Chapter 4

"Like a Moth to flame"

The News had claimed there had been a city wide search for a couple of escaped felons. They had even shown pictures. But, as April had asked Donatello later, when did the police start using tranquilizers? April had covered the story and found there seemed to be a lot of holes and things that weren't quite matching up with the story the turtles had told her. So despite the desire to believe the news story the turtles took extra caution for the next week. Which meant no one left and no one came down.

After three days of being stuck poking around the layer, Mikey was board. You can only watch so much T.V and play so many video games, draw, read comics, and anything else that requires sitting still before you start to find ways to make things interesting for everybody. Sure he tried to train more with Leo, buuut that lost his interest relatively quickly as well. So Mikey mischief ensued, over the next four days.

There was sugar in the salt shaker, salt in the sugar jar, cling wrap across halls, sticky goop on door knobs, and each prank was more elaborate from the last until no one wanted to touch anything.

Leo, Don, Raph, and splinter now sat on the couch watching golf on the T.V.. Not because they wanted to watch golf, but because none of them cared to tangle with the rather LARG spider that was hanging out under the glass mixing bowl on the coffee table accompanied by the remote. The control box by the T.V. had been thoroughly gooped up with petroleum jelly. Don would have looked up the spider to make sure it wasn't poisonous, but his computer and all his reference books were in his lab. Which, he had been warned, was boobie trapped. No one was happy.

Mikey was banned to his room until everyone was over the strong desire to beat him. So naturally he found a way to drive everyone crazy from there.

Now if a rubber band is pulled so tight and bounced off the ceiling at this angle it just might hit….

"Owe. Mikey! Knock it off!" Leo shouted.

Mikey snickered as he readied another rubber band. Release and snap.

"Damn it!" Raph bellowed and jumped up so fast he knocked over the coffee table releasing the large, ugly spider.

The spider scurried, Raph freaked and started throwing things at it. Don and Leo ducked for cover and splinter just hunkered deeper into his chair with a groan. In the midst of Raphael's attack on the unwanted spider something was bumped, a ticking sound followed, then the whizz of a rope, the clatter of a bucket and the slosh of milk, followed by a trail of cuss words that would make a sailing prostitute blush.

"That's it! I'm out a here!" Raph declared as he stormed toward the exit.

"Raphael." Splinter called his son.

Raph stopped long enough to inform his sensei of his destination. "I'm going to Casey's and I'll take the long way."

Splinter frowned but nodded his ok.

Raph turned, promptly running into another strip of cling wrap that blocked the door way… which was attacked with a great deal of anger at the ends of a pair of sai.

By the time Raph stormed into Casey's garage he was fuming. He slammed the door open then slammed the door closed so hard the wall shook.

"Ruff night?" Casey asked as he wiped the oil from his hands.

"You spend a week stuck in the layer with Mikey, and then deal with that shitty traffic. I mean what the hell was going on tonight that had every one and there fucking slow ass grandmother on the fucking road anyways." Raphael griped.

Casey motioned to the T.V. that flickered on a shelf. "The game just got over not too long ago."

Raph let out an exasperated growl. "I missed the fucking game?! Damn." He turned and walked over to the Metro GTA Casey was working on. "What's wrong with it?"

"Just a leaky rear main seal and it needs fluids. How's your shoulder?" Casey answered then asked as he lay down on the concrete floor and slid himself back under the vehicle.

"Sore." Raph answered simply. Then made his way to one of the shelves Casey kept the different oils on to search for the needed kind.

"Mike said you though your Doctor was hot." Casey chuckled to himself.

Raph rolled his eyes. He must have been tripped off those pain pills when got home that night. "Ya."

Raph went back to the car with appropriate oil in hand and began to pour it in to the car.

"So you like her." Casey suggested from under the chasse of the Metro GTA. "I thought you didn't bother with any of that romance stuff."

Even though his friend couldn't see him, Raph shrugged. "I didn't say I was looking to marry her I just said she was hot. I'm not stupid but I'm not dead either. I know what I like. I just can't touch it."

Casey paused his work on the seal. "God, you sound pathetic. The others have at least given it a try, Raph."

"Ya and it lead where, Casey?" Raph shook his head. "Nah, why bother when you know how it's going to end."

"Nothing lasts forever, Raphie." Casey pushed himself out from under the vehicle. "Even April and I won't be together forever… we have to die someday."

Raph tossed the empty oil jug into a large trash can by the door as he considered this. "Ya I guess."

A pounding on the shop's garage door drew their attention.

"Hey, is anyone in there?" a female voice filtered through the metal door.

Casey groaned. "I'm closed."

"Oh, come on. I just need a tire patched. Please. I can't just leave this motorcycle on the street and it's such a long way to push a bike." The voice begged.

"Help her out Casey, she sounds fuckin' pitiful." Raph pushed his friend.

"Fine, but you're helping. I'll be back." Casey said as he headed for the lobby.

He called out to the woman. "Come around to the main door."

"Sweet. Thank you!" She called back.

While Raph waited in the garage Casey unlocked the lobby door and let the fetching, green eyed, brunet in.

"Thank you so much. You are the only place open anywhere right now."

"I'm not open." Casey reminded her.

"Right. Well, that just makes you my hero of the night, I guess." She said as she flashed a seductively sweet smile.

Casey chuckled uncomfortably. "Whatever I can do to help. Just have a seat and I'll get that tire fixed up."

