"Oh my God!" The voice screeched on the phone. "'Nat where the heck are you!?"

"Jeez Katie scream a little louder why don't you." Natalie said into receiver. "I think the Bronx only caught a small wind of that."

"Sorry Natalie." Her friend Katie Milton said. "But I can't help it. Derrick came storming into the dorm cafe acting crazy! He was screaming words like rats and aliens! To top it off he was pretty banged up."

Natalie grinned at that thought as she leaned against the pay phone.

"Nice job Splinter."

"Of course when we asked him where you were, he just started acting crazier, saying that they probably got you and that we needed to call the cops, but they said they could not do a missing person's report for at least twenty four hours."

Natalie sighed in relief. The police was the last thing she needed and she had already talked to a kind policeman, Officer Walter Thomas, while she was being examined. A thought occurred to her and she began to panic.

"Please tell me you did not call my mom and dad!?" She begged. That was even the most last thing she needed, worried parents.

"I was just about to when you called." Katie sighed.

"Phew." Natalie said.

"SO WHERE ARE YOU!?" Katie yelled.

Natalie sighed.

"I'm at Metro Hospital." She said. She had heeded Splinter's advice and went into the hospital to be examined for any other injures she might have sustained during the scuffle with Derrick. The nurse on call cleaned and re-bandaged her wounds and was given an antibiotic to keep away any infection

"METRO HOSPITAL!?" Katie yelled.

"Katie calm down." Natalie said. "I'm fine, just like Derrick I got a little banged up too."

"How!?"

"We got jumped." She said telling the same story she had told the police officer at the ER. "Just some idiots wanting our stuff. They thought beat up first then steal was the right move. Unfortunately for them police sirens came out of nowhere and they beat it before they could take anything.

"And Derrick, that jerk, just left you there!?" Kathy asked.

"I uh..figured he went to get help." Natalie.

"I outta slug that pig!" Katie said angrily. "God only knows what could have happened."

Then a thought shook through Katie.

"'Nat." She whispered. "You weren't..uh...you...did the doctor find..uh ya know?"

Natalie too shook at the thought, relieved it didn't happen.

"No Katie, no sign of someone doing that."

Both women breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look can you just come get me?" Natalie asked tiredly. "The doctor said I should have someone get me after what happened.

"I've already got my coat!" Katie said. "Stay right where you are!"

A short while later a cab pulled up to the walk-in area of the ER. Katie jumped out and embraced her friend. She was so relieved Natalie, while a bit bruised and bandaged, was okay. The two got into the backseat of the cab and drove off into the night. Natalie stared out the window of the cab, thinking about all that had transpired that day. Suddenly a hand in her face broke her out of her thoughts.

"Earth to Natalie, we're back!" Katie said. Then Natalie realized they were in front of their dorm building. Natalie went to reach for her backpack, then realized.

"Aw man!" She moaned.

"What?"

"My bag, I must have left it in the alley!" She groaned. "My notes and library books were in there!"

Katie rolled her eyes and took Natalie gently by the arm.

"Don't worry about it." She said. "It's probably long gone by now!"

"Yeah, but you don't have to pay the library fines and you don't have a paper on the roles of women in 17th century Europe due in a few weeks."

Katie smiled.

"You can do my poli sci paper on the pros and cons of the three branches of government if you want? Talk about boring!"

Natalie chuckled.

"I completed the political science pre-req thank you!" Natalie said. Katie paid the cabbie and just as it pulled away a police car came up behind it and stopped. An officer got out and approached them.

"Ms. Graham, remember me?" He asked. "I interviewed you a the hospital a few hours ago?"

"Oh Officer Thomas, yes!" She said extending her hand.

"I came to interview your companion Derrick to also get his statement." He said. "I was told his dorm in this area?"

"Uh yeah, over there." She said pointing to the building next to hers.

"Good luck with him though." Katie said as they all walked towards the door and pulled out her key to the entrance. "He is pretty shook up!"

"Are you sure you would not be able to identify your attackers Ms. Graham?" The officer asked as they entered the lobby.

"They were covered from head to toe." She said. "And after I hit my head everything became fuzzy. Trust me if I could, I would."

They met with the college resident assistance who led them to the men's wing. It was nearing 11pm, but record players and the sounds of laughter could be heard from the rooms. Hey again, it was Friday!

