Chapter 9: Stabbed By My Cousin

A/N: Wow. I'm on a roll with this. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed so far. Here's the answer to what Gia's doing and how it will affect Tony. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and the characters you don't recognize.

After the funeral, I returned to work because I figured it was the best thing to do. Business was still booming, and Uncle Gino was pleased with how things were turning out. I continued to deliver pizzas, and was even receiving some compliments from customers about my work. That pleased Uncle Gino, and he was glad that he had kept me on.

Nothing weird had happened to me so far, but that wasn't going to last long. I was working the night shift and I was driving to an apartment, I passed one of the alleys where the Purple Dragons hung out all the time. I didn't think much of it until they blocked my way, and I had to stop before I ran them over.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" I asked. "I'm trying to work."

"I think you owe us some pizzas, kid," Fong said. "Hey, how's your old man? Oh, wait, we killed him. Now give us those pizzas, or you'll be next."

I gritted my teeth when Fong said they'd killed my dad. There was no way I was letting them take my pizzas either. "No," I said. "Now, get out of my way."

"Looks like this kid's got guts," Sid replied. "Maybe our new recruit should do this job."

"Good idea," Fong said. He motioned in the shadows, and a girl stepped forward. I gasped as I saw her face as she approached me.

"Gia, what are you doing with them?" I asked her.

"I want to be where I belong," she answered. "I've been bullied for too long, and now it's time for me to take matters into my own hands."

"But these guys killed your uncle," I told her. "They could kill you, too."

"I doubt that," she said. "They killed your dad because he didn't give them what they wanted. I think these pizzas will make up for that." She snatched the pizzas from my bike and pushed me off, causing me to fall to the ground hard.

"Hey, knock it off!" I yelled.

"I think we need to teach this kid what happens when you mess with the Dragons," Tsoi said. He and Sid pulled me to my feet and Fong began punching me. I struggled, but there was no way I was going to get out of this mess.

Then I heard someone yell, "Booyakasha!" and turned to see Mikey jumping down from a building with his weapons in hand followed by his brothers. Gia made for them, but Mikey took her down fast followed by Fong.

"Let Tony go!" Leo ordered.

The Dragons laughed at Leo's tone. "Sure, we'll let him go," Tsoi said and shoved me to the ground.

Leo lunged at Tsoi and began engaging him in battle while Raph handled Sid. Don was taking care of Fong, while Mikey was engaged in battle with Gia. I had no idea Gia could fight like that but she was handling herself pretty well against Mikey. Had she been training all this time? I sat and watched the battle, wondering what was going to happen now. I was saved, and I was glad that the Turtles had come to the rescue again.

Suddenly the tide turned as Tsoi managed to knock one of Leo's swords out of his hands. Gia knocked Mikey back and turned to grab Leo's sword. With a smile on her face, she made to stab Leo with his own sword. Seeing what she was about to do, I lunged and managed to knock Leo out of the way. I felt the sword go into my side and gasped as the pain overtook me.

"Tony, no!" cried Leo. He caught me before I could fall to the ground. Gia had a shocked look on her face, but she didn't stop to help me. Raph managed to get rid of Sid and lunged at Gia next, ready to take her head off.

"Guys, we gotta go!" Don yelled. "Tony's bleeding."

"Let's take him to a hospital," Leo suggested.

"There's no time," Don answered. "There's a manhole over there. We'll take him to the Lair and patch him up there."

Leo took out an object that looked like an egg and threw it on the ground. There was a puff of smoke, and before I knew it, I was underground with the Turtles.

"Dude, let's take the sword out now," Mikey suggested.

"If we do that now, Tony could bleed out," Don told him. "We have to wait until we get to the Lair first."

"Tony, are you still with us?" asked Raph.

"Yeah, it hurts like crazy though," I said. "Why can't you just get it out?"

"We don't want you to bleed to death," Leo answered. "We're almost there, Tony. Hang in there." I could tell he was upset that it was his weapon that had hurt me, and while I wanted to reassure him that everything would be okay, the pain prevented me from really saying anything.

Once we reached the Lair, the Turtles leaped over the turnstiles and hurried me to their living area. I would have loved to look at everything that was there, but my wound was throbbing too much for me to concentrate on anything else. Don hurried to his lab and got his first aid kit which consisted of a toolbox.

"Okay, Mikey, I want you to get some gauze out of the first aid kit," Don instructed. "Leo, I want you to hold Tony and try to make him focus on something while I get your katana out of him. Leo, are you listening to me?"

Leo snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Yeah, I heard you, Donnie," he said. Then he focused on me. "Tony, I want you to focus on my face and my voice, okay? Don's going to pull out my sword, and it's going to hurt, so just stay with me. Got that?"

I nodded and focused on Leo's dark blue eyes. He kept talking to me softly and reassuring me that everything was okay. I wanted to close my eyes, but something told me to stay right there with Leo, so I did.

"Okay, Mikey, when I pull out the katana, I want you to cover the wound with the gauze and put pressure on it," Don told him.

"Got it," Mikey said. He looked pale but determined to do his part just the same.

"Tony, I'm going to count to three and then pull the sword out," Don told me. "Ready?"

I nodded, ready to have this thing out of me.

