For many days, Raphael attempted to avoid Samantha as much as possible outside of taking her in and out of the lair to work. However, as hard as he tried, luck would find them almost inseparable at times. Once Samantha finished her round in the morning as a nurse, the hospital switched her to nocturnal orientation, everyday Leo would wonder where she had been and became annoyed and suspicious that she and Raph would show up for training late each day. As punishment, Leo would give her tasks that pit her against Raph and make Raph grind his teeth through training her. Not that training Samantha was particularly painful, it just defeated the purpose of having him physically avoid her. That…. And she was now finally beginning to advance in her skills rather quickly.
"Aren't you missing something?" Samantha gave Raphael a cheeky smile as she flipped the lights back on in the dojo, twirling one of Raph's sai in her hand, the other attached to his belt which was slung over her shoulder.
Raph's eyes snapped to his own waist in disbelief that she could actually relieve him of his weapon, "Ya smug little…"
Sam grinned, making her way over to Raph, "Don't worry. I won't keep them." She handed him his sai and started to walk away before she stopped, looking over her shoulder and tossing him two small objects that jingled through the air.
Raph caught them with one hand, a corner of his mouth lifting in annoyance as he looked at the two small bells she handed to him. Her only objective of the exercise was to retrieve them from him without making noise or announcing her presence. Mikey snickered in a corner and Donatello couldn't help but smile in amusement. Raph shot them a dirty look, "Whatta ya laughin' at?"
Mikey quickly hushed up and returned practicing his kicks, "Nothing!"
Donatello returned to training with his staff, "She's getting good quick."
Raph watched as she walked towards Leo, Sam was quickly learning and he couldn't tell just why or what it was that made such a change in her progression. Leo talked to her for a moment and led her towards Donatello. Leo spoke to Donatello for a moment before he walked away to continue training with his katana. Donatello smiled gently at Sam before he out his bo staff away and began to show her fighting stances. I guess it's time for her to move on, Raphael thought sadly and he went about his business, being particularly more aggressive with his punching bag today.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After training and a shower, Raphael sat in his hammock in his room, not wanting to be outside anywhere that Samantha could find him. He needed to be alone with his thoughts. The fantasies of he and Sam being together sexually did not leave him and it frustrated him beyond belief. From what he could tell, they were just very good friends and she really did see them as brothers. However, he couldn't help himself. Just recently during one of their conversations as he walked her to work, he noticed that she had very, very light freckles on her face and it killed him. He had never noticed it before but it just made her that much cuter. Raph groaned as the image flashed across his mind and he put his hand over his face, willing for it to go away.
A knock came at his door, "Raph…?"
Aw… geez… Raph thought to himself as the very last person he wanted to see knocked on his door again, Should I pretend to be asleep? "Yeah?" I must be outta my mind…
"Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Sam opened the door slightly and stepped in, looking over her shoulder as she did so, "Raph…"
"Oh no… sounds like you're asking for another favor….," Raphael sat up in his hammock, trying only to look her in the eyes.
Sam bit the inside of her cheek, "I'm sorry." Sam looked down at her feet and fidgeted with her hands. She was freshly showered and dressed in tiny yoga shorts and a tank top.
Raph's face became soft, "Go for it, kid. What do ya need?"
Sam looked up blushing, "I… started falling asleep while trying to play some video games with Mike… I don't work tonight… is it ok if I just take a quick nap in here and then I can sleep in my usual spot tonight? Just so I can last the whole day? I don't want them getting more suspicious."
Raph's heart dropped. Sam? Sleep? In my room? What did I do that makes it seem that someone up there hates me? "Sam… Ya have to say somethin'. Leo is already askin'. He's not stupid."
"I know… I will. But not yet. Please? Can I sleep here?" She looked up at him, her face really looked tired.
Raph paused for a second and sighed, "Fine. Here." He moved to get up from the hammock but Sam put her hand up.
"I'm not moving you from your bed. I'll sleep on the floor."
"No. It's fine take it."
"No."
They both glared at each other before Samantha smiled innocently, "Fine. Scoot over."
"Wait? What?" Raphael slapped a hand over his nose as she climbed into the hammock on top of him, laying her head on his stomach and wrapping his arm around his waist. Blood dribbled from in between his fingers, feeling her breasts just above his nether regions.
Samantha cuddled him, her eyes drifting closed, "You didn't scoot over… I think this is fair compromise."
"Sam… what if the guys come in?" His heart pounded loudly in his chest, the blood rose to his face as he fought to keep control of the rest of his body. How she couldn't hear his heart was beyond him.
