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You are all my inspiration to continue this story, which I WILL continue!
And Also Thank You All for being so patient with me as I struggle to find the time to work on chapters.
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Back at the Lair
Raphael Hamato's considerably large fists were wrapped tightly and clenched in anger as he loosed his pent up rage and irritation on the heavy bag in front of him.
A complex series of jabs and punches set the heavy sack rocking on its thick chain, causing a dribble of cement dust to fall from the ceiling. Too caught up in his rage to care, he continued to land blow after blow.
Each powerful impact caused more and more of the sandy filling to billow out from the hackneyed equipment.
It had seen better days, certainly. Don had yet to find a heavy bag Raph couldn't destroy in short order.
His eyes watered as the dust began to cloud his vision, causing him to blink in frustration.
Sweat poured down his neck and over his collar as he moved around the target in front of him and the soaked bandana tails of his mask stuck to his slick green skin.
Normally, the burn of an intense workout was relaxing to him. Cathartic even. The repetition gave him something to focus his energy on instead of losing himself to his anger.
*punch*
Gave him an outlet. *Punch. Punch*
Helped to clear his mind.
*Jab, Dodge, Double Punch*
-It wasn't working
How did I let her slip away? She was Right THERE!
*Dodge, Counter, Double Punch*
One last heavy hit and the bag swung violently away from the large male animal. Chuffing in irritation, he wiped his slick brow and caught the swinging pendulum on it's return. Every inch of his body was drawn tight in irritation.
"And what would you have done with her if you had caught her huh?"
He would have had to knock her out.
She would have taken one look at his hulking ugly green ass and screamed her head off.
They always did.
The question was, why was it still bothering him?
He was used to it.
It always stung, yeah, he wasn't completely immune. But he sure as hell didn't get tore up about it like he used to. Back when he was a kid. When they all still held a glimmer of hope that people would accept them one day. Back when he hated feeling like a monster -An ugly disgusting beast.
He didn't let it get to him like that anymore.. So why was he so pissed off when he pictured that look on Her face?
Was it just bothering him because she got away? That didn't feel right, even if he did want to cling to the easy answer.
Or was it something else?
He wasn't relaxed at all.
And nearly destroying yet another punching bag as he imagined his opponent's invisible attacks was not clearing his head.
Not this time.
Her face was burned into his mind and he couldn't get that fearful expression out. It always pissed him off. Seeing that expression of fear or disgust on the faces of humans who managed to catch a glimpse of them. Usually on the face of someone they had just saved. No one would Ever see them and not think "monster."
Hadn't he learned that by now?
Centering himself, he began his routine again.
His calculated maneuvers however were quickly forgotten as he simply wailed on the tough leather workout equipment.
His wraps had soaked through with sweat long ago as he pushed himself harder, trying desperately to clear his mind and work off his frustration. Hitting stuff usually did the trick.
He couldn't go topside and beat down criminals, it was still morning. An intense workout would usually at least take the edge off.
It wasn't working though.. The muscles in his body ached and his shoulders burned.
*Double Punch*
He grit his teeth together tightly, trying to keep his anger under control.
His abused toothpick snapped under the pressure and images of the woman began flooding his head.
*Jab*
Her tiny feminine foot slipping through his hand.
*Duck*
Long athletic legs.
*Cross*
The way she smelled.
His stomach clenched in anger.
*Jab*
Why was he so unwound by her?
*Jab*
*Jab*
She was easy on the eyes from what little he'd seen.
But This was fucking Manhattan for cryin out loud!
Beautiful women were around every corner.
He'd rescued quite a few. Jacked off to plenty of porn stars in his day.
"Fuck."
What made her any different?
He only got one good look at her after she escaped. -Barely slipping through his hand at that damned manhole cover.
He hadn't paid much attention to her on the roof.
He'd been more focused on the fight to begin with. He certainly wasn't expecting her scent to affect him so strongly though.
That's when it had all started.
As he'd knocked that Perv off of her with a fist to the face, he had found himself nearly stumbling as her scent hit him like a wrecking ball. Completely destroying his concentration.
Her midnight scent had stalled his mind and her fear had enraged him all at once. Hed had to shake his head to regain focus.
