All eyes immediately shifted to the lone female. Completely unconcerned about his arrival, she looked up at Bishop and chuckled softly. Of the four brothers, Leonardo seemed to be the only one capable of speech.

"W-what?" he stuttered. "You two know each other?"

Bishop laughed. He crossed the sparse room and knelt down in front of Alexandria. Stretching out a hand, he cupped her chin, tilting her head so she was forced to look him in the eye. "So, my pretty little pet, you didn't tell them about our association? How very rude."

"Go to hell," Andria said calmly, trying to jerk out his grasp. Bishop tightened his hold.

"Is that all you have to say to me after so much time apart?" he asked. "It's been almost two years. I thought for sure we would never see each other again."

"You always were an idiot," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

"No need to be insulting," said Bishop. "Besides, if you want to hurt my feelings you'll have to do much better than that."

"You have no feelings," Andria corrected.

The man laughed again. "You haven't changed a bit. I've missed those clever remarks of yours."

"Forgive me for interruptin'," Raphael said sarcastically, having found his voice. "But would somebody explain what the shell is goin' on here?"

"Just a reunion between old friends," Bishop answered, keeping his eyes locked on Alexandria. "A happy occasion, I dare say, even though I had expected it would be on Deyelaari instead of Earth."

"Deyay-what?" wondered Michelangelo, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Have you told them anything about your past?" Bishop asked Alexandria, raising an eyebrow quizzically and smirking. He stood, pulling her up with him. Keeping one hand firmly under her chin, his other held her shoulder tightly as he turned until they both could be seen by the others. "Permit me to tell them of our history, my dear."

Andria only glared at him.

"Deyelaari is an alien infested planet in the Zargon galaxy," he explained, his brown eyes rolling sideways to look at his captives. "The resources and technology there are invaluable. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to travel to Deyelaari with the promise that doing so would be beneficial to my work for the Earth Protection Force. So I decided to take the risk and went to that god forsaken world. Five days after I arrived, I met Alexandria. With some persuasion, she agreed to help me with my work."

"Define 'persuasion'," demanded Leonardo, frowning up at Bishop.

"I merely told her of my intentions," the man replied innocently.

"Which were what exactly?" Leo continued to pry.

"Genetic research for my slayer project."

"Say what?" Mikey exclaimed loudly.

"You helped Bishop with that?" Donnie asked looking up at the female in disbelief.

"Yes she did," Bishop said with an evil smile on his face. "Alexandria turned out to be quite helpful."

"Are ya cracked in the head?" Raph growled at Andria. "How could ya work for this maniac?"

"She sold her soul to me," the EPF leader answered for her. He laughed as his eyes met Alexandria's again. "Or should I say, her DNA."

"Liar," Andria accused in a low tone, jerking her head again in attempt to break free. "You gave me an ultimatum."

"So I did," Bishop conceded, his face smug as he refused to loosen his hold. "An ultimatum that you accepted without hesitation."

"What ultimatum?" Leo asked, his gaze flipping back and forth between the two.

"How about you explain this one?" the man suggested to Alexandria, forcing her head to turn left towards the four males. She remained silent, avoiding their questioning eyes by staring at a spot on the wall above their heads. "No? Fine, I will. At the time of my arrival, Deyelaari was in the midst of a civil war. It seems the lower class citizens were upset with the government and had started a rebellion. They were plotting to overthrow the monarchy when the emperor solicited my help. We agreed that if I were to identify and eradicate the rebel leaders, then he would give me unlimited access to his planet's resources. Come to find out, one of the main protestors was this lovely creature right here."

At this point, Alexandria began to struggle. Desperately, she tried to twist free, but to no avail. His hand quickly dropped from her chin to her neck as he stepped behind her. Wrapping his other arm around her middle, Bishop pulled her close to him, tightening his hold until her movements stopped.

"Now, now," he scolded, slightly increasing the pressure around her throat. "I'm not done with my story." Bishop looked back at the four brothers still seated on the floor. "Because of her own rash actions, she fell right into my trap and got caught along with her co-conspirators. That's when I found out that the mysterious saint everyone referred to as Dria was a five foot walking, talking female turtle whose real name was Alexandria. Understandably, I was very intrigued by her. Even amongst the variety of freaks on Deyelaari she stood out. She was so human-like. I wanted her to be part of my research, but she wouldn't cooperate. You see, boys, her tendency to act recklessly is nothing compared to her ability to be stubborn. Then I made her an offer: work for me or watch as I destroy all her comrades."

"You bribed her," Leonardo stated, glaring at his enemy.

"Call it what you will. Any way you look at it, she agreed to help me," Bishop responded, turning his face towards Alexandria's ear. "Didn't you, my pet?"

