I'm back! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT, just my OCs.

Chapter 4

"How could you let them get away!?" A livid voice bellowed. The small woman standing in front of her boss flinched at the rage in his voice. "We were getting so close to cracking the secrets of their mutations, and now they're gone!"

She cleared her throat. "If I may sir, I'm starting to believe that keeping the two locked away like this is very bad for their health. They very well could – "

"I don't pay you to believe, now do I, Ramirez?" The slender man shot at her. The woman flinched again and quickly looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with the raged man.

"N-No sir, you do not," She muttered.

He sneered at her and quickly turned around, letting his back face her. "I want all units on lookout for the two. Get their pictures and subject numbers out to every employee in this building."

"Yes sir."

"And Ramirez," He turned around to face her, slowly peeling off his dark glasses to glare at the young woman. "Don't ever fail me again. Or I will be forced to take… unreasonable actions."

"Y-Yes sir, Agent Bishop."

Before Cassie could even realize what was going on, all four of the turtles shot up out of their seats and took off towards the direction of the lab. Cassie was soon following them to figure out what happened.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Cassie heard a voice scream. She smiled recognizing the voice as Liza's. She also realized that she had to make it to the lab very quickly or Liza might have a panic attack at not seeing her younger friend in the room with her.

Cassie rounded the corner into the lab and saw a slightly funny, slightly terrifying scene laid out before her.

Mikey, Leo, and Raph were backed up as far away as they could be without being out of the room. They stared in shock at the girl perched on the table and frozen in a fear, eyes wide and teeth clenched. Donny was closer to Liza holding up hands and trying to calm her like he did with Cassie, but Liza stared wildly at him and held out a pen from the desk as if it were some sort of a weapon.

"Liza, please, calm down and we'll explain," Donny replied.

"Where the hell is Cassie? And how do you know my name?" Liza growled shakily.

"Liza!" Cassie grinned and ran towards her friend.

Liza looked over in shock at the person approaching her. Cassie hauled her down from the lab table and hugged her fiercely.

"Cassie?!" Liza gasped in surprise. Within a few seconds, she returned the hug. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?" Liza pulled her friend away and started to look over her for any sign of distress.

"They haven't done anything to me," Cassie replied. "They've helped both of us actually."

Liza gave her a puzzled look. Cassie pointed down to her knees, making the brunette look down. Liza saw her knees carefully wrapped with gauze, just like her wrists. Just then, the eldest remembered about her friend's eyes.

Liza looked up in worry. "Cassie, how are your eyes?"

Cassie shrugged. "They're okay. Donny said there was no permanent damage to them, but they'll be sore for a few days."

"Who's Donny?"

Cassie turned and pointed to the Donny. Donny gave a small smile and a slight wave. He decided that was the wrong move though when he saw Liza glare at him.

"What are they?" Liza asked Cassie in a low, menacing whisper.

Cassie opened her mouth to answer, but then realized that she herself didn't even know the answer to that question.

"Umm…" Cassie looked to Donny for help. The turtle nodded back at her and lowered his hands, now standing in a casual position.

"We're mutant turtles," He said simply, as if that explained everything. Cassie and Liza exchanged confused glances before giving a puzzled look at Donny. Cassie stared at him with wide eyes and a puzzled expression, silently pleading for him to find words because of the glare that her friend was sending the turtle.

"How about," Leo suddenly stepped towards the two. Liza jumped and took a step back as he approached, still holding the pen with white knuckles. Cassie put a reassuring hand on her tensed shoulder. Leo put his arms up in defense, the same as Donny had. "How about we go get you something to eat first, Liza? Then we can explain." He suggested.

Liza's stomach growled loudly at the mention of food, causing her to grab it, but despite that she still managed to say, "I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry, my ass," Raph muttered. "Just come eat."

Liza furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at him. Donny and Leo looked desperately at Cassie to help.

"Liza, the food is really good. Mikey made it," She stated calmly, pointing over to the orange-clad turtle, who waved as his name was mentioned. "Just please, come eat. Donny said we're very malnourished."

Liza's pale emerald eyes flashed back and forth between her best friend and the new… mutants. Liza couldn't decide if the turtles were a threat or not. She wanted to believe that they were and that she and Cassie needed to get out of there as soon as possible, but as soon as the one called Donny mentioned the word 'mutant', Liza began to think. What if they were just genetic rejects like herself and Cassie? Was it really fair to treat them like freaks if Liza was just as much of a freak?

Liza sighed and dropped the pen in her hand.

Cassie pushed her friend out of the lab and towards the kitchen, giving the turtles hand motions to tell them to keep their distance from her friend.

Liza admired the big, open room in which she was being pushed into.

The TV, along with some bean bag chairs and a shelf filled with DVDs, sat in a small lowered area in the middle of the room. The walls were bricked and pipes ran out of every empty corner they could find. The overall ambiance of the room was dark. Only a few lights were spread throughout the living area. In the scattered areas around the TV set, there was workout equipment. A punching dummy with a few weapons lodged in it, a weight lifting set, and one of those wooden spin posts that Liza saw in just about every ninja movie.