Flashing a quick smile Casey retreated back to the garage. "Holy ass and titties, Raph, that girl is hot."

"You're married." Raph grumbled as he pushed the button to open the garage door. "To April."

"I know. And I wouldn't change it for the world, but I didn't go blind the moment I fell in love with her. Some things you can't help but notice. " Casey shot back.

Raphael rolled his eyes at his friend.

The garage door finished its journey to open and the guys looked out at the motorcycle that made Casey's jaw drop, and Raph immediately recognized.

"That girl was pushing that bike?" Casey's rhetorical question wasn't answered and his surprise wasn't shared, as Raphael had already walked away and into the lobby. "Figures." He grumbled.

She looked different this time. Still beautiful but not tuff girl sexy, this time she looked... classy. She had her brown hair up in a slightly mussed french twist, a white button up dress shirt on, with a gray knee length skirt, and a pair of gray and black heals. Not what one would ware when cruising around on a motorcycle, at least not if they wanted to keep their skin on in a possible accident. She was standing with her back to him, checking out some model cars Casey had displayed on some shelves.

He just stood there for a long moment watching the way her hips shifted as she leaned in closer to different models, the way her shirt slid over the silhouette of her torso.

She hadn't seen him. He could have just backed out of the room. She would never know he had been there. It's what he should have done. But he couldn't help it. Moving closer to her was simply something he had to do, an impulse, like a moth to a flame.

He took in a surprisingly shaky breath. Why did she make him so nervous? "That's a 1983 graduate spider." He informed her on the model car she was inspecting.

"Actually it's an 86." Arayah corrected, "If you notice it has different side skirts, mirrors, and front and rear spoilers, from the 1983 model, also note the hard rubber trunk mounted spoilers with integral 3rd stoplight."

Raph reached up and snatched the model off the shelf and started to inspect it. 'Damn it. She was right. Well so much for impressing her.' frowning Raph sat the model car back on its shelf.

"Don't worry it's an easy mistake to make."

He looked down at her, and god she flashing the smile that made his heart want to explode. "How do you know so much?"

"Had a foster dad that was a mechanic. He used to let me hang out at his garage and help." She said with a shrug. She then stood up on her tip toes to inspect Raph's shoulder, which she had stitched, bringing her spicy sweet scent with her.

That scent made his head spin with the desire to taste her soft skin. He attempted to take a calming breath, but her closeness defeated the purpose.

"Ooo, I'm good." She praised her own handy work. "You're healing up great."

"Taking a lot of forced down time." Raph griped as he took a step back.

The sound of Casey clearing his throat was heard from the door way. "Thought you were helpin'."

Raph looked between his friend and the woman that stood entirely too close to him. "Right. Your welcome to hang out in the garage if you want." He invited Arayah to join them then walked into the garage. He didn't pass through the door way without landing a stiff slug on his friends shaking shoulder.

The action only made it harder for Casey to keep in his chuckle. He had gotten control of himself however, by the time Arayah had scooped up her black leather jacket and followed them into the garage.

Arayah watched and chatted with the guys as they worked on patching the tire. In that time she learned, to her slight disappointment, that Casey was married with two kids. She learned Raphael had three brothers, which she found surprising considering the nature of his being. And that he would come up and help Casey with the cars on occasion but didn't actually work for him.

Casey and Raph learned that Arayah had grown up in foster care for reasons she deemed unimportant, which, of course, only peaked the curiosity they had to stifle. They also learned, to Raphael's delight, that they seemed to hold a lot of similar interests, from motorcycles and cars, to martial arts, from favorite foods to favored sports. They did not agree, however, on whom or what was the better addition to each aspect.

"Silva is the best, hands down. You have no room to argue with that." Arayah stated.

"Why? Cause he currently holds the belt." Raph held the tire in place as Casey bolted it into place.

"Well, that is one good reason."

"No." Raph shook his head. "I'm telling you. Given the opportunity Jacobson would own him."

"They are different weight classes. So it isn't going to happen. So…. No. Jacobson can't, and will not ever 'own' him."

"Jacobson could bulk up." Casey pointed out.

Arayah scoffed. "Ya, well the day Jacobson beats Silva is the day I sprout wings and fly to Connecticut."

Finished with the task Raph looked over the bike. "You should let me take it for a quick spin. Make sure we got that tire on there good."

Arayah chuckled as she gave Casey the cash she owed him for the job. "Only if you're ok with riding bitch."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "Your saying you'll give me ride… on the back." He looked over the motorcycle again. "This is a lot of bike for a girl, and with the weight distribution…"

Arayah slipped on her jacket, threw her leg over the bike, and started the engine. "You getting on or not?"

Raph shifted his weight as he considered the pros and cons of riding on the back of the bike. He would have his arms around her… which wasn't going to help his sleeping. He wouldn't just have his arms around her he would have her up against him, her ass practically in his lap… but he would be riding bitch. "Ya alright."

Trying not to give it much more thought he snatched his jacket, slid it on, and pulled the hood up over his head. "Bring it into the ally. We gotta stay out'a sight though, got it."

Arayah nodded her understanding and backed the motorcycle out of the garage.

Raphael started toward the back exit.

"Dude. You ditching me?" Casey called to his friend.

Raph turned around while still half stepping through the door. "Cut me some slack man. I'll be back in a bit."

Casey however knew all too well the power of a beautiful woman over the will of a man. So shaking his head and laughing to himself, he started to close up shop…. Again.