned around and gave the boys a thumbs-up.
Mikey practically flew over to his friend. "You saved our lives! Thank you! Kaylin, from now on, you are officially one of our bros!"
"Ha, ouch! Arm, arm!" Kaylin said.
"Whoops, sorry," Mikey laughed.
"Yeah, you're absolutely our friend now!" Donnie exclaimed.
"Mm hm," Raph approved.
"I agree."
Four heads whirled around to face a blue-masked turtle. The whole time, Leo had stood still and stared at his brothers and Kaylin. A thousand thoughts, once again, seemed to weigh on his mind. But Kaylin had accepted Leo's challenge and beaten it. Time to swallow his pride.
"Ahem, you saved our lives today, so I think we can trust you."
"You think?!" Raph griped. "Even after that, you're still as arrogant as ever!"
An epic glare-off occurred between the two turtles. However, Leo sighed, silently agreeing that Kaylin deserved more than that.
"I know we can trust you," Leo decided, "and… I am sorry for my… rude behavior lately."
In all honesty, he probably could have been more sincere, but Kaylin glowed as bright as a star when she heard his apology. She shook her head softly.
"Don't worry about it. You guys barely know me. I don't expect you to trust me completely."
Kaylin gave a reassuring smile and, for once, Leo smiled back. It only took some purple dragons and a bullet to kick-start their friendship.
However, Kaylin just then remembered something very important. "Oh jeez, I forgot. Don't you guys have a mission or something to do?"
Leo mentally smacked himself. After the purple dragons showed up, his brain became completely focused on them and disregarded the Reaper entirely. Even Mikey started getting a little bit serious.
"Oh shell! We're not even at the hideout yet and it's been, like, an hour! We gotta get moving."
"Hold on!" Donnie intervened, "I haven't given Kaylin some more bandages for her wounds."
Kaylin shook her head. "It's alright. I'll, uh… get some at home!" She ran over to her backpack lying nearly forgotten on the side. "You guys just do your thing."
Raph pulled out his sais, spinning them with a dramatic flare. A wild grin crossed his face.
"It's about time. Come on, let's pound this Reaper guy."
Kaylin stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened to the size of baseballs and she bit her lip. Suddenly, her breathing was slow and shallow again.
"D-did you ju-just say 'Reaper'?" Kaylin stuttered nervously.
Donnie raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's the man we've been after since we first ran into you, actually. What's wrong?"
Kaylin averted her gaze. Confused, the four boys stared in concern at their friend. Her fist clenched and unclenched.
"They know about the Reaper! Doesn't that settle it, Kaylin? Should I do it? I mean, I trust them… b-but what if they… could they still…" Kaylin thought desperately. Slowly, she exhaled all her worries. "Forget that, I'm doing it. I can't handle this on my own. However… I can't do it now."
Before she changed her mind again, Kaylin swung her backpack over and marched forward to the turtles. A look between a mix of determination and doubt appeared on her face.
"Okay," Kaylin started, "I know this is going to sound crazy, but… I need to talk to you guys about something."
"Huh?" all four said in unison.
Kaylin continued to clarify. "It's really important, but I wasn't sure if I could tell you until now."
Raph folded his arms. "Well, what is it you need to say?"
Kaylin shook her head fiercely. "I can't explain it here or now. You four have a mission, so tell you what: meet me a block down- near the sushi restaurant- tomorrow night and I'll tell you everything. I'll even tell you why I can't do it tonight, but please do this for me!"
Raph turned his head down, considering the request. Both Mikey and Donnie scratched their heads in totally confusion. With these body language clues, Kaylin became worried that she was asking too much of them after such little time they had been together. However, Leo came to Kaylin's rescue.
"Of course," Leo affirmed. "We'll help in anyway we can, don't you worry."
After he said this, Kaylin's eyes filled with gratitude. Before she could stop herself, Kaylin leaped at Leo and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you! You have no idea how much that helps me!"
Half listening, Leo's cheeks burned a violent red. His heart threatened to burst out of his ribcage from how close Kaylin got to him. In his surprise, Leo never returned the hug, but Kaylin didn't care.
Still smiling brightly, Kaylin released the turtle from his uncomfortable squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
In an overjoyed fashion, the girl left the brothers to return to where ever she lived. That thought woke Mikey up.
"Shoot, I forgot to ask where she lives. It'd be cool to hang out more often and not when we're on missions."
The three other boys nodded. However, Leo had moved an inch since Kaylin had left. Confused on why they hadn't heard an order, Mikey pushed on Leo's arm.
"Uh, bro?"
No response.
"Yo, bro?!"
Dead Silence.
"DUDE, WAKE UP!"
"Huh?" Leo shook his blank face off. When had he started spacing out? And why did his face feel so hot?
"Whoa dude, why are you blushing?" Mikey asked, curiously poking at his face.
Leo grabbed the probing fingers and bent them away, much to the distress of Michelangelo.
"Ow, jeez, sorry for asking!"
Leo glared him silent. "Just follow my lead."