Students froze in their tracks when they saw the police officer along with the heads of the dorm and the bruised Natalie. When they approached Derrick's dorm voices could be heard from his dorm.

"Derrick, you gotta pull yourself together man!"

"Yeah, you're not making any sense!"

"I AM TELLING YOU THE TRUTH! IT WAS A TURTLE AND A RAT!"

"Come on, let's get you to the hospital, you must have hit your head hard or something!"

The officer then knocked on the door and the voices froze.

"Police, open up!" Officer Thomas said.

The door quietly opened as a young man appeared.

"Yes sir?" He asked.

"Is there a Derrick Hanson here?"

"Uh, yeah." He said. "But, he's not feeling well right now."

The officer was not having it.

"Nice try son, but I still need to speak to him." He said. "And I would like to think he would like to know the status of the woman he had with him when he was attacked?"

"NATALIE?!" Derrick yelled and stumbled over to her. He was clearly not in good shape, he had a nice bruise along his cheek and his arms were pretty scratched up. It was apparent thought he took a different route to pain relief as he was very much drunk.

The officer stood between Natalie and Derrick.

"Young man, I'd like know what actually happened this evening?"

He pointed at Natalie.

"She says that you two were mugged or were going to be?" He asked. "Is that true?"

Derrick looked at Natalie in shock.

"You told him that!?" He yelled. "You know that is not what happened!"

He turned to the officer.

"See officer, there was this giant turtle, And I was like, no way man, it could speak and everything! He said his name was Ramon! And 'Nat wanted to take him back to where he came from, but I was like dude, can you imagine the dough we could get if we reported him to the police or some lab!?"

Everyone looked at Derrick in suspicion while Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Ramon? Shows that you have the attention span on a bug."

"Stop looking at me like that!" He yelled. "The creep even bit me! See!"

Derrick lifted his pant leg, and while a small bruise had formed on his calf, Raphael had barely penetrated the skin."

Derrick looked at Natalie in despair.

"TELL THEM NATALIE!" He yelled. "Then a huge rat attacked me and that's how I got all messed up! He pummeled the crap out of me!"

Officer Thomas looked up.

"Tell me something Mr. Hanson." He said. "If you claim that you took the brunt of the beatings by this rat and turtle you say, then how did Ms. Graham herself become injured?"

It him a minute, then Derrick remembered he had essentially caused Natalie harm.

"Look, man, I mean sir." He stuttered. "After the turtle bit me, I uh, grabbed it and I was, uh, you see, Natalie put herself in the way."

"Excuse me?" Katie screamed. "Are you telling me that it was you who actually hurt Natalie!?

She turned to Natalie.

"'Nat, is it that what really happened!?" She asked concerned. "You weren't really jumped were you!? Derrick put the moves on you, you said no, he attacked and you attacked him back, right!?"

"NO ITS NOT LIKE THAT!" Derrick screamed. "I just wanted that freak of nature to pay for hurting me! I didn't expect Natalie to get in the way! I would never hurt a girl!"

More officers soon appeared in the hallway as Officer Thomas turned to Natalie.

"Ms. Graham." He said. "If this young man put his hands on you, you should not let him get away with it! Were you really mugged as you said at the hospital?"

"BUT I DIDN'T!" He said as the police surrounded him. "I-I really like Natalie, I wouldn't hurt her! I just didn't expect her to protect the turtle."

"You are something else you weirdo creep!" Katie said. "Come on Natalie, tell them what he did!"

If it had happened the way everyone was making it out to be, Natalie would have reported Derrick to the police immediately, but the reality was, it didn't. As much of a loser Derrick was, he didn't deserve to go to jail for something he essentially didn't do. Though he did deserve a good kick in the pants for tossing her to the ground like he did when Raphael bit him.

"Derrick." She said. "You must be too drunk or something. What really happened was that we were in the alley heading to the movie theater when we got jumped. Derrick pushed me out of the way, I fell to the ground hard. The "turtle" he is referring to is the guy Derrick knocked to the ground and got his revenge by biting him in the leg. Suddenly I thought I saw a knife or something being pulled out and I jumped in to try to separate them, but one of them shoved me into the wall and I hit my head. This rat I guess was the guy that wore all brown."

