Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! Here is another to move this story along. Feel free to leave me a review when you're finished, because I'd love to hear what everyone thinks so far! Please also know that I will now start using my account's profile page to try and keep you all up to date on my writing status. This way you will have a better idea of when to expect new chapters for the stories I'm currently writing as well as what ideas have come to mind for future stories. Thanks for reading!


Chapter Eight

She had fallen unconscious even before he started moving from the park, which he knew was never a good sign with the injuries that she had sustained. The altercation between herself and Hun had lasted only a few short minutes, but his hulking size had given him an advantage against the girl and clearly proven to be the deciding factor in their fight. Maybe if he had decided to move further into the park before the sounds of the fight had reached his ears he might have been able to spare her from the brunt of his attack. If only he had just moved a little faster…

With his teeth grit tightly together in frustration he looked down at the motionless figure in his arms, hoping and praying that he would be able to get her the help that she needed without causing too much of an uproar. Though her injuries appeared to be non-life threatening there was a strong sense of guilt that ran its course through his body, nagging at the back of his mind that he owed it to her after everything she had been through to at least see her better. Was it a smart idea? Shell, no – he had never been known for his smarts. But it was the only plan that he had.

And taking her to a human hospital was out of the question.

It didn't take long for him to reach the nearest man-hole in the park, shrouded still by the darkness that the night time offered to him as a protective cover from the eyes of any wandering humans who might be in the area. He knelt against the ground and carefully adjusted the way that he held onto her body until he was able to reach out with one hand and pull the cover back, slipping down beneath the surface and then sliding it back into place once more. The journey to the lair wouldn't take long with the short cuts that he had discovered over the past many years of living beneath those who survived on the surface above.

But those people, those surface dwellers, were not his concern at the moment. No, the only concern he had was in making sure that he reached the lair in good time to minimize the damage that might otherwise happen to her body. She wasn't as durable as he was, though he noted the fact that she could take a beating to rival most humans. The girl was definitely squishy in most parts though, for she didn't have the added protection of a shell or the aid of additional training to really keep her safe when she wandered the streets at night. But she was pretty damn stubborn, and he hadn't yet decided whether that was a positive or negative trait to have in her current state.

Deeper and deeper into the bowels of the sewer system he went, holding her smaller body tightly to his chest as if to further protect her from any abuses that might dare to come her way. They weren't far now – only another minute or so. He knew that the turn was coming up ahead that would lead him to the secret lever placed into the brick wall that separated the interior of the lair from the exterior. It was a part of the old system that nobody used anymore but the precaution had been put in place nonetheless. The risk of being discovered was too great.

"Come on kid," he growled again, glancing down at the unconscious form in his arms. "Come on."

There was no response. She'd taken just enough of a beating that her body couldn't handle remaining conscious, and so he doubted that she even saw him jump down from the tree to come to her aid. And maybe that was a good thing. He'd been watching her for so long now that he was sure she wouldn't take too kindly to being helped like that, most especially because the help came from a creature that shouldn't exist by the standards of the society that they tried to be part of. Granted, that didn't change the fact that either of them did exist.

He reached out sharply to move the lever in the wall that would allow the doorway to show itself, shifting his home on her body once more to ensure that he was cradling her head and shoulders properly to prevent any further hurt on her part. As soon as there was enough of a gap for him to slip through, he twisted his body and hurried into the vast space that presented itself to him, looking about for any sign of the one person he knew might be able to properly assess the damage done to her body.

"Yo, Raph! Where did you – WHOA!"

As he knelt down and laid her on the open couch he was quickly joined by one of his brothers, who seemed to take an immediate interest in his arrival as he spied the contents of his arms. "Donnie! I need you in here now!"

Raph looked up in the hopes of spotting the brother he called out for, hearing him begin to arrive just as his first brother leapt over the back of the couch and circled around to where the girl's head now lay. For a moment all he did was stare, peering down at her with curious eyes until he inhaled sharply and his gaze widened a little to look over at the brother who had brought the human girl into their domain.

"Dude…do you know who this is?" he asked as the excitement began to creep into his tone. "This is the Hunter, man!"

"The Hunter?"

