Only a few more chapters before we get into the good stuff, oh and god bless you MegMoo. Was suspicious seeing the reviews jump from 3 to 6 in a span of an hour but your reviews warmed my heart and definitely gave me the extra push to write this chapter and make it the best it can possibly be. Thank you and Milly, Mikey Lover! I saw both of yours as well!

Sorry I haven't updated in like, a month, because the Summerset chapter for Elder Scrolls Online came out and I played that thing hard (for Sotha Sil). But I'm not abandoning this.

Especially since Paramount is rebooting TMNT again! It's been confirmed that it's a total reboot, not a third movie, so the Bay turtles we've come to love will be gone now. I can't wait to see what they do though, and I'm excited for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! They're new take on the team is interesting and it will be amazing to see how Leo is before he's made leader. You know, before he's traumatized and turns into the Leo we know today.

Sophie hadn't talked about that night, no matter how much Sarah-or even Elliot, the most nosiest person in New York City-bugged her about it.

She focused everything in her education, ignoring the thoughts swirling in her brain about the picture and her mysterious savior. Was it the same turtle? Were there more out there? A whole society living in New York City without anyone knowing?

These were questions she had asked herself before, but they came back in full force after that night. It had kept her up, staring at the ceiling as Sarah snored across the room, and for days after she would wake up in cold sweat, her brain swirling with images of what could have happened if he hadn't been there to save her. She hadn't got a good night sleep since.

Another person would have went to the University's counselor to talk about it, but she couldn't speak to a brick wall yet alone a professional. So she bottled it up and went about her business.

She threw all her spare time into photographing and drawing, posting her art and taking commissions, making money that she made, not given to her by her parents. It made her proud that she could make a living for herself instead of relaying on them like her sisters did. Caroline especially. She hoped everyday that the youngest member of the family learned how to be independent in the future, but for now the eleven year old continued to be who she is now. A spoiled little brat who, for some reason, she cared for very deeply.

Was it bad that she didn't know why her sister melted her heart while being completely infuriating? Huh, maybe she should speak to someone.

When she wasn't focusing on her lectures and art, she was exploring New York City with Sarah and Elliot. The three of them had found a quaint little coffee shop near Little Italy where they had began to regularly frequent, so much in fact that by late November most of the staff knew them by name.

Sophie found the little establishment to be a safe, comfortable space for her. Instead of being shy and withdrawn, she was loud and outgoing. Not too loud as to be a general annoyance, but loud enough that people could actually hear her when she was speaking to them. Because of this, Sarah usually wanted to go there instead of any other place they visited.

And that's where she found herself on a sunny November afternoon, sitting outside the coffee shop as people bustled about around them. It was only a week until December, and already there were Christmas decorations strung about and shoppers rushing to buy the last of everything. She wasn't bothered; she had enough time to shop for presents, regardless how annoying Sarah was being at the whole 'Black Friday fighting' feeling Sophie got every time she even thought about buying gifts. She didn't even know what her new closest friends wanted, let alone what the few people she had befriended in her lectures liked.

For a brief moment, she wondered what the mystery turtle would have wanted for Christmas, and if she should buy something blue or Japanese and leave it on the rooftop she had first saw him. But then her thoughts went to if he actually celebrated the holiday, if giant turtles did that.

Maybe I can leave him a present anyway? A 'thank you' for saving my life?

"How the hell do I spell handkerchief?" Elliot's voice across the table from her made her look up from staring at said-furniture. Sarah, who was busy humming along to a song through one headphone, glanced over.

Sophie leaned forward to look at his notebook, reading what he had written upside down. It looked like to be a script for a play he was working on with some of his acting friends, set in the Victorian era. She looked at the word he was trying to write and then leaned back, taking the moment to sip at her drink. "Not like that."

He looked up and glared. "Then how do I spell it?"

"You need a D." Sarah offered.

Sophie grinned. "He already has a D." then-because who wouldn't?-she winked.

Elliot snorted and even Sarah looked up to laugh. Sophie inwardly preened at the reaction; she liked entertaining her friends, maybe because deep down she wanted the attention she craved when she was younger. She didn't want to get too into why.

"You are sometimes too much." Sarah giggled.

"But you love it." she grinned and her redheaded friend shook her head with a smile on her lips. Then, without any warning, she let out a loud shout and jumped up, staring past her at something on the ground. Sophie frowned and turned her head to the side, only to be met with the top of a woman's head. Her eyes widened at the sight of one of her hand's in her bag which she had put on the floor next to her. In case of someone stealing it she had sat on the straps, but that didn't seem to stop the woman now currently looking up at her, her own eyes wide in alarm.

