TMNT 2014:

Hey, sorry for the long wait. Finished up my midterms and just got off Easter Break so I had time to write this :) I hope you all like it! Love to hear what you have to say. - Rin


Chapter 12: In-Fighting

"Sir are you sure about this?" the driver of the sleek black car asked, stopping in front of the hospital building.

Eric Sacks sighed, "Yes, don't worry I won't be long."

With a deep breath the man stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk, "Pull round and I'll be out in a few minutes." He told the driver.

The man nodded, pulling the car forward while Sacks looks irritated at the busy front doors of the hospital. So far this week he had personally visited four other people on behalf of his company to try and settle the lawsuits against him while putting off the police investigations.

This was the last spot on his list before he had to try and figure out what to do as far as paying off the suits. Swiftly, the man strode through the main doors and headed up to the front desk, his shoes clacking on the smooth tile floor.

"May I help you?" a large woman at the desk asked, her dark eyes peering up at Sacks suspiciously.

He tried to flash his most winning smile as he leaned an elbow against the desk.

"Yes, I'm Eric Sacks and I was wondering if I could find out about a claim filed against me by this hospital?"

The dark skinned woman's dark eyebrow went up.

"The hospital does not file claims on behalf of our patients, we simply run it through their insurance and they do the rest. I'm sorry sir but I cannot give you our patient's information." She said matter-of-factly, her nails clicking away at a computer.

Sack's brow furrowed, "They how am I supposed to talk to the individual?"

The woman didn't look at him, "That isn't the hospital's concern sir."

At this, the winning smile vanished and was replaced by a sneer.

"Listen, I've been at this for weeks now. I need to find this patient of yours. Can't you give me a name or address?!"

At this, the clicking keyboard stopped and the woman fully turned to face Eric Sacks, her mouth set in a flat, stubborn, line.

"Sir. That is confidential patient information. We. Don't. Do. That." She stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sacks growled and clenched his fists, resisting the urge to slam them onto the desk. He noticed the strange looks he was getting from passersby and the stubbornness of the woman in front of him. He knew it wasn't worth it.

"Thank you…ma'am." He grumbled, straightening his tie before turning on his heel and storming out of the hospital.

He signaled the same sleek back car and slammed the door as he got in, his fingers tapping angrily against his leg.

"No luck sir?" the driver asked, trying not to let his amusement show.

Sacks simply let out a breath, "They were…strict on confidentiality."

The driver gave a single puff of laughter before turning back to silently watching the road.

Eric stared out the tinted window, his thoughts going through the now narrow list of scenarios. He could simply pay the insurance and risk having to do the same to all the other cases, he could fight the lawsuits in general which would leave him with an almost as large lawyer bill, or he could do a little digging.

A resigned huff came from him as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I guess digging it is…"


Avery stared up in surprise at the turtle before her, trying to organize her thoughts as the purple banded turtle stood…waiting. Moments before, Donnie had apologized for what happened the night before. In total honesty the girl had forgotten about the situation and felt guilty for not considering the turtle's feelings.

"No…I mean…its fine!" she blabbered quickly, unsure of what to say or do.

"I was the one who messed up…you don't have to…"

At this the turtle's solemn demeanor lightened and he smiled as Avery trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Well…" he laughed, "I'm glad that that's all settled then."

His dark brown eyes flashed to look behind the girl as Leo approached, a slightly amused look crossing his face before he went into another room.

It was the dull thud that drew Avery's attention though, along with what sounded like a sound of protest from Michelangelo. A few moments later both said turtle and Leo came out, Mikey seeming extremely grumpy.

"Dude…why…" he grumbled coming over to the kitchen table before slumping over with no grace what-so-ever.

"Come on Mikey, Splinter wants us to get back into training." Leo threw over his shoulder before going upstairs.

The younger brother groaned softly before looking up, his gaze landing on Avery and he sat up slowly.

"Oh…hey." He muttered, rubbing his face.

The young woman gave a slight laugh, "Morning. I assume that you've been out of practice?"

The orange clad turtle nodded, "With everything happening within the past few weeks, getting attacked and you showing up, has been messin' with our normal schedule like you wouldn't believe dudette." He yawned before cracking his knuckles.

Avery nodded, feeling a mutual empathy for the feeling of everything happening at once.