The name of the vigilante brought Donnie running in even faster as he took his place among his brothers and impatiently shifted between them until he could kneel by her side to better examine his patient. Neither he nor Raph were really listening as their brother gushed about his meeting with her at the convention earlier in the week, when they had been forced to hide together in a dark corner of the room so that they could overhear the evil plot being hatched by members of the Purple Dragons. The way he explained the situation made it sound a little like a comic book panel anyway, and so Donnie focused on the injuries he could see blooming on her flesh instead. Eyes squinted a little beneath the purple material that was tightly pulled around his face, analyzing the bruises that had begun to darken her face a little as he brushed the skin with light fingers.

Without looking at his brother, Donatello continued his work. "Mikey, go get sensei. Raph, I need my kit."

"Aww, man! Why do I have to-"

"GO!"

Raphael's sharp tone was all that was required to send Mikey on his way, scurrying back toward his sensei's room as if his life depended on it. If Donatello noticed the sharpness and thought anything of it he didn't say a word as he continued to assess the unconscious form in front of him. With slight hesitation did he lift the edge of her shirt and slowly pull it up to rest at the top of her ribcage, noting the damaged ribs that he could already see through her shallow breathing. Yes, things were definitely pretty bad for her, but he had certainly seen worse and knew that she wasn't in immediate danger. If nothing else, it was her head and the bruise he could see forming on her temple that caused him the most concern.

"What happened?" he asked as Raph returned to his side with his medical kit.

"Purple Dragons," he hissed through grit teeth. "They had someone cornered in the park and she jumped in to let her get away."

Supplies came flying out of his kit as Donatello set to work, his gaze never wavering from the vigilante currently laying on his couch. "And you just happened to be in the park at that time?"

"Quit with the stupid questions," barked Raph. "Is she gonna be okay or not?"

He could hear the anger in his brother's tone without issue, but he also picked up on the anxiety that was laced in with those words. There was something in the way that his brother was hovering about that struck Donatello as being rather strange compared to his normal habits, for if there was a brother who hated the idea of medical treatment the most it was certainly Raphael. His fear of needles seemed to constantly come up when he needed to be treated for something, as if a cut to his bicep might require a needle in order to prevent infection when a good cleaning, some ointment and a bandage would do. If you asked him, his older brother could sometimes be prone to over reacting.

But Mikey had recognized her face and called her by her vigilante name. How as that even possible? Nobody knew who this person was, for she was a figure of the night who operated in the shadows just as he and his brothers did. The whole point of her guise was that she went after the criminals of New York City and protected the people who might otherwise fall prey to their treachery…

And yet he had heard her speak a few times in the past, for he had somehow become a part of her network as she did her best to locate the new hotspots through the tips on the street. Where had she gotten the number to call him? He didn't know. She could have been one of the countless people who called the hotline for technical assistance every day when they couldn't figure out how to make their computer run the way they wanted, or why their television wasn't allowing them to watch all of the channels that they were paying for. Either way he supposed it didn't really matter. What mattered was that the voice on the other end of the phone now had a face and that face needed his help.

"Raphael."

He winced a little when he heard the voice of his sensei approach the back of the couch, knowing that his eyes were sure to be locked on the activity currently happening on the other side. "I didn't have a choice, Master Splinter," he said quickly, jumping in before he could be reprimanded for bringing a human into their lair. "I couldn't take her to a human hospital and just dump her there."

Without being prompted he began to recount the entire story, beginning from when he came across her in the park and how he came to be involved. Throughout his explanation Master Splinter remained silent, listening and observing to the deliverance of the story so that he could better discern the truth of the matter without exposing any hidden facts. There was certainly something amiss however, for he had not seen his son looking so concerned about another living creature aside from his brothers before. There was something different in the way that Raphael looked between the unconscious girl and the swift movements that came from Donatello's hands as his fingers continued to dance along the injuries on her skin. He flinched each time Don had to push her shirt out of his way and almost panicked if there was too much time between each intake of air that proved she was still alive.