To her right, she saw turnstiles. Beyond the turnstiles laid railroad tracks and more darkness.

Cassie continued to push her throughout the "house" until they came to a small room which appeared to be a kitchen. There was an island in the middle with chairs surrounding it, probably acting as a dining table. Overall, the kitchen looked pretty clean. And Liza admired that there was more light in that one room than there was in the other larger room. Made sense.

Cassie and Liza took a seat at the island. Cassie resumed eating her breakfast while she calmly watched Mikey serve Liza some. Mikey slid the plate towards the brunette, but all she did was eye it like it was a threat.

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you try it, dudette! I'm the best chef this side of the sewer system!" Mikey grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood. Cassie gave him a small, warm smile, but Liza remained impartial.

After a few encouraging words from Cassie, she decided to try it. Liza took a small bite of her bacon to decide if it was good or not.

In all honesty, Liza could care less if it tasted good or not. At this point, food was food, but she wasn't going to let her guard down around these mutants just yet.

Liza soon unknowingly let out a satisfied moan and quickly devoured the rest of her meat. Cassie nodded her head in approval before continuing her meal.

"So, you wanted to know what we are, correct?" Leo asked as he took a seat next to Liza. The girl flinched a bit at the sudden nearness, but seemed too caught up in the food to honestly care.

Cassie gave Leo a small nod.

"Well, where to begin?" Leo chuckled lightly. He then went into the long story of how they had come to be. He explained the Utrom technology and the mutagen that made them what they were. He explained their master in satisfying detail so that their sensei wouldn't scare them as much when he met them. As Donny, Raph, and Mikey added their own comments to the story line, Leo watched the girls carefully.

Cassie's facial expressions would change with every detail of the story. Her mismatched orbs would show sympathy, excitement, and anger all in a few seconds. Leo could feel that she was still unsure of them. He could see how tensed she still was, though not as tensed as Liza. Leo knew and related to what Cassie was doing. Even though she was still unsure of her surroundings, and maybe even still scared, she was putting on a brave face for Liza.

Liza was a completely different story. Her expression stayed stoic throughout their explanation. Leo noticed her knuckles turn white around her fork as she ate. She thoroughly examined the entire kitchen and no doubt had an exit strategy planned out in her head if anything went wrong. She really didn't even seem to be paying any attention to the explanation she had asked for.

"That's… incredible," Cassie wondered aloud.

"So, you're ninjas?" Liza eyed them carefully. Each of the brothers answered with a nod of some sorts. Mikey with an enthusiastic, speedy nod and Raph with a curt nod, while Leo and Donny just calmly nodded. "Okay…"

"Ya don't believe us?" Raph scoffed at her.

Liza narrowed her emerald orbs at him. "It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just finding this all a bit farfetched, that's all."

Raph looks at her in shocked disbelief. "Yer standin' in front of four MUTATED TURTLES and ya jus' find our backstory hard ta believe!?"

"Ya know what? I don't have to explain myself to you!" Liza counters in a rage as she stands, glaring at the red masked turtle. "Who do you think you are anyways!?"

"The person who saved yer sweet keister! So ya better be somewhat grateful! We coulda jus' left ya there!" Raph retorts, leaning across the counter to glare right back at her.

Liza flinches and Raph grins, knowing he hit a soft spot. Leo and Donny shot Raph a hard glare while Mikey and Cassie exchange worried glances. Liza looks back up and meets Raph's eyes for a few minutes before looking away again. Raph felt a tinge of guilt hit him for a brief second, but then it vanished.

Liza grabbed Cassie's wrist and hauled her off of her seat. "C'mon. We're leaving."

"What!?" Cassie gasped as she was dragged out of the kitchen by her friend. The turtles glanced at one another before quickly following after them. "Liza, we have nowhere to go!"

"We'll find something."

"Liza, please be reasonable…" Cassie groaned.

"Yeah! Raph didn't mean to be a complete jerk! It's just the way his personality works!" Mikey called after the eldest girl.

"'Ey!"

"Liza, please reconsider. It's going to be winter soon. It's too cold to stay out on the streets," Leo tried to reason.

"We'll make due," Liza growled through gritted teeth. "Thank you for your help, but we can take it from here." She turned around briefly to shoot Raph another vicious glare. "Was that grateful enough?"

Before he could respond with a witty remark, she continued to drag Cassie to the turnstiles. Cassie gave the turtles a concerned look before willingly deciding to follow her friend.

Within seconds, they were gone.

"Wait to go, Raph!" Mikey threw his hands up in frustration. "You just had to pick a fight, didn't you?"

"'Ey, she was asking for it!"

Leo pinched the bridge of his beak, trying to contain his own anger. "Did you really not understand when Donny tried to explain their emotional states to us or did you just choose to ignore it?"