"Regrettably," Andria replied quietly, disgusted by the man's warm breath on the side of her head.

Bishop chuckled, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Like you would have picked the other option. You've got a serious hero complex – always wanting to save the day, rescue the innocent civilians from the evil villain. That kind thinking is what gets you into trouble, Alexandria. It did then and it has now. Play superhero all you want. Just remember that I'm your kryptonite."

"Bit vain of you to say that," she whispered back dangerously.

The hand around Alexandria's neck squeezed, fingernails digging into her skin. Anger flared briefly in Bishop's eyes as he hissed a reply. "More like stating a fact."

"How did she help you?" Donatello asked, full of curiosity.

"By providing me with a sample of her DNA," Bishop replied, smiling again. "I studied her entire genetic makeup. Her genome was seemingly unique, though it did have some genes identical to both turtles and humans. She let me believe that she was a fascinatingly rare species of alien – the last of a dying breed. Imagine my surprise when, nearly a year after our…separation, I learned of four creatures who looked just like her. Four sentient turtles. From Earth."

"So the first time we met," Donnie said, his eyes widening as realization set in, "that night you handed the Fugitoid over to the Federation, it was really because you wanted our DNA to compare with hers and use it for your research project."

"Very good, Donatello," praised Bishop. "Turns out, she's a mutant freak just like you."

"You didn't mention anything about Alexandria then," Leonardo remembered.

"I was under no obligation to," the man defended. "I told you what mattered – that I wanted your DNA to create an army of super soldiers. In my line of work, it's best not to reveal every little detail."

"You also said that you had never seen a mutation like ours before," Donnie reminded him.

"When I said that," Bishop began, "I was still under the impression that Alexandria was an alien being. I knew you four were mutants due to the fact that while you were traversing the galaxies, interfering in matters between the Federation and the Triceratons, you were introducing yourselves as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On the night we met, our little soiree was interrupted before I had the chance to compare your DNA side by side. It wasn't until later that I discovered that this poser here was actually a mutant."

"That doesn't mean our mutations are the same," the purple clad turtle protested.

Bishop snorted. He removed his arm from around Alexandria's waist, grabbing her bound wrists instead. With his other hand still gripping her by the throat, he pushed her forward. "Look at her. Do you not see the similarities? Hell, she's even dressed like you! True, your genomes aren't exactly the same, but besides your gender, the only real difference is that you four males are blood relatives and Alexandria is a lone swimmer in her own gene pool. "

"But…but how?" Donnie stammered. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"No, it doesn't," Bishop agreed. "How is it possible that four turtles from Earth have nearly the exact same mutation as a turtle from a planet that's light years away? It's not. Nor is it possible for a normal, non-mutated turtle to exist on said planet. So that must mean that Alexandria is from Earth….San Diego, California to be exact."

Andria's stomach dropped. She inhaled sharply, panic creeping through her mind. How did he find out?

Bishop felt her tense and heard her gasp. Laughing, he pulled her back towards him, spinning her around so that they were face to face once more. "That's right, Alexandria. I found out all about your creation. I guess I could say a little birdie told me…"

"H-Hawk…" the female murmured in disbelief. "Hawkthames…b-but why would he…" She paused, her eyes quickly scanned Bishop's face, noting his malicious grin. When she spoke again, her voice was laced with anger. "You forced it out of him, didn't you?"

"Think of it as a heartfelt confession," Bishop replied, his grin widening into a smile. "He was only trying to be like you – noble, heroic – and he succeeded. Now you're both traitors."

With that, Alexandria lost it. Enraged by the insult, she tried again to escape from the man's grip, kicking at him with both feet. She twisted and yanked, hoping to free her hands for the simple satisfaction of driving a fist into his jeering face, but the rope stayed whole and knotted. Her efforts were almost successful. She did manage to free herself from Bishop's hands. Momentarily. The man was fast, recapturing her by grabbing her arms and digging his thumbs into the pressure points just above her elbow joints. Alexandria cried out and her knees buckled as jolts of pain shot through her.

"You have quite the bad temper," he criticized, holding her up to keep her from collapsing on the floor at his feet. Bishop glanced at the other four who were watching with expressions that ranged from angry to horrified. He laughed again before he addressed them. "You boys will have to be careful not to make her mad. I believe I was in the middle of explaining something…what was it? Oh yes…your mutations. You four came into contact with mutagenic ooze created by the Utroms while Alexandria was exposed to chemicals manufactured by humans. But how could two different causes have the same effect? The answer is this: the intelligence of the human race is finally catching up to that of extraterrestrials in the fields of science. It's a phenomenon that the government chooses not to disclose with the general public and for good reason. People wouldn't know how to deal with it. Things could go wrong. There could be more accidents – accidents that lead to more freaks. What we would do then?" He looked down at Alexandria, his face an expression of mock sympathy. "Not every human would adopt one and raise it as part of the family…"

"Fuck you," Andria managed to say, the pain in her body dulling. "Fuck you, Bishop."