"Then why were you by yourself?" Officer Thomas asked. "The staff said you were alone when you walked into the ER."

Natalie shrugged

"I assumed Derrick went to get help." Natalie said. "Some good Samaritans came by and patched me up and put me in a cab to the hospital. Wish I had gotten their names, but by the time my head cleared I was already in the cab."

Everyone stared at her and she was not liking it.

"THAT'S the truth." She said. "Look if Derrick put his hands on me, trust me, I wouldn't let him get away with it. Katie you've seen me stand up to creeps like that." She did end up glaring slightly at Derrick.

She sighed.

"But that is what happened." She said. "We were jumped, Derrick I thought went to get help, I was rescued and sent to the hospital, end of story."

She looked at them with desperate eyes.

"Now can I please go back to my dorm and take a shower!?" She begged. "I am filthy, tired, and I missed dinner!"

Officer Thomas knew there was not much else he could do. With no witnesses and two different stories from the victims an arrest cannot be made.

"Alright , you may go." He said. "But please do not hesitate to call the station,just in case."

He turned to Derrick who was now being held up by two friends. The alcohol was really hitting his system.

"And as for you, Mr. Hanson" He said. "I hope creative writing is your major or you need to see a counselor here on the campus. You are lucky Ms. Graham defended you because quite frankly your story is none like any that I have heard and I have been an officer for twenty years."

He pointed his finger at Derrick.

"But if I find out you indeed put your hands on her or any other girl, believe me, the injuries you got today will feel like a tickle compared to what I will do!"

Derrick just swayed on his feet as Officer Thomas and the rest of the police left.

Katie meanwhile went right up into Derrick's face.

"That goes for me too!" She said. Natalie just rolled her eyes and pulled her friend away.


The shower was like heaven. Feeling refreshed she changed into her pajamas, left the bathroom and headed back to her and Katie's room. She was hoping Katie had gone to sleep, but unfortunately the young blonde woman was sitting on the edge of her bed with her arms crossed.

Natalie groaned.

"What?" She asked.

"Did you lie to the police?" Katie asked. "Were you really jumped?"

"Yesss!" Natalie hissed. She began searching her drawers to see if she had a snack stashed away. "Now please Katie, I promise if anyone had hurt me, you'd be the first to know. I mean jeez you were ready to blacken his other eye when you thought he had hurt me. I'd pay to see that!"

Katie sighed, but dropped it. She knew Natalie was tough and really didn't let any guy hurt her and she had made it clear that she was really not that interested in Derrick. If he had really hurt her, she wouldn't hesitate to give a what for.

"What in the world was Derrick going on about back there though?" Katie asked. "Turtles and rats attacking you?"

Natalie shrugged.

"Drunk talk, I guess." She said rummaging through a drawer. "I guess the booze the guys have been stashing is a bit too cheap or maybe Derrick tried something else to calm him down. Didn't I have a candy bar in here?"

"You ate it yesterday." Katie said. "Here."

She passed Natalie a wrapped sandwich, peanut butter to be exact along with a can of soda.

"Got it just before the cafe closed and the cab came." She said. "Just in case you were hungry, Mrs. Henderson whipped it up and said to take it without charge when I told her it was for you. She said you need to call her to tell her what happened. Guess she likes you."

"I babysat her kids a few times last semester." Natalie said unwrapping the sandwich. "While her husband was in the hospital after that nasty car accident, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Katie said.

The thought of children made Natalie think of the four turtles and she put her sandwich in her lap. She hated the fact that Splinter had basically forbade her from returning. In the short time she got to know them, she found herself drawn to them. And the fact they were living on bare essentials, in a dark, smelly sewer, and all because they were, okay, human like turtles and a rat.

"Nat?"

Natalie looked up.

"You feeling okay?" Katie asked.

"Oh, yeah, just tired." She said. "I'm going to take my antibiotics and turn in." She said. "I need to head to the library tomorrow and try again on my paper."

"Not the City Library I hope!" Katie said.

Natalie shook her head.

"No, I'm staying on campus this weekend, doctors orders. He doesn't want to stray too far from school in case my head injury decided to act up." She said. "You got a meet tomorrow?"

Katie was on the school's track team.

"Yeah about an hour from here." She said.

