TMNT does not belong to me. Just Annie & Co.

Three hours had gone by since Raph and Mikey had told us about Leopard. As soon as we had got back to the lair, we discussed it with Master Splinter. He had advised us to be cautious, as I knew he would. What I hadn't expected was the troubled look that had crossed our father's features as he disappeared into his room. It was almost as if Sensei knew something about this Leopard...

Our home was quiet, except for the sounds of Raph blowing off some steam on his punching bag. It was obvious that this girl had irritated him. But I knew better to ask. Not at least until he calms down.

Mikey had gone with Don to visit Leatherhead. We had agreed that our alligator friend might know something about the silver symbol, being that he was raised by the Utroms and their guardians.

So, I decided to meditate. Something about Splinter's reaction troubled me.

Sensei obviously knew something. Why won't he tell us? This whole thing bites.

I furiously kept beating at my punching bag. Who is she? She's brave, I'll give her that. But we know next to nothing about her. She could have been a Guardian-in-training or she could be some spy for Hun. And who were those guys that nearly beat the snot out of Mikey and me? I knew that they weren't Purple Dragons 'cause they kept going on about 'exterminate the mutants.' PDs call us freaks. Not mutants. And they're certainly not smart enough to use big words like 'exterminate.'

What really weirded me out was that Leopard seemed to know exactly who they were...

The antique store was smaller than I had expected. My limited experience told me that this place could easily be run by one person. Which perplexed me. Why was help needed here?

I knew the reason why as soon as I saw the red-headed woman behind the counter. She was very pregnant. Eight months at least.

She smiled warmly at me. "Can I help you?"

I returned the smile. "Yes ma'am," I answered like a good little southern girl. "My name is Annaleigh Davies. I saw your 'Help Wanted' sign. I was wondering if I can fill out an application?"

"Of course," her smile brightened, as she passed the paper to me. "I'm April Jones, by the way."

I noticed the ring on her left hand, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Jones."

"You can just call me April. Mrs. makes me feel old."

I laughed at this and April joined me. She was pretty cool. And definitely not high and mighty.

"My dad says the same thing about Mr. How much interest have you had in this job so far?"

"None. Besides you, Annaleigh. In fact, if you want, the job's yours. You can start tomorrow."

I almost whooped. Hallelujah. "That's perfect." I handed the filled out paper back to her. "See ya then, April."

I was so happy that I almost skipped home. What kept me from doing so was the fact that I had just seen some little turtles in a pet shop window. What was I going to do about Michelangelo and Raphael?

The plot thickens... What does Splinter know? And what will Annie decide?

Please R&R