"Ugh." Astrid leaned over the table, wincing.

As she had found out, no matter how good of a doctor you were, you couldn't bandage your own wounds.

Blood seeped through a bandage wrapped around a small slice in her skin, right near her heart. It was small, but deep. While she was taking care of Mikey, she hadn't noticed how deep it had really been. It was too close to her heart, and it was bleeding heavily.

"What is wrong?" Master Splinter asked her gently.

She could have killed herself. Of all the people in the lair who could have seen her, it would have to be Splinter. The only one she wanted-needed-to impress upon that she was self-sufficient.

"N-Nothing." She grunted, clutching her heart.

"That is strange. It does not look like nothing." He replied, eyes twinkling.

"Just a small cut."

He reached towards her.

In a panic, she wheeled around and kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out, rushing towards him. Unnoticed to her, her hands had fallen from her chest and were red.

"It is all right." He grunted, pushing himself up from the floor.

She helped him up, feeling worse and worse about the outcome of the night.

"I'm so sorry. It was just reflexives!" She told him desperately.

He didn't respond. To her horror, he was staring at the large spot of blood that was growing.

"You need to go to a hospital." He said to her.

"No." She replied firmly. "It's nothing."

"It is strange such a skilled doctor could not see evidence of trauma when it is so close to her." He said, picking a piece of dust off his clothing.

"I'm fine." She insisted. "It's just a little blood."

Meanwhile, her white shirt was soaked with blood.

He gave her a glare that could have leveled mountains.

"Astrid."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll patch it up."

"Then I will help you to your room." Splinter said.

He picked her up, despite her protests of it being 'sexist', and 'let me down!'.

"I can very well take care of myself." She said to him huffily when he put her down in her room.

"I am aware. I...wanted to help." Splinter told her.

"Uh-huh." She replied, sarcasm lacing her tone.

As she gathered supplies, Splinter turned around so he wasn't watching her change.

"May I ask a question?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." There was a sound of a shirt dropping to the floor, and he tried not to imagine what was going on less than four feet away.

"Where did you learn your impressive martial art skills?" He asked.

She grunted as she wiped the cut with some alcohol.

"I went to a dojo-supposedly-OW-the best in the-OW-city." She patted it dry and tied a bandage around it.

"Really?" Splinter was genuinely interested now.

"Yeah." She bent down to pick up a shirt.

"I think the sensei's name was Chris Bradley, or Chris Bradford. Yeah! Bradford." She said nonchalantly.

Splinter's eyes widened, and he turned around, forgetting that she was changing, and the exact reason he had been facing the wall.

She looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Her torso was long and lean, and smooth, with one noticeable difference. There was a long scar curling across her hip. It looked almost like a dragon, if you looked closely enough.

"Hey!" She shouted.

He blushed a deep crimson red, and, mumbling apologies, went to leave.

She sighed. Pulling on the shirt, she led him to the bed, sitting him down.

She sat down next to him, and picked up a coin, turning it round in her fingers.

"Hey." She said softly. "What's wrong?"

"Chris Bradford was-is-an evil man." He replied roughly.

"What do you mean?' She asked. "I mean, he was a bit of a creep, trying to cop a feel whenever he thought no one was looking."

"He touched you?" Splinter's voice filled with rage. His fists clenched, white, on the sheet.

"Hey, it's okay." She told him.

"No. It is not." Splinter said. "That demon touched you."

"Yeah. But he never got too far with it." She said. "I learned all I needed to be able to live in the city without being mugged, and then I got out of there."

She took his hand and stroked it gently, willing the fingers to open.

They didn't.

'Ok, let's go for the direct approach.' She thought.

Launching herself at him, he found himself lying back on the bed, with a blonde head resting on his chest, hugging him tightly.

He relaxed. This woman was not his wife, but she knew just how to comfort him, just like his beloved wife did.

"That's better." She said.

Blue eyes looked up at him, made crystalline by the bright light in the room.

"Now. Do you want to tell me what happened?" She asked.

He told her the story.

When he was done, she stumbled into the bathroom, retching.

"Ugh. That creep-ugh. That makes me so nauseous my nausea is nauseous." She said.