Before she could run off Sophie grabbed her wrist, holding her still.

For a moment, she realized she looked familiar. Where had she seen her before? Did she attend the university? No, she would have noticed if she was a fellow student. A teacher perhaps? If she was, she wouldn't be searching her bag like she was a common criminal. She doubted she was even tied to the university, so maybe just in passing? On TV perhaps?

At the thought, a flash of a news report from Sarah's TV she had finally put up and plugged in flashed through her mind. On the screen was the same brunette woman currently in her grip.

"April O'Neil!" in her surprise, she let go of her wrist. The woman bolted, the surrounding people doing nothing to stop her, instead going about their business like someone hadn't just had her hand in another person's bag.

Immediately, she grabbed it and rifled through, looking to see if anything had been stolen. No, her purse, money, credit cards, laptop and camera were still in the bag. So what was a Channel 6 News reporter looking for?

It hit her the minute she nudged her camera out of the way to see if anything else had been taken.

The photo!

She had mostly forgotten about it since that night back in September. Some nights, when she would wake up from that nightmare, she would remember and sit at her desk, staring at the photo on her computer screen until the early hours of the morning or until Sarah stirred.

"Did she steal anything?" Sarah asked, concerned, watching her pull out her camera and check the SD card slot. It was still in there, much to her relief. She sighed, leaning her head back, thanking the gods that her friend her caught her before she could take it, if that was what she had been intending to steal.

"No, she didn't steal anything." she finally replied, looking at her friends. Elliot was typing away on his phone as fast as he could, probably tweeting about what had just happened-Sophie rolled her eyes-and Sarah was staring right at her, still concerned.

"Oh, my dearies!" one of the much older servers at the coffee shop, Natalie, rushed towards them. "I saw what happened through the window; are you three all right?"

"We're fine. Sophie scared her off." Elliot pointed with his thumb to her. She flushed as Natalie looked at her, hand over her heart like she was hoping to steady the beating.

She liked Natalie; she always remembered her order without her having to tell her, and she was easy to talk to. She reminded her of a grandmother or a very kind neighbor who looked out for the kids next door. Her dream was to go to Paris with her husband; she hoped she could one day, she deserved a break.

"Good for you, lass." she shook her head, "Thugs the lot of them. Are you sure you are all right?"

Sophie smiled and nodded, "Yes, we're fine."

Natalie looked at each of them before turning and walking back into the establishment; Sophie felt her whole body relax. She didn't even know she had tensed up. Sarah let out a sigh of relief and turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "So, what was she even trying to find anyway?"

"I have no idea." she lied. God that hurt; she didn't like lying to her friends, but it had to be done. If it was the SD card and ultimately, the photo, that she wanted that is. How did she even find out about that? She hadn't showed anyone what was on her camera or computer.

Sarah shook her head, tutting. "We should file a compliant; get her fired."

"You recognized her too?" she asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, she's April O'Neil from Channel 6 News. I met her at her father's funeral when I was a baby."

Sophie didn't ask. "Oh, then I was right?"

Sarah scoffed. "Yeah. If I knew she stole from people, I would have stopped watching that news channel ages ago. We should go right now and file a compliant, the Channel 6 building is not far."

If Sophie hadn't taken that picture last month and April O'Neil had continued to try and steal from her bag without success, she would have pushed the threat of getting her fired to the side. She didn't like confrontations and trying to get a popular reporter fired from her job was one of them, especially if that reporter's career had been blown wide open by 'the Falcon's' take-down of the Shredder three years ago. But this woman had somehow known about the photo of the giant turtle and had intended to steal it, and Sophie wanted to know how.

She knew why; a news report about giant turtles living somewhere in New York City would make her rich beyond compare. Thousands of people would flock to the city to search for this reported giant turtle, and it would be Sophie's fault if he was caught and dissected.

"It's in the middle of one of the busiest places in this city," Elliot wrinkled his nose. "You might as well have gotten mugged there rather then here."

"So you're not coming?" Sophie asked. Sarah placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him, fully expecting him to change his mind at the look on her face. Instead he shook his head and stood up, beginning to put all of his things in his bag.

"Unfortunately I can't. I have to meet with my group for this." he tapped his notebook still on the table which he then picked up and placed away. "I wish I could come; it would be funny as hell to watch Sarah cause utter chaos in the Channel 6 building. I would have loved to have recorded it and put it on YouTube, make me rich and you both famous. But alas, I cannot." he zipped up his bag once everything was inside and picked up his coffee.