"They won't. I told them you were going to go show me your bike. I just need two hours. I'll set my watch… then you can really go show me your bike." Sam looked up at him with a soft smile, set her watch and drifted off to sleep.
Raph sat there, biting his lip wondering just how he hadn't lost complete control and thrown Sam out of his room. He felt sorry. She was beyond exhausted. Since she started nights, she would sleep a few hours, hiding in different places, work and then train when she got her. She hardly got rest. Raph looked down at her, the curly hair on her head still slightly damp from her shower, he ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. He stopped and looked at his own three-fingered hand, becoming saddened. Even if Sam didn't think of them as family, the chances of him ever becoming more than just a friend was zero to none. She was this gorgeous girl with her life on the right track and going places. He… well… he was a freak. Maybe family was better than nothing and he should just be satisfied. He let out a sigh and listened to Sam's gentle breathing. He wiped the blood from his nose, feeling a little ashamed with himself again. He continued to stare at the beautiful girl who lay there in his arms, his heart still beating strongly, he watched the rhythm of her breathing until it became mesmerizing and he found himself drifting to sleep as well.
Two hours passed fairly quickly as Sam jumped, startled at the beeping of her watch. Raph nearly rolled onto the floor from surprise. Sam silenced her watch and let out a sigh, she looked at Raph, a large grin on her face, "Sorry, did I scare you?"
Raph rubbed his eyes, letting out a groan, "You didn't look too calm yourself."
Sam frowned and she nudged the hammock, tipping Raph out of it and onto the floor, "It's almost one. Come on. You should probably show me your bike now."
"Let's not and say we did." Raph grit his teeth, accepting Sam's hand to help him up.
"Don't be grumpy." Sam grinned, "Let's go." She walked to his door, peeked her head out and motioned for him to follow before she left.
He sighed, he couldn't understand why he couldn't resist her and it frustrated him. He followed closely behind her, watching her hips sway as she walked. He wiped his nose again.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Samantha sat atop his motorcycle, spraying polish over the front fairing and wiping it down with a rag, "It's a beautiful bike Raph."
Raph couldn't help but stare at the curve of her back as she sat on the bike, reaching over the bar to polish the front of the bike. She was a girl that he would have to have on the back of his bike if he could. He coughed and returned to checking the brake lines, "Yeah, um… Donny gave it to me."
She looked down at him and smiled, "Really? He's a good brother…"
Raphael avoided her look, "Yeah. So… what was your brother like?"
Sam's smile became sad as she continued to rub the polish onto the bike, "I loved my brother. He was good to me… there was only ever one time we fought so hard that he made me hurt. I believed… if he had the choice, he would trade my life for my mom's… but he took care of me. He just made stupid decisions."
Raph looked up at her, "Mm… Brothers."
"Yeah."
"Yo! Raph!"
They both turned to look, Casey making his way towards them with a huge grin on his face. He stopped when he saw Samantha and snickered at Raph. Raph frowned and blushed. He knew just what Casey had on his mind and Raph wanted to hear nothing of it. He tossed the rag Sam had in her hands in his face as he approached, making Casey chuckle. Sam jumped off the bike when she saw April stride in with the rest of the turtles and ran to her.
"April! Hey!" She ran up and threw her arms around April who hugged her in return, trying not to drop the bags in her hands.
"Hey Sam. How are you doing down here? Haven't seen you in a minute…," April stopped, the look on her face becoming one of annoyance as Sam lifted a finger to her lips to motion for her to be silent. "We'll talk."
Sam looked at the floor, embarrassed and nodded, "Yeah. Um…anyway, what are you guys doing here?"
"They're obviously here to see us and bring us gifts!" Mike nudged Sam out of the way and eyed the bags in April's hands.
"Mike!" Sam glared at him, elbowing him in the arm.
"Actually, Mike, this is some more of the stuff we were able to salvage from Sam's apartment." She handed the plastic bags to Sam, "Sorry. Anyway, Sam… the land lady isn't blaming you for what happened to the apartment. But she did want us to tell you that even though she doesn't hold you responsible, she doesn't want you to come back to the building for safety purposes. I'm sorry. She wants all your stuff removed from the apartment before the week ends."
The corner of Sam's mouth twitched, "Yeah… I understand. She was really sweet… if you could let her know I appreciate what she did for me."
"Of course. We'll figure this out, ok?" April put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "We actually came with news too. Something we need to talk about." She turned to look at the turtles and motioned for them to go back to their living room.
Leo nodded, "Come on. Let's go."