"Now is neither the time nor the place," Bishop retorted, standing her on her feet. His thumbs lingered threateningly near the pressure points on her arms as he addressed the room at large. "We've solved the big mystery about your supposed coincidental existence, but there are still a few questions that need answering."

"Fer cripes' sake!" Raph burst out. His irritation at being captured had transformed into anger with each word Bishop had spoken. The fact that his hands and wrists were numb from poor circulation weren't helping matters. "Instead of playin' twenty questions let's skip to the fight so we can get the shell outta here!"

"I second that!" Mikey joked.

"You're not going anywhere," the man declared. "So you might as well make yourselves comfortable."

"What questions?" Leo demanded. His frustration was starting to show as he wiggled restlessly, trying to relieve the cramping in his neck and shoulders.

"Questions for Alexandria. She has some explaining to do," Bishop replied. He put on a mock serious face and glanced down at her. Keeping a firm grip on her arm with one hand, he shook a finger of the other at her like she was a naughty little kid. "You've been lying to me."

"About what?" Andria challenged, raising an eye ridge. "My true origins? How could I lie to you about that when you never asked me? I didn't tell you I was a Deyelaarian. You assumed it you pretentious bastard."

She knew it was coming, but Andria was still stunned by the hard backhanded slap that struck her across the face. The force of the blow was enough to knock her to the floor and Bishop let her fall ungraciously, face first to the tile. Her face stung. The ring depicting the EPF seal that Bishop wore on his right ring finger had cut her cheek. It hurt like hell, but it was worth it to see him lose control.

"No!" Leo had shouted as he saw Bishop raise his hand.

"Andria!" Donnie and Mikey cried together while she fell.

Even Raph was upset by the hit. "Jus' let me get out of these ropes Bishop and I'll…"

But Bishop wasn't interested in what Raphael was planning to do. Hands curled into fists that hung at his sides, he stood motionless, glaring at the figure lying on the floor. Andria rolled to her side and looked up at Bishop, grinning defiantly. She began to sit up only to be hauled back into a standing position as he seized her by the throat again.

"I may not have asked, but you never corrected me either," the man said, his tone dripping with menace. His fingers clenched tighter. "That makes you a liar all the same. I suggest that you be honest with me about the questions I'm going to ask you now."

"She can't answer if she can't breathe!" Leonardo shouted out, worried that Alexandria's skin tone was beginning to take on a bluish tinge.

Realizing that the terrapin leader had a point, Bishop loosened his grip, capturing the tails of her black mask in his long fingers instead. Andria's breathing was ragged as her deprived lungs greedily sucked in air. On her neck, Bishop's handprint marred the green skin. He yanked on her mask tails, forcing her head back until she looked him in the face.

"Tell me, Alexandria," Bishop said, wiping a trail of blood off the turtle's cheek with his thumb, "how did you get back to Earth? When I left Deyelaari, it was to my understanding that you had met your demise."

"The thing about rumors is," she replied hoarsely, "you never can be sure whether or not they're true."

"Indeed," he said tersely. "You seem to have a nasty habit of coming back from the dead. Maybe next time you should stay buried."

"Maybe next time you should make sure I'm actually dead."

"She sure is avoiding the question," Donatello whispered to his brothers as they watched the exchange between Bishop and Alexandria.

"Yeah, but why?" Leonardo wondered, frowning at the pair as he failed to understand their relationship.

"Man, this is messed up," Raphael commented, tugging uselessly at the ropes binding his wrists. "Bishop knows more 'bout this girl than we do."

"Shhh!" shushed Michelangelo. "I wanna hear this!"

"…and after you got back to California," Bishop was saying, "…you told your daddy everything that happened, which made him worry about his so-called daughter. He had to try harder to make sure you stayed safe from me while keeping you a secret from the rest of the world and he did. That is, until you arrived here in New York. So now the question becomes why did you come here? "

"Give me your best guess," Andria commanded, a smirk on her face.

"Alright," he complied, smiling back at her. "I'm guessing that you heard about these four…" he gestured towards the terrapin brothers. "…and you - incapable of minding your own business - came here to find them, concocted some scheme to meet them, sweet talked them, and have since been living with them."

"Close," she replied sarcastically. "You have the motive wrong….and the scheming….and the sweet talking….but other than that you've guessed right."