"One, two, three," Don counted and yanked the sword out. I gasped and tried to arch my body, but Leo held me in place. Then Mikey put the gauze on the wound and held it there as the blood poured over it. I could tell Mikey was feeling sick and was sorry that he had to do this. Still, he kept pressure on the wound and looked at my face instead. Don had more gauze out and replaced the soaked gauze with more and bandaged the wound tightly.

"Is he gonna be okay, Donnie?" Leo asked him in a small voice.

"He'll be fine, Leo," Don reassured him. "The cut wasn't too deep, and no organs were damaged. He might need stitches, but this will have to do for now."

I wondered where Raph had gotten to until I saw him coming with someone else. I gasped as I saw a rat dressed in a kimono. He had to be at least six feet tall, and I realized that this was the Turtles' sensei.

"How are you feeling, young man?" he asked me.

"I'm okay now, sir," I answered.

"Tony, this is Master Splinter, our father and sensei," Raph introduced him. "Sensei, this is Tony, the kid we were tellin' you about."

"It is nice to make your acquaintance, Tony," Splinter said. "I am sorry that such a thing had to happen to you, but it was a good thing my sons were there to rescue you."

"Yeah, they swung it for me," I said with a smile.

"Leonardo, why are you so troubled?" Splinter asked as he looked at the blue masked Turtle.

"It's my fault Tony got hurt," he said. "I wasn't aware that he was in harm's way."

"Leo, it wasn't your fault," I assured him. "Gia was trying to stab you, and I pushed you out of the way and took the hit."

"But it was still my weapon that hurt you," Leo replied.

"Yes, but you did not wield it, my son," Splinter told him. "Do not blame yourself for what happened, Leonardo. It is something that could have happened at any time."

"Well it was nice seeing you guys again and meeting you, Master Splinter," I said. "But I have to get going before Uncle Gino gets mad."

"Tony, you can't go anywhere just yet," Don insisted as he pushed me back down. "You were just stabbed."

"But if I don't go home, Uncle Gino's gonna have a fit," I protested.

"Maybe you should just call him and tell him where you are," Leo suggested. "You can assure him you're safe so he won't worry."

I wasn't too keen on this idea, but I knew that if I tried to go home, the Turtles would make sure I stayed there. So I picked up my phone and called Uncle Gino to tell him I was staying with some friends and not to worry. He was relieved to hear I was okay and said it was fine if I wanted to stay the night. He asked if I'd seen Gia, and I hesitated. I wanted to tell him what Gia was doing and who she was with, but I knew if I did, she'd just deny everything and make me look stupid.

"I don't know, Uncle Gino," I said. "I haven't seen her."

"Okay, well, you take care, Tony," Uncle Gino said. "Who are these friends, anyway?"

"They're friends from the neighborhood," I said. "They're brothers who are pretty good kids. They hate the Purple Dragons and stopped them from robbing me."

"Oh, well, that's good, Tony," Uncle Gino told me. "You keep out of trouble, you hear?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"You got it," he said. "See you tomorrow."

I hung up, happy that Uncle Gino wasn't acting too suspicious about my friends. I knew that I couldn't keep the secret for much longer, and I just hoped the Turtles wouldn't hate me for it.

"Now it is time for bed," Splinter declared. "It has been a trying day for all of you, and training begins early tomorrow."

The Turtles bowed to their father and wished me a good night. Leo came back with a Space Heroes blanket and tucked it around me. I remember I used to have one until Mom gave it away at a garage sale. I settled down to sleep and felt content that I was safe from the Purple Dragons.

22222

Later that night I heard someone crying out in their sleep and bolted up, wincing as I remembered my wound. I heard Raph going into someone's room and soothing them. Then I saw Leo emerge with Raph next to him.

"Leo, are you okay?" I asked him.

"Tony, I didn't know you were up," he said. "Yeah, I just had a bad dream. Raph and I were just talking. You can go back to sleep if you want."

"Aren't you going back to sleep, too?" I asked.

"Yeah, but Raph and I are going to spar for a bit," Leo answered. "It's one of the ways we calm down after a nightmare."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Leo," I said. "My dad always said it's better to talk about your problems instead of bottling them up inside."

Leo looked at me and then sighed. "Yeah, maybe you're right," he said. "I just dreamed that you got stabbed and that you didn't make it. It scared me, and I wasn't sure if it was real or not. Do you ever have dreams like that?"

"Yeah, I have," I said. "After Dad died, I dreamed about it at night and that I had witnessed it. But I usually just woke up and tried to calm myself down since I couldn't talk to anyone about it."

"Well, now you can talk to us if you ever get that way again," Leo told him. "Thanks for the pep talk, Tony."

"Do you think you can go back to sleep now?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I can," he answered.

"Great," I said. "See you tomorrow, Leo."

"Goodnight, Tony," Leo and Raph both said as they left for their rooms.

I settled back down and closed my eyes. I had an idea for something I wanted to do, but I decided to talk to the Turtles and Splinter about it tomorrow. I wasn't sure if they'd let me do it, but I had to try because I wanted to learn to defend myself. There was no way I was going to be a target for the Purple Dragons any longer. With that thought in my head, I drifted off to sleep, dreaming about kicking the Dragons' butts and showing them who was boss.

A/N: And another chapter is finished. I really hope I didn't mess up on the wound stuff, but if I did, please don't be mad at me. So, will Tony be able to learn to defend himself, or will the Turtles refuse his offer? Find out in the next chapter. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.