"Well, your loss." Sarah took her headphones out and put them away, grabbing her own bag as Sophie followed suit. "You ready to go Sophie? I know where it is, we'll be there and back at our dorm in a jiffy."

"Yes, let's do this." she threw her bag over her shoulders and pushed her chair in, taking one last glance over the table to see if it was clean before grabbing her water bottle that she had brought with her. Although they regularly went to a coffee shop, Sophie hated coffee. And tea. She was a disgrace to British people everywhere. "See you later Elliot, I'll make sure to record it for you."

He gasped, placing a hand on his chest. "God bless you."

The two girls laughed as he saluted and walked off, leaving the two of them to start walking towards Times Square. It was, like Elliot had said, the busiest part of New York City; full of people, locals and tourists, basically everything she hated. And video monitors showcasing advertisements and commercials. So many video monitors.

I would rather lose a leg then walk through Times Square.

"We'll only be in Times Square for like, a few minutes, depending on how busy it is, the Channel 6 building is only a few streets away." Sarah said, sensing her discomfort. "If you like you can hold on to me?"

"Sounds good." Sophie hooked her arm with hers as they continued walking, keeping one hand wrapped tightly around the base of her water bottle. "Before, you mentioned knowing April O'Neil?"

"Well, I don't know her personally." she said. "I was only a baby when I met her. My uncle worked with her father and Sacks-the one who was arrested? That one-back in 1999."

"What were they working on? Anything Area 51-ish?" she joked. Sarah laughed and looked at her.

"Nah, they were doing experiments on animals." at the look on her friend's face she backtracked. "Not anything that would hurt them! God no! They were perfectly fine, well that's what my uncle told me when I asked.

"What kind of animals? Rabbits? Mice?" she asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No mice, but he did mention a rat was one of their experiments." she began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sophie asked. She waved her hand in her direction, moving her hand to stifle her giggles.

"Nothing, just laughing about what animal they did focus on. Not one most people would use, I've got to say, but they are quite plentiful in pet stores so I see why they used them." she trailed on. Sophie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"And the animal they used was-?" she took a sip of her water from her water bottle.

"The animal they used-if my memory stands correct-were turtles."

And preceded to choke on it.

Leo had reached his last nerve.

For months he had been trying to get that camera and that SD card but to no avail. She had either hidden it like she knew he would be coming for it or she had it on her person at all times, snapping picture after picture like stopping would cause her to shrivel and die. It was like watching Donnie fix the toaster or type away on his computer.

He had resorted to asking April for help-without his father knowing-who then spent the last few weeks doing what he refused to even consider; stalk the girl until she could find a time and place to take it without her seeing.

Apparently that had failed as she stood in front him, camera and card-less. He had to take a seat as he listened to her recount the tale of what had happened nearly half an hour ago.

"Sorry Leo but stalking her won't get that photo." she said with a shrug.

"Forget about the photo!" Casey stepped towards his girlfriend, concerned. "The girl recognized you! For all we know she's heading to Channel 6 to file a compliant right now! You could lose your job, April!"

"They have no proof I did anything!" she argued. "She can file a compliant, but without evidence they can't do anything. My job is fine, it's Leo's sanity we should be worrying about."

"What?" Casey turned to look at said-turtle, who was currently leaning back on the sofa, head in his hands. For a moment, he was silent as the two humans stared at him. Then, with no warning, a guttural groan left his mouth, his fists beginning to shake.

Before they could react his hands came flying down, slamming into the cushions beneath him before he let out a feral shout, jumping up and heading straight for the dojo. April and Casey watched him go, surprised. It wasn't always that the fearless leader would become enraged over something; annoyed at Raph yes but flying into a fury over some photo in the possession of some girl? Not likely.

"Is something wrong?" Donnie said from his work station, taking his goggles off.

"Yeah bro!" Mikey said from his and Raph's shared section of the lair. He quickly threw down the comic he was reading and quickly jumped off his bed. "Leo's finally lost it!"

"Ooo I've been waitin' for this for a long time." the second oldest turtle jumped down from his work area, following Donnie, Mikey, April and Casey to the dojo's entrance to watch. Leo was pacing up and down the room, his footsteps getting heavier with each movement. His arms were flexing as he repeatedly opened and closed his hands, trying his best to control his anger.

