"Raph… hey Raph. Wake up."

"Nn?" Raph was being shaken awake gently by the shoulder, the voice in his ear was soft.

"RAPH!"

Raph jumped from his chair, his leg getting caught behind the leg of the chair, causing him to fumble and fall, "What the shell?!" He looked up at Mikey who was trying very hard to stifle his laughter. Raph quickly glanced at Samantha who was still asleep in Don's bed, "Mikey, are you kidding me… what the shell do you want?"

Mikey narrowed his eyes at Raph, "You need to rest. I'll take over your watch… Plus Leo is looking for somebody to train until his shift comes up and I really don't want to today." Mikey grinned and picked up the chair behind Raph and set it against the wall next to Samantha, taking out a comic and leaning back, making himself comfortable.

Raphael frowned, "Really? You know what you're doing Mike?"

Without looking up at him, Mikey waved his hand, his eyes still focused on his comic, "Yeah dude. Go on. Get some food, use the bathroom or somethin'."

For a second, Raphael hesitated at the door but the rumbling in his stomach said that he should probably take his break. He made his way to the kitchen, letting out a chuckle as he spied Donatello, hunched over the table with his head down and a cup of coffee in his hand. Donatello must have never slept last night. He was not kind with his swinging the cupboard wide open, startling his geeky brother and almost making him drop his coffee. The dark circles beneath Donatello's eyes were even darker than earlier that morning during their fiasco. Raphael set his bowl of cereal down next to Don who was gingerly rubbing his temples.

"Rough night?" Raphael smirked, stuffing a spoonful of his cereal into his mouth.

Donatello glared at him, Don was always grumpy after a long night in his lab, "Are you kidding me? That was a rough MORNING. You burst in here around 5 in the morning, scaring the shell out of me. It is now…," Don checked his watch, "It is now 8 in the morning and I've had no sleep. I really doubt I'm going to get any now that Leo's probably going to come down soon to look for someone to spar with."

Raphael's face fell, "Don… I'm sorry."

Don stayed silent for a moment, studying the expression on Raph's face that said he really was sorry, "No… Don't worry about it. I probably wasn't going to sleep much anyway. Was working on some upgrades for the lair. Got really into it. Forget it."

This didn't help Raph much who still felt very guilty for scaring his family half to death. He hurriedly plowed through the rest of his breakfast and was getting up to wash his bowl when Casey walked in, April right behind him. Casey yawned, stretching towards the ceiling and cracking his neck, April massaged hers and sat at the table with Donatello. Right away Casey began to make himself at home, pouring a cup of coffee for April before helping himself to a bowl of the last of Raphael's cereal much to Raphael's annoyance. Casey plopped himself down right next to April who had begun to rub Donatello's shoulder, making Donatello close his eyes as he relaxed into April's hand.

"Geez, ya guys could get better couches. Something more comfortable. Those things feel like you're sleeping on a rock." Casey complained through a mouthful of cereal.

April rolled her own shoulders, "Its fine Case. How are you feeling Donny? You ok? You look so exhausted."

Donatello stood, cradling his coffee and started to walk away. The kitchen had now suddenly become too noisy for him, "I'm fine April. Just a cup of coffee and maybe a few minutes with my head down at my desk will fix me right up."

April smiled as Don left the room before she turned to look at Raphael who was leaning against the frame of the kitchen, "And you Raph? How are you holding up?"

Raphael looked away from the questioning look in her eyes, "Eh, I'm holding up. Thanks April, by the way… for what you did."

April smiled, "Of course."

Leonardo entered the room and immediately silence fell over the room. Leo's eyes shifted between the three of them, April smiled and greeted him, nudging Casey, who was attempting to avoid eye contact like Raphael, to greet him as well. Raph stood up and made to leave the room but Leo stepped in front of him, making Raph's blood boil. Raphael clenched his fists and grit his teeth in order to maintain control of his temper. He shifted over to the side and Leo stepped in front of him once again.

"Leo… move. I don't feel like doing this…," Raph put his hand on Leo's shoulder to shove him aside but Leo grabbed it and pulled him out of the kitchen and away from the eyes of April and Casey. "Leo! I said I don't feel like doing this-!"

"I understand Raph." Leo let go of Raph's and looked down at the floor as if ashamed. "I just wanted to tell you that I get it… I just don't want you keeping secrets from us. I want you to trust out family. And I guess I feel bad that you trust her more than you trust us. We're family. We should trust each other. So I guess… what I really want to say…" Leo tapped the side of his temple, looking rather embarrassed.