Sam began to follow them and Casey stepped in front of her, "Whoa… sorry. Sam, this is just for the guys."
Sam looked startled, "Wait… what? Why?"
April looked at her sternly, "Sam, this is strictly for them to hear only."
Sam bit her lip, "But I don't get it. You called all of them why can't I-?" She stopped and looked at Raph who placed a hand on her arm, looking at her sympathetically.
"It's ok. We'll come get you after." Raph sympathized with her. As the impulsive one, he was left out of many things as much as she was and he knew just how frustrating that was. She looked away from him and scoffed, clearly still angry but she let them go and stayed behind.
Once the others reached the living room, April and Casey sat down on the middle big couch, Donatello and Leo taking the two armchairs on either side, Raph and Mike sat on the big couch's armrests. Leo's eyes were somber as he leaned forward, trying to listen closely to what April was going to say. Instead, Casey was the one to speak.
Casey rubbed his chin and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "So, you know I still have my connections on the streets… It's been… what? Almost a month since Sam closed up shop for a minute? So I've been keeping an eye on things. Watching the gym. And like I thought, these purple shitheads can't do anything to it now that Sam isn't in the picture as far as making it their own and running it. BUT! I guess they're taking advantage of their youth now that she ain't there to protect them. They've targeted a few kids… a couple of them are good. I haven't seen them floating around their sorry kind. Others… there's this kid I KNOW Sam favors. He always talks about her. Kid comes from a poor family… gets picked on fairly regularly… typical target for bullying. So… these guys are lurking and word has it that they're having a street fighting tournament in Manhattan near Crosby Street Friday night. Back to their roots, huh? They're offering positions of 'power' to those who compete and are chosen. In short, they basically invited these kids to fight to the death with other poor dopes who just want something better than they have. Especially Austin. Spoke with his mom, she can't get him to talk to her, she thinks the bullying must have gotten worse. Kid came home without his shoes. Tried talking to him myself. Won't listen. That's why we don't want Sam knowing or she'll..."
"Flip?" Sam stepped out from behind the pillar on the second level of the lair. They all groaned and she jumped down from balcony, glaring at Casey.
Casey slapped his forehead, "Yeah… that."
Raphael looked at Leo, "You took her as your student. Look at what you taught her to do… Sneak up on us."
"How dare you keep this from me?!" Sam balled her hands into tight fists, her knuckles becoming white.
April stood, raising her hands in front of her, "Sam, what do you expect to do? You can't go out there. You're supposed to be laying low."
"But Austin! He's just fifteen!" Sam got dangerously close to April, her hand raised above her head. "You don't know him like I do! How dare you!" Raph grabbed Sam's hand and pushed her back into the armchair, making Donatello jump out of it to avoid getting sat on.
"And you can't do anything! Calm down! We'll figure this out. We'll stop it, but we just can't barge in there. There might be more going on than we know and if we go in there, guns blazing, we won't know what. Plus if they see you, what do you think they'll do to you. You're not exactly someone that can just waltz in and not stand out. They'll recognize you right away." Raphael stopped, feeling eyes on him. He turned around and everyone stared at him, was he really the one talking sense into someone else? He coughed and turned back to Sam.
Angry tears welled in Sam's eyes, "They're targeting my kids, Raph! It's my fault! You have to let me-!"
"NO!" Raph's voice vibrated throughout the lair, making even Splinter exit his room and look down at the startled faces on the floor below him.
For a moment there was silence, no one spoke as they didn't know if Sam would dare to argue with Raphael further or if they would further agitate the situation. Sam stood there, biting her lip, fighting back the tears. She jumped from the chair and shoved past Raphael, muttering under her breath, "Jerk." As soon as she was out of the room, Raph turned to Casey, "Alright… what's the game plan?" Upstairs, Splinter shook his head and slipped back into his room.
Casey cleared his throat, still feeling awkward, "Seeing as how we've tried having you sneak in before…. And they know my face…April should be the one to go in under cover… while the rest of us wait to ambush and maybe one waits to see if any of them scatter to other places like roaches. Find out where they're operating."
Raph's eyes narrowed, he still felt bad for yelling at Sam but it couldn't be helped. He already let her get away with so much, "Alright… how do we do this?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Raph hadn't seen Sam for the rest of that evening, he didn't know where she had gone to and it made him worry. What if she ran off to do something stupid? He stepped out of his room and peeked over the railing of the balcony, catching a glimpse of Sam's form on the floor, sleeping in her usual spot. For a second, he thought of going to her and apologizing, but thought better of it. She was probably still very angry, so he closed the door and waited for morning.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Oh my…," Mike barely breathed out.