Donatello continued his work diligently, speaking only when he needed to have something else handed to him as he tended to the various cuts and bruises upon her body. It didn't appear that anything had been broken during her altercation with Hun, and for that she was genuinely lucky. Even compared to his own size he thought she was small, so to imagine her standing up to the likes of Hun and the Purple Dragons was a thought that both impressed and astounded him. How could she be so foolish as to think that she had a chance against them? Even with all of the training that he and his brothers had endured over the years they had spent in the sewers of New York there were times when they too were beaten pretty good by the enemy. What on earth was going through her mind when she stepped into that situation? Was she mad?

"She's been beat up pretty bad," Don finally said, brushing his forehead with the back of his hand after replacing her shirt over her stomach again. "It doesn't look like anything was broken, but she took a good hit to her head. She might be out for the next few hours."

"But she's gonna be okay, right?" Raphael asked quickly.

Don shrugged his shoulders a little. "I think so. I think she just needs to rest and let her body heal itself."

Knowing that there was precious little else he could do to help her right now, Don slowly began to pack up his kit once more and removed himself from the side of the couch. Mikey continued to stare down in awe as Raph watched the slow rise and fall in her chest, which left Master Splinter to stand quietly with his thoughts. Such an interesting creature, he thought to himself, so like April O'Neil and yet so different. Though April had found herself involved in their lives for quite some time now she looked to be older than the girl that Raphael had brought into their midst, and by the name that he had heard his son's call her he knew that she was far more involved in the nightlife than April was.

"What's so interesting about the couch, guys?"

All eyes rose to the upper level of the lair and the person who spoke, seemingly unsure of how they were to address the subject…all that is except for Mikey, who was rather quick to jump in and inform his brother of what he had missed so far.

"Leo, you're never gonna believe this! The Hunter got her butt kicked by the Purple Dragons and Raph brought her home!"

"WHAT?!"

In an instant he had hopped down from the upper floor and swung himself down to join the others, moving faster than normal within the confines of the lair. A look of panic overtook his features as he approached the couch and saw Destiny's battered form before him, moving around to kneel at the arm of the couch that was closest to her head as he placed one of his green hands against the side of her face that bore the bruise. The others simply looked at him in confusion at his actions, for they had all known just how much Leo had been attempting to locate the Hunter during the night in order to bring an end to the actions of the vigilante. It was too dangerous to have some masked human out there on the streets thinking that they could play the hero, he had reasoned. They needed to be stopped before they got hurt or cost someone else their life.

And yet here he was with his hand tenderly placed against her cheek as he looked up at Donatello, a deep frown etching itself into his brow. "What happened?" he demanded.

"Purple Dragons," Raph said bitterly as he quickly pulled himself away from the couch and into the kitchen area for a few moments. "She was tryin' to save a woman from bein' their next victim and ended up way in over her head."

"So why didn't you do something sooner?"

"Hey, she'd been spendin' the last couple of nights down at the docks, okay? How was I supposed to know that she'd go for a walk in the park instead?"

All at once the room seemed to freeze as they processed the words that had been spoken, trying to understand how it was that Raphael knew she would be going down to the docks. Even Master Splinter was looking over at his back, waiting for the moment when he might turn around and explain himself. With a heavy sigh his shoulders fell and at last he turned, walking back to the couch with a bowl of water and a cloth in his hand. He knelt back down on the ground and took the cloth in hand, wringing the extra water back into the bowl before he folded it neatly and placed it against her brow which prompted Leo to remove his hand from her skin.

"I've been watchin' her for a while," admitted the brother. "I knew who she was. I saw her goin' to and from her place as both herself and the Hunter…and I know what she can do. I can't explain why, but something about her just caught my attention, y'know? I couldn't walk away."

"Actually, I do know."

Raph's dark eyes snapped up to look at his brother. From where he sat behind her head, Leo didn't return his gaze. Instead he simply looked down at Destiny's still form and blinked in an effort to clear his thoughts from the muddled mess that they had become.

He gave his head a bit of a shake. "I chased her down the night of the jewelry store robbery," he began slowly. "The Purple Dragons were involved in that too, and though they took more than they needed they were after one item in particular. She was going to stop them but I got in the way, distracted her and got us both shot. Instead of leaving me to die she somehow managed to take me away from there and back to her apartment where she healed me."