Immediately melting into the shadows he had looked to where she had been half a second before, but Don had already swept her away as planned. His attention had snapped firmly back on the fight then, where it needed to be in the first place as her scent faded. It was the strangest thing, the way it affected him, and it was starting to piss him right the fuck off that he couldn't ignore it like every other person's he had ever crossed.
He hated seeing anyone bullied..
Especially women and children.
So he had figured his reaction had nothing to do with her personally but his need to avenge or protect her..
That seemed more like denial now.
Any possibility of that was washed away on the way home and he knew it wasn't just his protective instinct and anger anymore after Leo sent him after her in the tunnels:
When she ran, he didn't even have to try to pick up her scent. It had been wrapping around him from the moment they crossed the path Donnie and Mikey had taken home from that roof. Intensifying as they entered the sewers where there was less ventilation. It screamed at him to find her and make it stop. He didn't know what he wanted to stop, only that he was taking too long in doing it and his pulse was picking up with every second he was wasting.
Surreptitiously sneaking glances at his brother, Raph hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary with Leo. Honour Boy hadn't acted at all like he was being affected at all, while Raph on the other hand, had been assaulted with scents and emotions he hadn't, and still didn't, understand.
Who was she and why was she affecting him this way?
Maybe it was that tinge of fear that he felt compelled to stop. That made some sense..
It was clouding her natural scent.
One he couldn't let go of and wanted to investigate further.
Under the scent of rain, ozone and fear, was Her natural scent. Hot, Sultry and compelling.
He couldn't describe it -like leather and silk. Night blooming flowers and something that called to him on a primal level.
He had expected to find her at the lair, laid up in Donnies lab with Mikey covering her in cartoon bandaids or something stupid like that. It was the only thing keeping him from giving his anxiety away to Leo by jogging home faster. She's a fuckin stranger!
The surprise of finding out she had attacked Mikey and actually managed to get away was quickly forgotten as Leo ordered him to track her down. His inner beast let out a sigh of relief and had roared in excitement that it could finally hunt down the object of its curiosity and vexation and fix the problem.
The sight of her half way out of that manhole and into the street had enraged him. Not only did she get away, but she left him with her fearful scent and noway to get rid of it. His shell was annoyingly tight and he was starting to feel like a fucking puppet. Was this some new torture their enemies had concocted?
Bouncing from one foot to the other he picked up the pace of his workout. Jabbing and boxing at the bag. More concrete dust trickled from the ceiling but he didn't let up.
He had to get her out of his head.
Though he was starting to see that resistance was futile.
The slight swell of her breasts above the torn sheet was the next torturous image his lecherous mind produced for him. Along with her delicate neck and jawline. When her beautiful eyes, fierce and wild, had snapped to his and morphed into a look of horror.. It was like a blade had pierced his chest. Shredding and burning whatever had taken root there with the arrival of her scent. He was pissed off and confused. Who is she? And why did that look effect him the way it did?
She wasn't the first human to look at him like a monster, certainly wouldn't be the last.
"Maybe she didn't actually see me. Maybe she was just afraid of being caught?"
His attention starved imagination was so quick to toss up alternatives for her reaction but he knew better. No human, especially a human Woman, would Ever see him as anything other than a freak, a hideous monster to be feared.
"You know this, Dumbass."
His fist clenched tighter. Blunt nails bit into his palms and he let loose a series of quick jabs into the bag. It wasn't enough though. His skin felt too tight. Anger and frustration swelled inside him until he wanted to roar.
Over and over the images of her face battled for his attention. Attention he did Not wish to grant. Her scent was intoxicating, it should have dissipated by now to some degree but it had only seemed to intensify.
The smell of fear mixed with her sweet scent was an affront and he wanted to make it go away.
To replace that fear with something more pleasant. -And he hated himself for it.
He reminded himself of his promise to show her real fear when he caught her.
And he would catch her.
A large part of his psyche rebelled at the thought of hurting her in anyway though, even to scare her. Again he cursed this compulsion to fix something. The confusion was killing him.