Like nothing had just happened, the leader of the team leapt back onto a building before a pedestrian came along. After the noise they had recently made, Leo was in fact surprised no one had shown up, but he wasn't going to push his luck.
The three younger brothers got the hint and pursued without a complaint. The once pitch black night sky, littered with stars, was beginning to lighten as the sun rose up. Time was almost out.
"As soon as we reach the place, Donnie look for a way in that won't alert any guards or citizens. Stealth is our most important ally right now."
"Right," Donnie agreed.
"Raph, you and I will take out any guards that we see- without causing a din- once we're inside."
"You got it."
"Mikey, you're the fastest, so try to find out where the Reaper is hiding in the place if we don't- and… he's… not… here," Leo realized. Right in front of them was the supposed hideout, glistening in all its run down glory. However, all the lights were off, the windows were boarded, and police tape wrapped itself around every corner. The walls were a mixture of faded brown and bright yellow. Only the outside was visible, but one thing was clear: no one was inside.
Leo dropped his shoulders. "It happened again! I'm detecting an annoying pattern here!"
Raph threw his sais down hard, resulting in a loud clank. "Ugh! Am I EVER gonna be able to hit this guy?!"
Wondering that himself, Leo placed a three-fingered hand on his brother's shoulder. When his own blue eyes locked with Raph's green ones, an understanding passed through. They were late because helping a friend was more important. Kaylin seemed to appreciate that when she took a bullet for the turtles, despite the obvious differences between their species.
"We'll get him the next time Raph," Leo assured him. "Let's go home."
Back at the lair, Leonardo sat in front of a blank TV screen, lost in thought. Everything that had happened the past few days left a strange felling inside his chest. Any notion of Kaylin only increased the sensation. What was up with his mind? Why did Leo suddenly want to help Kaylin in anyway he could? She was beautiful yes, but how did that affect him?
As if the universe wanted to answer his question, Mikey walked into the room. "Um, Leo? Why are you blushing so much?"
At his question, Leo looked shocked and almost offended. "I'm not blushing. I'm just… thinking."
Mikey cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, giving the appearance of a curious child. "What are you thinking about?"
Before he could stop his mouth, Leo spilt the beans. "Kaylin…"
Mikey's face split into a gigantic grin. Raph, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, smiled slyly and put down his magazine. He pranced over to the conch and set himself right by Leo, grinning like a mad man. Leo might have been smart and talented in martial arts, but he had no clue about feelings, and that was what Raph was counting on.
"So, have you been thinking a lot about Kaylin lately?" Raph questioned, already knowing what the end result of this discussion would be.
"Well… yeah," Leo admitted.
"Do you find her cute or pretty?" Mikey urged.
Leo blushed even more crimson now. "Don't you guys find her kind of cute?"
Raph's eyes sparkled with mischief. "I'll take that as a yes. One last question," the red-masked turtle whirled around, "YO, DONNIE GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE!"
"I'm coming you don't have to yell!" Donnie shouted from another room.
Shortly after, the young brother stood in the room, half focused on tinkering with some machine, and half focused on glaring at his sibling. "I'm here now; what do you want?"
Raph smiled sweetly. This action caused all three of his brothers to recoil in horror. Raph doesn't smile 'sweetly' unless he was about to cause pain, misery, or embarrassment.
"Donnie please describe to Leo what you felt when you first laid eyes on April."
Still a little scared, Donatello raised an eyebrow. "Why would I need to do that?"
"Because if you don't, I'll make that gap between your teeth even bigger," Raph threatened, still talking in a charming voice.
Donnie's eyes widened. He covered his mouth in fear and nodded his head fiercely. "Okay, okay!" Turning his attention to Leo, Donnie sighed slightly, embarrassed by this command, "When I first saw April, I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen- I told you guys that."
Donnie's brother nodded, still a little confused on the whole situation.
"Anyway, my heart started racing, my thoughts were clouded, and I got nervous around her most of the time. I wanted to do anything to help her when she and her dad got kidnapped. There; that's what I felt!"
Satisfied by his answers, Raph smiled warmly to Donnie once again, which was replied to with a small 'eep' from the turtle. Raph patted Leo on the shell.
"Does any of that stuff sound like something that happened to you when you met Kaylin?"
Finally understanding what the question was for, Donnie smirked at Mikey, who returned with a devious chuckled. Leo, however, didn't move. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Yes, that's exactly what happens when I see Kaylin. And when she's not around, I can't stop thinking about her. My mind gets foggy and- and…"
Leo paused at the sight of his brothers smug faces. Each of them was staring at the eldest in an endless way that made him very self-conscious. When their gaze became too much, Leo avoided their eyes and started panicking.
"Why are you guys smirking at me? What does me thinking about Kaylin prove?"
Mikey started laughing like crazy. Donnie shook his head at Leo's naivety. Raph, in all his smug glory, was the only one who answered.
"You have a crush on Kaylin!"
What is the big secret that Kaylin is keeping? How is she connected to the Reaper? How is Leo going to react to knowing that he has a crush? You'll find out next chapter!
And... I'll try not to take several months to do it. -_-'