Raph shrugged.

"Leo, I'm worried about them. Whoever had them locked up is sure to be looking for them. You don't just keep somebody locked up that long and then not try to find them when they escape. They obviously needed the girls for a purpose," Donny sighed.

"I agree. Let's follow them. Raph can apologize and we can at least make sure they're safe tonight," Leo ordered. Donny and Mikey nodded in agreement. Before Raph could voice his opinion, his brothers were already high-tailing it out of the lair.

"Can you honestly believe the nerve of him!?" Liza fumed. Cassie remained silent as she followed her friend through the dark sewer system. Liza kept ranting to Cassie, but the strawberry blonde didn't say one word. While her friend was focused on proving the girls could make it on their own, Cassie was busy coming up with a way they could make it through the night.

"Look, there's a manhole," Cassie muttered and pointed. Liza looked up to see a grimy ladder that led up to a beautiful moonlit night. She could feel the chilly breeze flowing down from it. Sadly, their confinement suits weren't the warmest things to be wearing.

Cassie stared up at the moonlight. She had forgotten how brilliant it was. Almost as bright as the sun in her opinion. It lit the dark sewer up with a faint blue light, making the dirty place seem almost magical.

"C'mon, let's head up," Liza said. Cassie nodded and followed Liza over to the rusted ladder. "I'll go up first and see if the coast is clear."

"Okay. Be careful. Don't cut yourself on the ladder."

Liza nodded before carefully climbing up to the surface. With one big heave, she pushed the manhole cover out of the way, letting even more light in as it was moved. Liza squinted at the brightness of the moon before looking around the alley they were in.

The alley was somewhere on Manson street, Liza could tell by the poker themed bar across the street. Her memory soon reminded her that she was in the alley in between a pet shop and a pizzeria.

She remembered going to that pizzeria with her father once when she was 13. June 15th of 2008. He had cracked a funny joke about the queen of hearts logo on the bar's sign. He had said that her nose was too small, so it made her face look disfigured in the night.

"Liza? Are you okay?"

Liza blinked a few times to shake herself from the memory before pulling herself out of the manhole.

"I'm good. Come on up," She yelled down. Cassie was up with her in a few seconds. Liza returned the manhole cover and the two sat in the alley for a minute.

"What do we do next?" Cassie inquired, rubbing her already chilled hands together for warmth.

"Well," Liza started. She looked around the alley cautiously. "I guess we can go try to find a homeless shelter."

Cassie shook her head. "Liza, its three a.m.," She reminded her. "None of them will be open this early."

Liza's lips formed together in a flat line. In the corner of her eye she spotted a clothing donation bin. She soon stood and hauled Cassie up with her. "Well, until they're open, we'll just have to stay here."

"Liza…" Cassie groaned.

"C'mon, let's go dig for some blankets."

"Can't we just go back to the turtles?" Cassie whined. "Other than Raph, they really aren't that bad. And they saved us."

"'Ey! I'm not a bad guy!" A voice proclaimed from the shadows behind them. The two girls turned around quickly and cautiously searched the alley.

"Wait to blow our cover, Raph!" Another voice barked. Liza soon rolled her eyes and continued to the clothing bin.

Cassie remained where she was as she watched the turtles emerge from the darkness.

She smiled. "I'm glad to see you guys."

"Liza," Leo started towards the brunette. "Raph's really sorry about the way he treated you. Aren't you Raph?"

Raph stood back with his arms crossed, not saying a word. Donny elbowed him in the arms though and that made him shift his weight uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"See?" Leo gave her a small grin.

Liza, who was still digging through the bin, brought out a worn, cream-colored blanket. She tossed it towards Cassie, who didn't make an effort to catch it so it just landed on the ground in front of her.

"Okay," Liza finally said.

Raph perked up and scowled at her. "Okay?"

"Okay," Liza repeated with a single nod.

"We came all the way here – " Raph started, but was soon silenced by his two younger brothers.

"Liza, it's really not good for you and Cassie to be out in this cold. We can't have you catching pneumonia along with all of your other injuries, can we?" Donny coaxed. Liza looked over at him for a second. Cassie soon blocked her view of him. She slowly approached her friend.

"Liza, I don't want to stay out here. Please, can we go back?" Cassie begged.

Liza glanced around to each person in the alley with her. Her eyes narrowed at Raph, who glowered back. But once her eyes landed on Cassie's pleading, mismatched ones, she sighed.

"Okay," She slowly nodded. Cassie gave her a small smile. She grabbed her friend's wrist and led her back to the manhole, following the turtles back down into the dark sewers.

Raph and Liza have clashing personalities. Probably because they sort of have similar personalities. But there's a reason Liza dislikes Raph so much. You guys shall see sometime soon!

I'm thinking next chapter the girls will meet Master Splinter, maybe even Casey and April.

Thank you so much to my readers and reviewers! You guys are the best! Keep reviewing por favor! :)

Later!

CC