Raphael's fist unclenched and he looked at his older brother, feeling a twinge of guilt for having kept Samantha's peculiar situation a secret from his family. He coughed, crossing his arms and looking down at the floor, "Yeah Leo. I know. Me too."

They looked at each other and smiled, fist bumping the other. Leo asked Raph what had happened with Samantha and Raphael was hesitant in explaining the situation at first, knowing Leo would probably get mad immediately again, but felt that he did need to trust his brothers more. They made their way to the living room, talking. They sat on the couch for a good while, Leo silent throughout Raph's story, much like Splinter. Just as Raphael was finishing his story where he had decided to bring Samantha back to the lair, a high-pitched scream rang throughout the lair, making Raphael and Leonardo both jump.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE'S RAPH?!"

"OH SHELL! WAIT!"

A loud crash was heard from Don's room. Donatello burst from his lab, Casey and April sprinted out from the kitchen a few seconds after. Raphael and Leonardo looked at each, dumbfounded and dashed behind the others, Donny being the first to disappear into the room, followed by another high-pitched scream and another crash. Raph's blood ran cold and he pushed past Casey who was immediately rejected from entering the room by April. The scene before him was too ridiculous. Don and Mikey both lay on the floor unconscious, a chair lay in broken pieces near them and multiple other random articles such as a lamp and books. Samantha stood there, trying to keep her breasts and bottom covered, tears welling in her eyes. Raph covered his eyes with his hands while April attempted to calm the girl down.

"Sam! It's April! You have to calm down sweetie! These are Raph's brothers! Raph is here! I'm here!" April inched closer to Samantha, reaching out her hand to grab Sam's.

Sam stood there, her face beet red, possibly from embarrassment. Possibly from trying not to cry as well. But who knew at this point. Samantha looked furious, before she spotted Raphael standing at the entrance of the room, his hands still over his eyes, "Raph!"

"Yeah it's me, Sam. Just calm down and listen to… April!" Before April could stop her, Samantha darted towards Raph and wrapped her arms around his neck. Raph's face became so hot, the blood boiled in his face, having nowhere to escape. He could feel her breasts against his chest, her warm body flush against his. It wasn't long before the boiling temperature in his face could no longer be contained and bright, red blood erupted from his nose, spilling over his hand and Samantha's shoulder.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry!" Samantha backed away from him, face flushed red, covering herself up again. Raphael no longer had her to support his weight as he felt himself get dizzy from the embarrassment and blood loss, and he fell forward, joining his unconscious brothers on the floor.

"Oh my gosh… boys….," April shook her head as she threw a sheet over Samantha's shoulders, leading her out of Don's room, past Casey and Leonardo who chose to stay outside of the room, looking embarrassed, only imagining what had transpired in the room. She nudged Samantha gently towards the bathroom, looking back at Casey and Leonardo, annoyed, "Well? Why are you two just standing there? Get the other guys!" She closed the bathroom door behind them as Casey and Leo nodded nervously, scrambling into the room to collect the fallen turtles.

Xxxxxxxx

"I'm so sorry, Mikey. I didn't know… I just saw you sitting there and you were holding my hand, joking about how you thought I was so cute and such… I panicked. Thought you were trying to impersonate Raph or something… which sounds silly now." Samantha took a drink from her bottled water, keeping her eyes focused on the floor, feeling embarrassed for breaking a chair over Mikey's head while naked. She now sat there fully clothed in a large shirt and shorts that April found that Casey happened to leave over from the last time she kicked him out of the apartment to stay with their friends.

Mikey rubbed his head and smiled nervously, "Yeah… nah… it's ok. It's nothing you should be embarrassed about."

"Considering that is probably what you did…," Raphael glared at him and then lay his head back over the couch, pinching a tissue over the bridge of his beak.

Mikey gulped and looked around him, everyone but Samantha looking at him with a look of disapproval, "Nah… um… I got to go and… clean my… I have…I have to." He stood from the couch and made beeline straight to the lair's exit, grabbing his skateboard on the way out.

Leonardo shook his head at Mikey leaving, then turned to Donatello who was wiping his face with a towel, "So she managed to knock Mikey out with a chair, that gave him a huge bump on his head. What happened to you, Don? I don't see where she hit you."