"Then you're motive must be that you're out to steal more hearts…." Bishop said with a chuckle. He followed the black string of her necklace down to the crystal pendant which he picked up to examine. "…though I don't understand why. You already have the emperor's son groveling your feet and Hawkthames wrapped around your finger. Isn't two enough? Do you really need to add these four to your collection?"

"What kind of girl do you think I am?"Andria asked, well aware of the alarmed, outraged, stunned, and puzzled looks that the four mutant males were giving her.

"The kind who gets what she wants," he answered, continuing to play with the white crystal. "By any means necessary. You lie, cheat, and manipulate. You're not happy if things don't happen the way you want them to because you're a conceited, judgmental, perfectionist."

"I'm sorry, were you describing me or yourself just then?" she wondered.

Bishop ignored the jib, letting the half-sphere pendant fall from his hand. He inclined his head towards the brothers. "You at least owe them the truth. They're the ones who you have been keeping the most secrets from."

"They know the reason why I'm here."

"And that is?"

"Daddy sent me," she confessed in an irritated tone. "Against my will. I never knew about these four. By accident, I ran into them one night. I had and have no intention to 'add them to my collection'."

"So you say," Bishop taunted.

The way in which he had said that signaled a warning to Alexandria. Frowning, she locked eyes with her captor. "What do you want, Bishop? Didn't you take enough from me on Deyelaari? Why track me down on Earth?"

"In answer to your questions," he replied, "I want you, no, and because I own you, respectively."

"So keep me and let them go," she requested looking over at Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey.

Bishop rolled his eyes and scoffed. He let go of Andria's mask and shoved her hard into the far wall. The impact caused her to fall to her knees with a groan. She looked back up at Bishop who stood over her with his hands linked behind his back. "There you go again with the hero complex. It's time you stop acting like the knight in shining armor and play the damsel in distress instead. None of you will be leaving here tonight. I need all five of you."

"What for?" Leonardo asked loudly.

"What for?" the man repeated, turning his attention to the terrapin leader. "To rebuild my super soldiers."

The room was silent for a moment.

"No way," Raphael growled out. "No fuckin' way, Bishop!"

"Why do you need us?" Donatello asked. "You have countless men at your beck and call."

"Men who don't have mutated DNA," said Bishop.

"But you already took DNA samples from us," Michelangelo protested.

"So I did," Bishop acknowledged as paced the floor. "Samples that were destroyed along with my entire army of super soldiers the night you for invaded my lab to save your master. Because of you, I have to start my slayer project all over. Perhaps I should be thanking you. Now I have the opportunity to make it better than it was before."

"How so?" Donnie wondered.

"Alexandria's here," he answered. "I'll be able to study you all simultaneously. I can completely renovate my original schematics - add new features that will encourage certain biological instincts. Four males and one female…I may not have to resort to cloning after all…"

"Oh hell no," Andria spoke up suddenly. "That's enough of this crap."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Andria leapt to her feet. Her hands emerged from behind her back; one holding the remnants of the rope that hand bound them and the other holding the dagger that had freed them. Bishop didn't have enough time to register what was happening before a roundhouse kick leveled him out on the floor. While her foe was temporarily down, Andria knelt beside Leo to cut the rope around his wrists and pressed the dagger into his hand.

"Move fast!" she urged the blue clad terrapin as Bishop got back up. Andria stepped away from him, bracing herself as the EPF leader rushed forward.

Leonardo heeded her advice. He was on his feet in an instant, freeing his brothers. The other three jumped up, rubbing life back into their wrists.

"Weapons would be nice!" stated Mikey, habitually reaching to his belt for nunchakus that weren't there.

"Make do without them!" Leo responded. "Let's get Andria and get out!"

The female was struggling to keep Bishop at bay. Teeth grit, she blocked his fists as they swiped at her. A quick move on his part sent her crashing into the wall. Bishop stepped towards her, but found his path obstructed by four angry looking turtles.

"I am so gonna enjoy this," Raphael said. Grinning darkly, he launched himself at the man. Bishop sidestepped neatly, aiming a kick at the hot head's shell. It found it's mark and Raph stumbled forward. He recovered immediately, spinning around to catch Bishop by the shirt and delivering a hard uppercut to his chin.

"You always do, Raph," Mikey commented as his brother landed another punch on Bishop's jaw.

Raph prepared for a third strike, but this time Bishop was ready for him. The human caught hold of the mutant's fist, bending it backwards at the wrist. Grunting slightly in pain, Raph tried to free his hand and still keep hold of Bishop. A powerful kick to the chest had the red clad turtle flying away from former captor . As soon as he was airborne, Leonardo took his place. Donatello, meanwhile, checked on Alexandria who lay in a heap at the base of the wall.