Raph turned to where he was looking and he almost dropped pelted Don in the face with a shuriken out of shock.
Sam stepped through the opening of the dojo, her hair was cut short at the sides, her massive curls sat at the top of her head in almost a pixie cut. She crossed her arms and looked around at the boys staring at her. She grabbed whatever hair she had left on the top of her head and pulled it into a ponytail. She looked very much like a very pretty guy, "What?"
Mike was the first to speak, "What demon crawled into you and possessed you to do something like that to yourself, sis?!"
"I'm not recognizable… which means I can go in place of April now right?"
Raph tossed the shuriken at the wall, glaring at Sam. He walked up to her and looked down at her, standing nearly a foot above her, "No."
Sam stood her ground, "You can't stop me."
Raph didn't move or blink. He could tie her down… shut her in a closet…. But she would fight her way out no matter what, that was obvious now. He never thought that she would be willing to cut away her beautiful hair just to stop one of her students from making the biggest mistake of their lives. Leo walked towards them, about to intervene but Raph stepped past Sam, towards the exit, leaving Sam surprised, "You heard her, Leo. You can't stop her. You may as well make sure she knows enough so she doesn't do something stupid to get herself killed."
Sam looked after Raph, still serious, "Thanks."
Raph stopped and looked back at her, "Sure." He walked out.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
That night, April was met with a shock. Sam arrived at their meet up on the corner of Crosby Street with the turtles, dressed in a leather jacket, a skin tight t-shirt, torn denim jeans and dirty sneakers. Her hair had been straightened and tied into a type of man bun. April had simply shown up in jeans jacket, a grey tank top, black jeans and leather boots. "What… what did you do to yourself? How are your boobs…?" April stared at her chest. Somehow, Sam had found a way to make her large breasts almost disappear beneath her t-shirt. Raph pinched the bridge of his beak, embarrassed.
Sam nonchalantly pulled a carton of cigarettes out of her jacket pocket and pulled a cigarette out, sticking it between her teeth, "Taped them down."
"Oh my God…," April put a hand over her.
"She's still pretty. You sure this is going to work?" Casey chuckled.
The corner of Sam's mouth lifted and she walked up to April's van, "I'm sure. Let's go April."
Donatello parked the van in a nearby alley and allowed Raph, Leo and Mikey to exit. "I'll stay here, radio me if you see anyone moving."
They nodded in acknowledgment. Raph unloaded his bike and it into the next alley over, "I'm going to leave it here… in case I have to chase too."
Leo agreed, "Mikey will take that rooftop. Raph take the main building and Case will take the other. I'll be on the ground in case any decide to flee on foot."
April exited the van, taking a cigarette from Sam who was now suddenly nervous, "Come on."
Sam smiled reassuringly to April and began to walk to the warehouse where the tournament was to take place. As she walked away, Raph grabbed her arm and gave it a squeeze, "Be careful… and be smart."
Sam grabbed his hand and squeezed back, "I got this bro."
He let her go and he jumped to the building with Mikey, watching as Sam and April approached the entrance. His breath caught in his chest as the thug at the door stopped them. They spoke with him for a second, Sam doing most of the talking and making a fist pounding gesture with her hand. His heart beat loudly as the girls waited for his approval to enter. It was a long minute and then the thug stepped to the side, letting them in.
Raph had forgotten that he was holding his breath, the feeling his stomach had not gone away as he jumped to the top of the main building and looked down into the dormer of the building, spotting Sam and April. Sam had already started roughhousing with another male, while April was laughing and attached to her arm, obviously going along that this was her boyfriend and they were here to fight. Raphael almost choked as Sam managed to bully the other much thicker thug into submission and moved closer towards the ring where the fighting was to begin.
Sam was unbelievably tough. She had a hot temper, but knew what to do with it, something Leo told Raph he admired greatly in her. She knew how to channel her anger in everything she did. Raph watched the cute smirk on her face as she whispered to April. He admired and respected Sam. She had determination, strength and she was beautiful… caring and kind… anything he could ever ask for in a girl. Raph bit his lip, please don't get hurt. It was in that moment that he finally came to realize he would do anything to protect her… hated the idea of her getting hurt… he realized
"I…. I think I love you, Sam."
To be continued….
Little Ai: Thanks for your review. I'm getting back in the game after years of not writing and just dedicating myself to school. There's a lot of mistakes but I hope it gets better. Thanks for your support.