Natalie, removed her glasses, which had amazingly survived the melee without a scratched, and tucked herself into bed.

"Well if I am not awake by the time you leave." She said. "Good luck!"

Katie smiled and she took got into bed.

"Thanks 'Nat." She said. "Night!"

"Good night."

Out the lights went.


She spent a good part of the morning at the campus library trying to once again research for her paper. It was hard though because her mind kept going back to Splinter and his four turtle sons. She couldn't heed Splinter's words, they needed more than the meager supplies they had. And she couldn't help it. The four turtles were absolutely adorable and she wanted to spend more time with them. The look on Raphael's face when she had to leave broke her heart into a million pieces.

"That's it!" Natalie quietly said and threw her pencil down. "I gotta do something!"

She grabbed her notebook and marched out of the library. She quickly headed back to her dorm, threw her notebook on her bed, and went to her desk. Fishing out her wallet of a drawer, she counted the cash she had.

"Eh, it'll do." She uttered. She grabbed a small purse and headed out the door.


It was another nice day as Natalie got off the city bus and onto a sidewalk filled with bodegas. First she entered a small grocery and purchased some non-perishables like canned soup, fruit and vegetables. She also purchased some personal hygiene items just because sewer living was not exactly cleanly.

With a few bags in tow, Natalie left the store and saw just across the street a children's shop, it's windows full of toys and clothes. Natalie went inside and grinned. It was full of so many things that the turtle boys might like. As she surveyed the small aisles, her eyes caught upon a large ten piece puzzle.

"I bet Donatello especially would like this." She said. He had looked at her like she was a mystery he needed to solve. He had inspected her hair, her hands, her glasses, even her nose.

She put the puzzle in her basket she continued her search.

"Awww." She said picking up a stuffed panda bear. "Michelangelo, definitely."

She moved along.

"Now what for Leonardo and Raphael?"

She approached a small arts and crafts section. Looking through the paints, she found a small water color set.

"Hmmm, maybe Leonardo." She said. He seemed like such a serious little guy, practically mimicking every move Splinter made. If Splinter had been the one who had made the Japanese writings on the walls, he could show Leonardo how to do it too with this set.

"Now Raphael." She uttered. "What for him?"

Like Splinter had said Raphael had not liked being cooped up. He needed something that could occupy his mind and time so he would not want to try to leave the lair, but of course it had to be fun.

She came across some jars of children's clay. After inspecting it, she grabbed a few more jars of different colors. Natalie figured because the clay was so versatile Raphael could spend hours making all kinds of things instead of sneaking out.

Of course Natalie did hope they would share, but she could not help but see each toy match the personality of the turtles.


With her wallet lighter and her arms full Natalie made her way back to the hospital where she gone to the night before. She assumed she must be near the lair, otherwise Splinter would have had to find a way to direct her to a further area. The manhole actually pretty well hidden from prying eyes, next to a fence behind the building itself. Making sure she was not being watched, Natalie pulled the cover from the manhole as quietly as possible. As much as she wanted to just take everything and go down into the sewer herself, she couldn't risk being caught, by Splinter or otherwise.

With a quick prayer she dropped the bags as carefully as she could down the sewer. Then she quickly put the cover back on the manhole and made her way to the nearest bus stop.


Splinter had been taking in some time of quiet meditation. His sons were now down for an afternoon nap and he finally had some time to himself.

His concentration was interrupted when a thud pierced his strong ears. It was practically outside the lair. He quickly ran to the wall that held the ninjutsu weapons and grabbed a katana. With a quick check on his sleeping turtles, he headed towards the lair opening slowly. His nose did not pick up anything too close by, but when he turned to his right he saw a pile of bags with their contents rolling out.

Splinter sighed in relief thinking it was just someone's garbage. But when he approached the bags he was surprised.

"Corn?" He muttered looking at the unopened can. He dug through the rest and saw that while there was some dents the cans of food were unopened and no sign of spoilage."

Then his eyes came across two other bags. He looked to see the face of a stuffed panda bear looking at him and some jars of clay rolling back and forth. The other bag revealed water colors and a puzzle.

His nose was picking up all sorts of scents from the items, but then one scent hit him in particular.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Quite a clever girl." He said. Splinter gathered the bags and headed back to the lair where his turtles were beginning to stir from their nap.