He wanted nothing to do with her but find her and turn her over to his brother but that felt like a lie. He admitted she was compelling in her own right.
She was a fighter, he admired that in a woman. Had made it past his brother after all. Maybe that was what this was. She had simply impressed him with her narrow escape. Much as it irritated the hell out of him too.
The solution to his itchy hide was simple.
He would hunt her down and realize she was nothing special. Just another freaked out human woman. Nothing more.
Her scent seemed to intensify again and he nearly snarled a curse as his knees weakened. His scales felt raw and itchy all at once -this was driving him insane and getting worse.
His pulse rate increased and adrenaline flooded his system as he was overwhelmed with the need to find the source.
The woman.
His nemesis.
With a mighty roar his muscles coiled and he sprung into a roundhouse kick hitting the bag hard enough to snap the chain and send the heavy equipment sailing across the room and explode into the brick wall.
"Whoa, Dude!"
Mikey was focused on the pulverized bag as it hit the floor and tipped over. Not paying attention to the threat in the room.
Raph was already in motion though, spinning toward his new target. A fierce growl rumbled from his chest as his prey let out a startled squeak.
Mikey was slowly backing away, hands raised in suplication. All eyes on Raph.
Try not to look like a big red target to the green bull in the room.
They always say never run from an angry animal right? Yeah, heh.
He held his palms out toward his brother in a futile attempt at warding the behemoth off.
"N-Now Raph,' he started, stepping back gulping, "Y-you don't, .. w-wanna do anythin rash ..right dude?
Raphael charged.
Mikey screamed.
Leo ran a harshly calloused palm over his scaled head, irritably straightening and re-tightening the knot of his mask for the third time in so many minutes.
He watched his younger brother work. Staying well away from the menacing path of Donny's rolling chair. -which had claimed victory against many a-turtle-toe.
The techie was ever moving from one section of his station to the next and Leo had learned to keep clear long ago.
So he watched, silently.
Not Don though..
He, was talking to himself.
As he was wont to do..
Mostly he mumbled to himself. Whenever he was deep in thought or working on a particularly intriguing system. Anything that excited the brainiac really.
It was all gibberish to Leo however who merely stood vigil.
He knew the genius didn't need any help from him with what he was doing. Leo just felt more involved by being present.
He hated feeling like he wasn't doing anything to help. Though this was where Don excelled, and always succeeded, it still left the leader feeling anxious. Waiting for something to happen.
This situation was a complication that they did not need and he was beginning to develop a mutant sized headache.
Don had been tracking the girls movements from the moment Raph alerted them to her escape. With the help of the cities traffic cameras and surveillance systems thay had been able to follow her from the street above with no problem.
At least they HAD BEEN tracking her.
Right up until she had vanished.
Bloop. Gone.
Dons left leg wouldn't stop bouncing as his eyes roved frantically over a half dozen different monitors.
His six fingers were flying over his multiple keyboards, searching, decrypting, and bypassing firewalls pausing only to readjust his spectacles.
One minute they had eyes on her, riding in the car that had nearly hit her. -headed toward downtown- The driver, a middle aged man in a suit was taking her to the nearest hospital.
As soon as he made a call Don was ready, intercepting the call.
Thankfully it had only been to his wife.
They had listened in as he explained what had happened minutes before. How he had nearly hit the woman in the street, that she was probably in shock and was not talking only staring out the back window and shivering. But swore to his mate that he hadn't hit the woman.
The conversation was brief.
Mainly because Donatello hi-jacked his phone, changed the passwords and set the device to airplane mode to keep him from calling anyone else.
It was only a short stall and they knew it.
She would make it to the hospital and either tell the police or their enemies what had happened to her and where she had been.
Who she had been with.
Then his family would be screwed.
He had been trying to figure a way out of this mess when Don cursed.
The car had hit its breaks suddenly and made a sharp right turn onto another smaller street. It was only out of sight for a few seconds while Don switched to the bank surveillance cameras that would give him a good view of the vehicle as it crossed the next intersection or turned.
Moments later the black Lincoln reappeared.
Sans one passenger.
She was gone.
Leo felt his stomach plummet and his chest constrict as they both let out equal shouts of shock and denial.