He cracked a smile.

Straightening up, she said, "Well, there is one good thing that came out of it."

"What is that?"

She twirled a blonde hair around her finger, almost shyly.

Splinter was taken aback. This woman was never shy.

"I met all of you. Otherwise, I would have been dead."

She refused to explain further, and Splinter let it go for the time being.

TMNTMNTMNTMNT

"All right, Mike. Easy does it." Raph helped his little brother out of bed for the first time in weeks.

"I got it, Raph." Mikey told him, irritated that he was being treated like a baby.

"All right. Let's see you stand on your own." Raph took a step away from him.

Almost immediately, Mikey felt his legs tremble.

They collapsed beneath him, sending him flying towards the floor.

Before impact, he felt strong arms wrap around him, saving him.

Raph had caught him moments before he hit the ground.

Setting him back on the bed, the older turtle smiled.

Mikey refused to look at him.

Seeing the kid's shoulders shake miserably as he tried to hold back tears, Raph felt bad for letting him fall.

"Hey, hey, no need to get so upset. It's not the end of world." Raph said gently, turning Mikey to face him.

Mikey's eyes were shining, and his face was wet.

"Aw, Mike. It's all right." Raph tried to coax Mikey into speaking.

"No, it's not!" Mikey nearly shouted, making Raph stumble back.

"I've always been the worst, and now what am I gonna do? I've missed so much training-not that I was ever good at it-that I'll never ever even hold a candle to you guys!" Tears started running down his cheeks anew, the flow strong and not decreasing in speed.

"Hey, buddy." Raph sat next to him on the bed.

Mikey burrowed into his chest, and his older brother held him while he talked.

"Mikey, you've always been good. Great, really. I wish I could do some of the things that come so easily to you."

Mikey whimpered and shook his head, not believing a word.

Feeling the hot face pressed against his chest, Raph said more firmly, "Mikey. Listen to me. I'm only gonna say this once."

Mikey turned his head out a little.

"Look, little brother. You are the youngest, so you're always gonna get it from us. But, in terms of talent, you have more than all of us combined. You can see a move once and do it perfectly." Raph took a breath, continuing,

"Whereas we tend to stick to the book, you know-instinctively-how to avoid a punch or a kick. You make up rules if you have to. The only reason you think that we're better than you is because we practice more. If you practiced ten minutes a day, heck, I'd bet you'd even rival Splinter!"

Mikey shook his head, refusing to believe.

Raph sighed. "Understand this, at least. We believe in you, even if you don't believe in yourself. I know that you feel like you have to protect us, but that's our job. To protect you. Mikey, you're like the only thing that holds us together. When you were...out...we all kinda went crazy for a while there. Donnie never left his lab, Leo never left the training room, and I couldn't deal with it. Casey followed me one night, and talked to me."

A low laugh. "He's not as stupid as he looks. Master Splinter just stayed meditating, all the time. Except for that Astrid lady, I think he would have never come out."

Mikey sniffled. "Astrid lady?"

Raph smiled, finally getting some recognition from Mikey that he had heard anything.

"Yeah, she's the doctor who saved you. Pretty cool, too. Tough. When she tried to help us out, I yelled at her. Was pretty mean, really."

Mikey turned his head upwards towards his brother's.

Raph continued, chuckling at the memory, "I expected her to back down. I mean, I'm a giant turtle who has sharp things, and a temper. Who wouldn't? But here's the funny part, Mike. She got back into my face and yelled right back. Scared me half to death, really. She's not much taller than you are, but she packs a punch. I went to the corner, whimpering."

He felt a laugh coming from Mikey.

He smiled, saying to him, "I knew you'd like that, you little devil!"

Mikey grinned.

Knowing that anything he said now would just make Mikey retreat again, Raph tucked his little brother underneath the sheets.

"Get some sleep, Mikey." He turned to leave, but was stopped by a weak hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Raphie."

Raph turned around, only to see Mikey had already fallen asleep.

He smiled, and left the room.

Maybe tonight he could actually sleep well.

Ok, so it's not THAt long, but it is longer! I like how this chapter turned out. What do you think? Leave a comment in the review box below!

~EmberAmberFirdaus!~