"You okay, Andria?" the genius asked kneeling down beside her as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I-I'm fine," she replied in a shaky voice.

Donnie was skeptical. "You sure?"

Andria nodded. Truth be told, her entire body felt numb. She sat taking deep breathes, watching as Leonardo battled away with Bishop using her dagger as a weapon. The man dodged the short blade by mere centimeters. With Leo's arm extended, Bishop slammed a fist down hard on the middle of his forearm, making him drop the weapon. Following up with a blow to the face, Bishop sent the turtle to the floor. Raphael returned to the fight with a vengeance, running straight for the man at the same time as Michelangelo.

"Come on, we'll work on finding a way out of here," Donnie said standing up. He offered a hand to Alexandria which she took and he helped her to her feet. Limbs still feeling like dead weight, she stumbled. Donatello caught her by the waist before she fell and gently held her upright. "Whoa, are you sure you're not hurt? Can you walk?"

Hands on his biceps, Andria steadied herself, flushing with embarrassment. "Yeah…I-I'm fine….just lost my balance for a second. I'll be okay, really."

Suddenly, she shoved him away, but the reason was soon made clear as Michelangelo crashed against the wall exactly where he had been standing moments before. The jokester groaned, rubbing gingerly at the back of his head.

"Bishop's tougher than I remember," Mikey said weakly as Donnie helped him up.

The man was putting up a hard fight. Thanks to the enhanced features of his new body, Bishop transitioned easily from offensive to defensive as he combated both Leonardo and Raphael. It was a constant blur of green and black as the three maneuvered around the middle of the room punching, kicking, and blocking. Bishop wasn't indestructible, a fact he was well aware of as fatigue began to threaten him, but he wasn't about to give up. He spotted Andria's discarded dagger on the floor and seized it, brandishing it out before him. Unfazed, the two turtles continued to advance until they had Bishop up against the wall. Bishop raised his left arm to strike at his opponent with the blade, but found that he could not. He had been rendered immobile – pinned to the wall by his sleeve with a dagger identical to the one in his hand. Out of confusion, all movement in the room ceased.

Bishop's surprise quickly turned to amusement. Placing his free hand on his hip, he looked past Leo and Raph to Alexandria. "Nice shot. You've been practicing."

Heads turned towards the female who stood by the opposite wall, hands hanging down by her sides. She raised an eye ridge at the man and smirked. "I have."

"You do realize this isn't going to stop me, right?"

"Probably not. Can't blame me for trying though," Andria replied walking slowly over towards Bishop. Pushing her way between Raph and Leo, she stopped directly in front of the man. Her fingers reached for his black tie to tighten the knot at the top. "Admit it, Johnny. This whole thing is really about the fact that I got away. It must have driven you crazy to have something that you own taken from you by the very people you despise."

"Crazy is not the word I would choose," Bishop insisted, allowing her to continue adjusting his neckwear. "I think 'absolutely livid' better describes how I felt. When I was told you were still alive I swore I would get you back again."

"You can't get me back, Johnny," she stated, looking up into his brown eyes.

"Can't I?" he questioned, subconsciously moving his hand from his hip to hers. "Judging by your tone of voice, I'm willing to believe otherwise. It seems to suggest that you missed me more than you're letting on."

Andria suppressed a shudder as his fingers touched her flesh. She abandoned his tie, placing her hands on his chest instead. "Maybe…want to find out how much?"

The four turtle brothers were dumbstruck. Their situation had just reached a whole new level of weird. Leonardo could not believe what he was hearing or seeing for that matter. Andria and Bishop? He desperately prayed that he was imaging things.

"I'll still want that DNA sample," Bishop stated, pulling her closer.

"You can have it…" she offered. "…if you can get it."

The two smiled sweetly at each other. A second later, the smiles had changed into evil expressions and the second after that they both moved. Bishop withdrew his hand from her waist, pulling free the blade pinning his sleeve while Alexandria flipped backwards away from him. A dagger came hurtling end over end towards the female. Catching it by the handle, she stopped it before the blade could pierce her chest. Her other hand shot up, blocking the second dagger by grabbing Bishop's wrist as he tried to stab it into her side.

"You forget your place, mutant!" Bishop shouted, twisting his arm out of her grasp.

"It's right here in front of you!" she countered, using the dagger in her right hand to intercept the one in his left as it made for her neck. There was a scraping sound as the blades met. "I told you before, Bishop! No one owns me!"

"What the hell is going on?" Raph asked Leo as Andria kicked Bishop in the stomach, forcing him back a few steps. "I dunno know which of 'em to fight!"

"Fight Bishop!" Leo advised, watching the man punch Andria hard enough to knock her to the floor again. "She's on our side! Donnie! Mikey! Let's finish this already and get out of here!"