"Where did she go?"
"I dont know!"
"Change cameras," Leo shouted! "Change them!"
"I AM ! Shes not There!"
The thousand and one horrible outcomes to this train wreck were suddenly at the forefront of Leo's thoughts as different views of the car popped on and off of the screens as Don searched frantically.
She knew how to find them.
If she was with the Dragons or the Foot she could lead them all straight to their lair. Or the Police..
"Shit!"
Leo was ready to call an immediate evac and relocation of their home.
He had no sooner spun from the computer screens to tell the others to get packing when Donnie shouted at him.
'Wait!"
The purple techie knew what Leo's first reaction was going to be to such a breach and he also knew there was nowhere else they could go. He had yet to secure a safe backup lair since their last move.
But He did have an idea. It would work if he acted quickly. Securing the girl until nightfall and possibly saving their shells in the process.
He began immediately, there was much to do, he would have to catch Leo up as he went.
The blue masked terrapin appeared next to Don's head, startling the younger turtle who had been in deep concentration. A visibly harried Leo searched the screens for what had caused Don to call him back. He didn't want to have to move their family again if it could be avoided. "What is it Don?"
Recovering quickly the purple masked turtle's hands were once again in motion as several monitors tracked the area they last saw the woman, half a dozen more came alive as well.
Leo could see his brother was up to something.
Something very complex..
One of the monitors flashed red, emitting a failed login alarm and his little brother cursed, frantically shifting papers and gadgets out of the way as he searched for something.
"A HA!" He exclaimed as he slipped a flash drive into one of the towers and started back to work on the keyboards.
Lines of code flew across the screens as pages opened and closed on multiple sets. He was hacking something.. Several somethings if Leo was correct..
He was getting anxious, and it showed in his voice. "Talk to me Don, what's happening?"
Don never slowed his frantic typing. "I have a plan. Its just a stall, but it should buy us at least a day. Enough time for nightfall."
"If she's innocent, and I do this, she might hate me Leo." Don's voice was strained, worry and guilt laced his sentences." I really hope she forgives me. Because we can't take the risk of anyone believing her story if she starts talking about underground hideouts and bad guys to the cops or worse makes it to any of our enemies and talks about anthropomorphic turtles. Whether she's innocent or not.." Don turned then to Leo to make his point clear. "You know we have nowhere else to go or I wouldn't do this."
Leo's brow furrowed in worry as three of Don's screens declared, Access Granted. "Will she be hurt?"
"No." A purple bandanna furrowed in thought.. "Maybe."
Don's fingers continued stringing lines together faster that Leo could read them. "Most likely not. Honestly Leo, I think she'll be just fine." That calmed the leader a bit. "What i'm about to do.." he continued, "What happens to her.. will honestly depend on her own behavior."
"Are there any other options?" Leo was torn. The thought of causing even more harm to someone who may have been completely innocent in this night's events did not sit well with the Leader in Blue. Even if it was only temporary discomfort.
He watched the tails of his brothers purple mask bounce as he shook his head no. "This is the best option Leo.
Never looking away from his task and pausing only to adjust his specticals Don answered swiftly, "Not that i can see, this is the best option I believe. It's only temporary though, someone will eventually find out who she is.. We'll be able to get her tonight though, and she'll be safe, if not Really pissed off. But safe. We all will be. Even if she isn't with the dragons.. they could be looking for her now as well. This will also keep Her safe from Them." Don finished with finality and confidence. His fingers stalling he turned to Leo. The screens above now flashing a green request for confirmation.
Leo knew his brother was waiting for the go ahead. Don wouldn't act without the permission of the clan leader. And as his sibling looked on him with nervous impatience he was reminded that that, was Him.
Leo winced.
He was reminded of his actions earlier.
Though he could not find it in himself to feel shame or regret.
His clear lack of control lately was as out of character for him as it was troubling.
Now he held a possibly innocent womans fate in his hands, and he was afraid he may come to regret his decision later.
But his family was his most sacred responsibility.
The safety and survival of the Hamato clan left to him, and would always be his first priority. Resolve strengthened he gave Don a stiff nod of approval.
"Do it."