Donatello stopped with the towel over his head, not answering and not removing the towel from his face, "Um…"

Samantha furrowed her brows, staring at the floor, "I… I don't think I hit you…"

April rolled her eyes and tugged slightly on the towel, making Donatello bring it down below his chin, revealing a streak of bright, red blood still dribbling from his nose and down his chin, "Believe me… you didn't."

Donatello pulled the towel back up over his face and walked away to his room, slamming the door shut behind him, muttering to himself, "This day has been so ridiculous… I can't believe this."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry guys. I'm so... ah! So angry with myself. I panicked. I'm sorry. I thought it was a dream or a night mare. I don't know." Samantha folded her legs on the couch and put her face in her hands, blushing furiously.

April stood up from the couch opposite of Sam and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's ok. You called work already right?"

Sam nodded, "Yes Miss O'neal…"

April frowned, "Call me April, Sam." She took a seat next to Samantha, looking at her sympathetically, "Sam… I know you don't want to hear this, but… I think it's best you close the gym… for now." She finished before Samantha could go into a fit at hearing she will have to close her gym. "Sam… what happened today, it was lucky that you didn't get seriously hurt. Those kids, if you go back now you might get them hurt too. It's best for you to work on getting yourself straightened out for now. Like, where are you going to stay? On top of it all, we don't want to risk you going back there until we make sure it's safe and find out how to get you away from these low lives."

Samantha clenched her fists on her knees and grit her teeth, "But my kids… those families… they all work, April. Where are these kids going to go after…"

"They'll figure it out. It's just temporary Sam." April held her hand, "You need more rest Samantha. Where will you stay? Are you coming with me and Casey?"

Samantha looked up at April, shocked, "You and Casey? But… what about your guys' safety?"

"Don't worry about us. We can handle ourselves." Casey interjected, pounding his chest with a closed fist.

April rolled her eyes, smiling, "Yeah. It may not look it but we are perfectly capable of handling the Purple Dragons on our own."

Samantha's eyes became sad and worried, "But… April…"

"You are welcome to stay with us."

Everyone turned to the stairs. Master Splinter walked towards them, a serious look his face, "The Purple Dragons have become more violent. The attempt on your life today was not unlike them, but their reasons for harming you have no logic. They could make an attempt on your life again and in their attempt, harm Miss O'Neal and Mr. Jones as well."

"Master Splinter… You're very kind. But I don't think that Samantha would feel comfortable staying here right now. She's not used to all this." April explained, still holding Sam's hand.

Raphael looked down at the floor, frustrated, knowing that April meant that Sam was not going to be comfortable staying with these mutant freaks. It would be much more comfortable for Sam to stay with April and Casey for now. He felt his heart go heavy, feeling as though as he had been hurt as if Sam really had called them mutant freaks. He grunted his disapproval and made to stand up, Sam watching him stand the entire time. Raphael began to make his way up to his room when he felt a hand grab his arm. He looked down, looking at Samantha who pleaded with her eyes not to leave her. He felt his heart jolt and he could feel Leo staring at them with curiosity. Raphael swallowed nervously as April and Splinter both stared as Samantha began to hug his arm and look at them with a serious expression on her face.

"I want to stay here… with Raphael." Samantha stood up and face Master Splinter, a serious expression on her face, "Master Splinter….?" Samantha bowed low and Splinter couldn't help but let out a small amused smile at the discomfort in Raphael's face, "I accept your kind welcome into your home."

"You are most welcome my dear." Master bowed in return and walked back to his room, leaving the others dumbfounded.

Samantha turned back to April, her face fallen, "I'm sorry, April. I'm just very comfortable with Raphael now… and I don't feel right putting you and Casey in danger."

April smiled sadly and hugged Samantha, "It's ok. Call those kids. Let them know the gym is closed. And if you need anything, call me. Let me know."

Samantha hugged April back warmly, "I will." She turned around and looked up at Raphael who was still speechless. She gave him a closed lipped, innocent smile that made the dimple on her cheek very prominent, making his heart beat in his chest loudly.

Raphael swallowed nervously, having a difficult time maintaining his tough guy disposition. Everyone else looked at him teasingly from behind Samantha, finding it very funny that, for once, Raphael was very speechless and had no "sarcastic" or "smart" things to say in this situation. What… what just… what now? He thought to himself nervously, biting his lip.

Samantha smiled wider, tilting her head head at him, her eyes bright, "Where will I stay?"

To be continued….