Andria had landed on her hands and knees. Looking back over her shoulder, she extended her leg, sweeping Bishop's feet out from under him. He fell hard onto his side, the dagger was knocked from his hand and slid away across the tile. Andria lunged for it, fingers closing around the handle, and jumping back up as Bishop did. Her reflexes weren't fast enough and the man slammed her into the wall for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Andria slumped to the floor, dazed while Bishop smiled victoriously over her. He was about to deliver the coup de gras when an emerald colored fist collided with his nose. Blood dripped from the nostrils as Bishop, glaring at Raphael, stumbled backwards into Michelangelo who landed a punch between his shoulder blades. Ignoring the pain, Bishop wiped away the red liquid, jabbing his elbow into the jokester's side. Mikey backed off a little, rubbing his assaulted ribs. Leonardo stepped forward, swinging at fist at Bishop. The man blocked it, but not the other fist the terrapin leader drove into his jaw. Bishop fell against the wall, his entire face throbbing. The four males pressed in closer to Bishop, determined to bring the night to an end. Bishop, realizing his plans were being changed for him, decided that a tactical retreat was in order.

"Looks like we're going to have to cut this short, gentlemen," the EPF leader announced. He aimed a kick at Donatello, his foot connecting with the genius's chest, knocking him backwards. Bishop jumped over the fallen turtle, sinking a fist into Raph's cheek as he tried to stop him. "Rest assured we will meet again." He ducked another swing from Leo, sending the blue clad turtle crashing down with a kick. "Oh and Alexandria…." The female look up at him from the floor, rubbing her bruised shoulder as Bishop caught Mikey by the arm and flung him away."…Sharar sends his greetings."Meeting her eyes one last time, he smirked and disappeared through the door.

"No…no….No! NO!" Andria began screaming. Grabbing her dagger, she used the wall to stand up on shaking legs. Summoning all her strength she dashed across the room and out the door. "BISHOP!"

"Andria, wait!" Leonardo shouted after her. He gestured for his brother to follow as he headed towards the door. "Come on! We have to stop her!"

The hallway was dark. Andria's footsteps were loud as she ran down the walkway in pursuit of Bishop. His cold laughter seemed to reverberate from the walls. She was completely unaware of the four males chasing after her. All of her thoughts were focused on catching up to Bishop. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Andria rounded a corner in time to see Bishop's coat tails vanishing behind a metallic door that was sliding shut. She reached the door as the lock clicked. Angered, her fists beat uselessly at the barrier.

"Andria!" Leonardo yelled again as they drew near. "Just let him go!"

He was ignored as Andria looked about wildly for a way to get the door open. Her eyes fell upon the key card slot. Using the short blade, she managed to pry away the device panel, exposing the jumble of wires that gave it power. She yanked the mass, small sparks of electricity glowing as connections were severed. Amazingly, the door slid open and Andria burst through the opening into a room that contained a multitude of blinking, flashing computers. None of this interested the female as her eyes scanned the room frantically seeking her enemy. The four boys entered behind her while she moved further in.

"Until next time," a voice said loudly.

Andria looked towards the far wall. Bishop had stepped from the shadows to stand before another doorway that led to an escape. In his hand was a small remote device – an explosion device. Andria's eyes widened in horror then narrowed in anger. As she raised one foot to make a run for Bishop, the man's thumb hovered over the device's big red button.

"NO!"

Andria's eyes squeezed shut, her hands flying up to protect her face. She felt herself being picked up and carried back through the doorway. Her unknown rescuer had her halfway down the hall when the bomb detonated. The sounds of the explosion were deafening and made her ears rings. Strong arms held her close to a solid body as heat from the flames blasted all around them. Time seemed to stand still. Andria took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as smoke crowded into her airway. Choking on the tainted air, she sputtered until her lungs were clear. Her ears began to work properly again and she could hear the crackling of fire. She willed herself to open her eyes and find out who had saved her from certain death. The arms still wrapped around her were emerald colored. Afraid she was hallucinating, Alexandria looked up and, much to her confusion, saw Raphael.

"Are ya insane?" Raph demanded, holding her at arm's length, concern etched across his face. "Ya could've been killed!"

"Oh, so now you care all of a sudden?" Andria questioned angrily.

She pushed his hands off her shoulders and turned away. With relief, she noted that the other three were okay. They had made it further down the hall. Michelangelo was closest to the doorway of the first room. He was picking himself up and brushing off the layer of dust that had settled on his skin. Donatello was seated on the floor, leaning against the wall as he caught his breath. Leonardo stood in front of her, watching her, wanting to make sure that she and his brother were unharmed.