"Maybe it'll be best to just...forget about the photo?" Donnie suggested carefully, sensing how close his oldest brother was to exploding. "I've been keeping a close eye on the internet see if it pops up or is mentioned anywhere but there's been silence. Maybe she's actually keeping it secret?"

"That sounds plausible." April began. Leo's voice interrupted her, drawing everyones attention to him.

His tone was deep, dark, hoarse like he hadn't spoken for a while. They could all see he was trying to keep his anger at bay to avoid bringing Splinter to them. He had promised to notify his father when he had destroyed the photo, and that was a month ago.

"I promised Master Splinter that I would delete the photo." he said. "I'm not giving up. Not that easily."

"But he also said that if you can't to tell her, bro. It's okay." Mikey hoped to pacify his brother. From the look that crept up on his face it did not do it's job.

"No," Leo growled. "He did not say that. He said if she sees me to reveal myself."

"Then let her see you!" Raph took a step forward into the dojo. "What harm will it do if she finds out you exist? We gain another ally, you finally remove the stick lodged up your arse. Win-win."

Leo just silently stared at him, his lack of blinking unnerving everyone except for his hotheaded brother. His jaw dropping in realization made Leo flinch, but he kept his mouth closed.

Damn it.

"She's already seen you, hasn't she?" he dead-panned. The others stared at him in surprise.

Yes, she had. A month ago when he had saved her from those group of men. Just remembering that night made his fists clench harder, his knuckles slowly turning a pale green. He looked down at the floor, lips pursed. "Yes."

"Then why didn't you not ask her to delete the photo then?" Donnie inquired. "This could have been over a month ago, Leo!"

His blue eyes snapped to his much taller brother. "Don't you think I know that?!"

"Then why didn't you tell her?" he snapped.

Leo could only turn his attention to the ceiling as he thought; why didn't he? She had seen him, albeit in the dark. She had a clear photo of him, and it wasn't like she hadn't put two and two together when he had saved her. So why hadn't he revealed himself and his family to her? She seemed like a nice person, someone who wouldn't tell anyone else about their existence. Hell, she probably hadn't told anyone about the photo let alone that night. So why hadn't he?

God what is wrong with me?

Surprisingly, it was Mikey, Mikey of all people, to suggest a reason. "I don't think this entire tantrum is about the photo." he theorized. His brothers, April and Casey all looked up at him except for Leo, who seemed to ignore him. He took that as a cue to continue; "I think it's because you like her-"

Quickly, his head snapped towards him, blue eyes narrowed as he roared; "SHUT UP MIKEY!"

The sudden change in his attitude made everyone jump. They weren't suspecting such a reaction from their fearless leader, but that only told them that Mikey was on to something. Leo could tell they thought that too.

It couldn't be possible. He only knew her name for gods sake. He knew nothing of her personality wise or anything about her; no, he did not love this girl. This girl was just a blip in his life, once he erased the photo from her SD card he would continue on without ever thinking about it's owner, the girl he saved. Sophie. No, no, no, no. He did not like her.

She is a blip. She is a blip. You don't like her, Leo, you don't.

But how could such a insignificant person in his life bring out such a side of him? He never got angry, not like this. He had never shouted at his brother, at anyone, like that. That was Raph's territory, not him. He was the turtle that tried to calm both sides down, usually becoming the target of his brothers rage instead but he was okay with that. Raph needed to let it out, and Leo would happily be the one to take it. Now Leo needed someone to yell at, someone who wouldn't absorb his rage and use it against him or to put themselves down. Leo could do that for Raph, but no one could do that for him.

He did, however, have the dojo and an audience of peers staring at him. That's a start.

"Is someone up there punishing me?!" he finally shouted, throwing his arms up towards the ceiling. "Huh?! I can't steal one fucking camera without the entirety of New York on my ass! One SD card, that's all I need, one SD card! What the ever loving fuck do I need to do for you to let me steal it without her fucking seeing?!"

Everyone remained silent as they watched him begin to pace, shouting up to the ceiling. It looked like he was yelling at the streets of New York, and it would have been fitting considering the very person who kept thwarting him, albeit unknowingly, was up there going about her business as he spoke.

Michelangelo leaned a little into Raph and Donnie, not taking his eyes of his rampaging brother for even a second. He opened his mouth, and for a second said nothing. "I'm surprised he hasn't woken up Splinter yet." he finally whispered.

Raphael grunted and Donatello rolled his eyes in response as they both replied; "Shut up Mikey."

Somewhere in New York City, Leo is screaming to the high heavens while Sophie is choking on water. What a pair.