Shifting himself slightly Leo touched the faded mark in his skin that had once been a fatal bullet wound. She hadn't healed him enough to erase the mark completely, but Leo had taken it as a sign that he owed her a debt he would likely never be able to repay. His brothers simply stared at him, confused by the way his story had played out because of how he had returned to them later that night with no signs of trauma at all. Was that where the mysterious mark had come from? Had she actually been able to save Leo from a premature death?

"This is the friend that you spoke of?" asked Master Splinter in his soft voice.

Leo nodded slowly. "Destiny," he murmured. "Her name is Destiny…and she is the Hunter."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Mikey, clearly pleased with himself for having remembered so much of her face despite the mask she had worn and the distance she had put between them. "I knew it was her! I met her at the convention a few days ago! That's where she heard all about the shipment coming into the docks that the Purple Dragon were supposed to pick up."

Now it was Donatello's turn to be surprised. "Wait…Raph, you said she was down at the docks the last few nights?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Like she was waitin' for somethin'."

But Donatello just shook his head. "No, I don't think she was waiting for anything. I think she was scouting ahead for Friday night."

Now it was time for the smarter brother to be put on the spot. He shifted uncomfortably at the number of eyes he could feel on him at that moment, but he squared his shoulders and looked around the room at them all anyway. Better to own up to the truth now and deal with the consequences then hide away like a coward, he thought. Leo would have found out eventually.

"She and I have been in contact before," he stated firmly. "Only ever as Don and the Hunter. I don't know how she found me, but she's called me three times from a blocked number to ask for my help in locating things and putting together puzzle pieces that she couldn't trust anyone else with. She called me a few days ago after overhearing that there was a shipment that needed to be picked up. I assume that was when she was with you," he added, turning his gaze to Michelangelo. "I'm the one who looked up the shipment information and told her about the two that were likely to be their target, both of which arrive Friday night at midnight."

He could see the muscled in Leo's jaw begin to tighten a little as he swallowed the information, but Donatello refused to look sheepish or ashamed. What was done, was done. Neither he nor Leo could change that now. Because unlike his brother, who had eventually come to learn that the Hunter was not a dangerous person with their own agenda, Don had immediately trusted this new stranger of the night after hearing about the good things that she had done. Had it taken him a moment to accept that it was a woman? Perhaps. But only because statistics said men were more likely to develop hero complexes.

"So you two knew her as the Hunter," Raph said, looking from Don to Mikey. "And Leo knew both sides of her."

"While you knew both and yet neither," Leo finished. "She didn't freak out when she saw that I was a giant turtle…but she never once said that she had met you, Mikey."

The orange masked brother gave a bit of a chuckle, folding his arms over his chest. "Funny, she never mentioned you to me either, bro."

When silence filled the room, it was Master Splinter who next addressed them. "She has already proven herself worthy of our secret."

At least the secret was out now, they thought to themselves. There would no more hiding the truth from their family and hoping that they would be able to keep their little secret to themselves. What had once been their own private matter was now something that connected them all and would force them to come to a decision of some kind on how to deal with the matter, because when the girl woke up she would find herself in a completely different world from the one she had previously been in. There could be no more secrets.

"We'll need to keep an eye on her," Don finally said. "I don't know how bad her head injury might be."

"I'll stay," Raph quickly volunteered.

But Leo just shook his head, pressing a hand into his brother's shoulder. "You were out all night watching for her," he reasoned. "Get some sleep. I'll watch over her."

Though he hesitated for a moment, Raphael did not argue with his older brother. Finally he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the blanket that had been left in a ball in the armchair nearby, shaking it out before he laid it over her body to keep her warm. No doubt she would soon feel the cold chill of the sewer if she hadn't already begun to feel it prickle against her skin.

"Call me if there's any change."

Leo nodded in agreement, and without another word Raphael turned on his head and moved to the upper floor of the lair, where he could hide himself away in the darkness of his own room and ponder the events of that night. He closed the door sharply behind him and flopped down on the mattress of his bed, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared up into the darkness. Master Splinter had always told him that things were going to happen for a reason, whether it be good or bad, and he would have to suffer the consequences of his actions.

But what if she had to suffer them in his place?