"Andria, are you…"

"I'm fine!" she interrupted. Stepping around the leader, she marched down the rest of the hallway past Donnie and Mikey, kicking aside the scattered debris.

"Andria! Wait!" Leonardo called out. "Where are you going?"

Raphael's concern had been replaced by rage. Brushing past his eldest brother, he stomped after her. Exchanging worried glances, the remaining terrapins quickly followed to their former prison.

The hot head stood in the doorway, watching Alexandria pull open the doors on the first of a series of metal cabinets attached to the opposite wall. "Ya gonna tell us what the hell just happened?"

"An explosion, duh!" she replied, rummaging through the contents of the cabinet. Lab coats, goggles, belts, and boots. Not what she was searching for. Leaving the doors open, she moved onto the next cabinet.

"No shit?" he snarled. "Is that really what I just saved yer shell from?"

"I didn't ask you to!" Andria countered. Don's bo staff was attached to the door of the second cabinet. On the middle shelf were the rest of their weapons. The female snatched up her pair of sai and tucked them into her black sash. "You said you weren't gonna play my bodyguard and I didn't expect you to! Don't get pissed at me because you changed your mind!"

Raph walked over and seized his weapons, glad to have them back in his possession. Sliding them into his belt, he continued to hound Andria. "Fine! Next time I'll let Bishop finish ya off!"

"Fine!" she snapped back, digging through the third cabinet. Empty boxes were thrown to the floor. Nothing useful here either. "I don't care if you're not there! I can take care of myself!"

"Oh yeah I can see that!" he replied sarcastically.

"I know how to handle Bishop!" Andria defended. She opened the fourth cabinet. Inside was a solitary box. Full of anticipation, Andria tugged off the lid and cast it aside, revealing a collection of file folders. Bingo.

"I'll bet ya do!" Raph sneered. "Seems like you two are real good friends! Is the whole hostage thing some kind of twisted foreplay for ya?"

In response to the question, Andria whipped around and slammed a fist straight into the red clad turtle's mouth. He hadn't expected that. Raph staggered backwards, trying to maintain his balance. His lip was cut. Tasting blood, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before spitting on the floor. He looked at Andria who seemed surprised by her own reaction. The two locked eyes, glaring at one another intently. Then Raph raised his fist and swung.

"Raph, no!" Leo shouted too late.

The hot head punched Andria in the chin, making her fall backwards into the metal cabinet with a bang. She recovered immediately, aiming a fist for his head. It connected with his cheek at the exact same time as his slammed into her right eye. Andria swung wildly, not caring where her punches landed. Neither did Raph. All that mattered to either of them was inflicting as much pain as possible on the other. Yet, there was interference as three sets of green hands frantically pried them apart.

"Raphael, stop!" Leonardo commanded.

The leader grabbed his angry brother's wrists, setting his feet firmly in place as Raph tried to push past him to continue fighting with Andria. Donatello was holding her by the shoulders, keeping her from rushing forward despites her attempt to get free. Michelangelo stood between the pairs like some referee.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Andria yelled at Raph, trying to yank Donnie's hands away. The genius's grip stayed firm. "I would NEVER have sex with Bishop on my own free will!"

"Why should I believe ya?" Raph asked, struggling against his brother. "Ya been lying to us since ya got here!"

"I haven't lied about anything!"

"Ya never told us ya knew Bishop!"

"I tried!" she screamed in protest. "I tried, remember? On the roof! That's what I wanted you to know Leonardo! But you wouldn't let me tell you that I knew Bishop!"

"I-I…" Leonardo stuttered, his face guilty.

"Don't blame this on Leo!" Raph thundered. "This whole mess is your fault!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know Bishop was here in New York?" she demanded. "How the hell was I supposed to know that you guys knew him too?"

"Yeah, right! Like Johnny never told ya about us!" the hot head hollered.

"You are such an idiot!" Andria proclaimed. "Were you not listening earlier? Bishop and I met two years ago! Way before he met you! I never saw him again until tonight! Now you tell me how he could have possibly told me about you!" No response. "Exactly! Even If I had seen him, he probably wouldn't have told me! Why should he? He never told you about me!"

"He was looking for ya!"

"So? What does that prove?"

"So if ya really were in California fer the last two years, he would have found ya!" Raph shouted, pointing a finger at the female. "Or were ya lying about living with humans?"

"Do you not have a brain in that thick head?" asked Andria. "Master Splinter himself told you where I came from! Do you really think that your sensei, the one you call father, would lie to you? Would your friend April? She knew my father, too! Everything I ever said about my creation, my family, my life was the truth! No, I haven't told you everything, but that's because you haven't asked!" She ceased struggling, but her voice was still angry. "Why would I open up to someone who obviously doesn't want me here?"

Raphael stopped fighting Leonardo, letting his fists fall to his sides. She did have a point. The room grew quiet as the Raph and Andria stared at each other.

"Raph…your shoulder…." Donnie said, breaking the awkward silence. "It's bleeding."

The hot head looked down. Sure enough, blood was flowing freely from a nasty gash on his left shoulder.

"So is Andria," Mikey announced, pointing to a deep cut on her right forearm.

"Great, just great," the two injured turtles spoke together. Their eyes meet briefly before both hurriedly looked away, a faint blush painted across their cheeks. In the adrenaline rush, neither of them had realized they had been hurt.

"It must have happened in the explosion," Donnie decided, letting go of Andria's shoulders to examine her arm."We need to get out of here and get you guys some medical attention."

"I'm fine," Andria insisted pulling her arm out of his grasp. She unwound the black binding from her wrist, wrapping it around the wound on her forearm instead. It would do for now. She returned to the fourth cabinet and resumed rifling through box of the files.

"Don't need attention," Raph muttered, shaking Leo off and applying pressure to his shoulder.

"Yes, you do," Leo corrected, grabbing his katana from the storage unit. Donnie and Mikey did likewise. "Both of you do. We're going back to the lair right now to get you fixed up and then were are going to sit with Master Splinter and civilly discuss what happened tonight."

Andria rolled her eyes. Her face lit up as she finally came across what she had been hunting for. Picking up the small flash drive, she stored it beneath the binding on her left wrist and turned back around. "Fine. Let's go."

"What were you looking for?" Donnie wondered, having watched her.

"Information," she said simply, crossing the room. She bent down to pick up one of her lost daggers that lay waiting by the wall. Giving it an expert twirl, she slipped it back into its sheath located beneath the black band on her right thigh.

"What information?" Leo asked, walking up behind her.

"Anything that could tell me what Bishop's been doing the last couple of years," Andria replied, looking at the leader.

"Did you find something?"

"Not much," she said shrugging. Andria made for the doorway.

"Andria, we can't go that way!" Donnie shouted. "There's fire!"

The female pointed up at the ceiling. "Fire sprinklers will have put it out by now." She walked out into the damaged hallway. "Besides, there's no other way out of this room."

Leo threw up his hands in exasperation. He wasn't so sure she really understood that he was the leader, regardless of Master Splinter had said. Beckoning to his brothers, the leader followed her.

Andria was right. The sprinklers had put out the fire. Still, smoke curled and drifted throughout the passageway. The four terrapin brothers weaved their way through the debris to the end of the hall where Andria already stood. She was retrieving her second dagger which had remained lodged between the wall and the key slot panel. With a mighty tug, she pulled it free and wiped it clean on the ties of her waist sash before returning it to its sheath under the black band on her upper left arm.

"What's up with the daggers?" Mikey questioned curiously. "Don't you think having all those weapons is overkill?"

"Nope," Andria responded. "You never know when you need them. You carry shiruken, don't you?"

"Well, yeah…" the jokester admitted.

"I rest my case," she said satisfactorily walking through the doorway.

The room was worse than the hall. All of the computers had been destroyed. They lay in melted piles upon the floor between the puddles of water that had extinguished the flames. The smell of burnt plastic was strong. Andria felt like gagging as she picked her way across the room, the four boys right behind her. The door that Bishop had escaped through was wide open. She paused in the frame, scanning the dark hallway in front of her for any sight of movement, craning to hear even the slightest sound. Detecting none, she stepped forward and paused again. Still nothing. The five terrapins walked silently down the hallway until they came upon a ladder that led up to a hatch door overhead.

"I'll go up first," Leonardo said pointedly, grabbing hold of a rung before Andria could.

He climbed quickly and with a few strong twists of the wheel had the door open just an inch. Peering through the gap, the leader saw the scene was clear and allowed the door to open completely. He motioned for Alexandria to follow before disappearing through the hole. She shot up the ladder and emerged next to Leo in what surprisingly turned out to be a small alley between two warehouses that faced the East River. The other three males joined them shortly.

"We'll go back through the sewers," Leo announced. "It's too dangerous on the roofs."

This time Andria didn't argue.

AN: At last! An update! I always feel like I need to apologize for taking so long to update, but I realized that all posts get longer each time...so does that make up somehow? So….Bishop and Andria have some history….none of it good. There seems to more there that neither one is telling. Raph isn't as big a jerk as everyone thinks. Perhaps he even cares about the Princess. Leo is frustrated with her. He doesn't like his leadership being challenged. Donnie is worried and Mikey is, well Mikey. Up next: Splinter wants an explanation. Andria finds a confidant in Donatello, perhaps something more. April and Casey come for a visit.