That's when a sudden, loud set of footsteps drew everyone's attention. Standing in the doorway was the hulking form of Raphael, his eyes glaring at the gathering around the kitchen table. The young woman felt all inhibitions return as the red banded turtle silently walked passed, rummaging through the cabinets.

Donnie and Michelangelo shared a glance before watching their brother silently (and aggressively) make himself a bowl of cereal. Without a word the turtle shoved everything away before turning to trudge over to the pizza box couch and thudding down to eat his food.

"He's in a great mood…" Donatello muttered sitting down across from Mikey, his brown eyes flashing behind his glasses.

Avery looked at the back of Raphael's head, confusion and uneasiness coming back in a wave. As far as she knew she had done nothing to upset the turtle. Yet, he treated her as if she were some sort of nuisance or enemy. The young woman was about to ask about it when the soft pad of footsteps attracted everyone's attention.

"Good morning Avery. I'm glad to see you out and about."

Avery turned and tried to smile at the humanoid rat that had appeared along with Leonardo. His dark eyes crinkled in a smile.

"M…morning." She stuttered.

The rat dipped his head before turning his attention back to the turtles.

"Today we will be venturing out into the sewers once more. So prepare yourselves my sons." He said sternly, earning a slight groan from Michelangelo.

Slowly, the orange clad turtle followed as his brothers began to pack up and prepare to leave. Avery watched as the turtles grabbed weapons off of the training wall along other supplies.

"You guys aren't staying here?" Avery asked, looking at Donatello as he strapped a bo staff to his back.

The turtle shrugged, "Every so often we go out and train in the sewers."

The young woman nodded, feeling slightly relieved that she would probably have at least a little while to herself, and perhaps gain time to calm down again. There was still that slight nagging anxiety that she was trying not to give in to, though it was getting harder.

"Do you want to come and watch?"

Avery turned to look at Mikey, feeling her chest tighten slightly at the prospect of going back out into the sewers when she was already having issues controlling her fear here. Though she had to admit she was curious as to how the turtles trained.

"I…uh…" she stuttered, not meeting the turtle's blue gaze.

"Oh…I mean…you're, right uh…" Mikey watched the girl hesitate and rapidly waved his hands back and forth, making his brother's roll their eyes.

"What shell for brains means is that you don't have to if you don't want to."

Avery nodded, acknowledging the slight curiosity that tugged at her. She could withstand just a little longer of putting herself out there right…


Raph gazed across the dim space of the sewer, trying to ignore the annoyance burning at the back of his mind. He could feel the gaze of both his master's and their guest's gaze sweep over them.

"Hajime!"

Without hesitation he lept forward at the word, ducking at Donatello swept his staff upwards. He struck forward with his sai, bouncing off of the reinforced middle of the bo.

'Geek has to tinker with everything…' the red banded turtle thought with a slight flash of humor.

He flipped back and set himself into a steady stance as his brother did the same, hoisting his staff as his glasses glinted. To their right Mikey and Leo went at it, their weapons jolting off of one another with metallic clangs.

With a growl Raph charged forward once more, eliciting a gasp from Avery who sat further back from the training in her chair.

The turtle couldn't help but roll his eyes and he caught Donnie's staff in the fork of his weapons.

'Course she had ta come…' he thought to himself, bemoaning the fact that the girl was even still involved with them.

It was so obvious that she thought they were freaks and disliked even being near them. Raph couldn't understand the reasons for trying to be nicey-nice when it would better than the girl leave ASAP.

It was then that he was tugged from his train of thought by Donatello wrenching his bo staff free and knocking it roughly against his side, making Raph stumble. He tried to regain his balance but over extended his reach to block another swing. That left his middle wide open for Donatello's kick that sent him sprawling back to the ground.

"Dammit!" he growled as he rolled backwards, feeling his brother's weapon whistle by his shell.

Blindly, he lashed out a leg and caught Donatello's ankle, sending the purple clad turtle to the floor. With a growl his jumped up and put a knee to his brother's plastron, lowering his sai to be level with the bridge of the glasses he was wearing.

"Yame."

Raph sat up, grumbling that he let himself get distracted not even bothering help his brother. Donatello pulled himself up with a disgruntled look, rubbing his chest from where Raphel had pinned him down. Behind them there was a similar scene except that Mikey was trying to squirm his way out from underneath Leo's foot. Only to be stopped by the tip of a katana being pointed at his face.

Avery watched with wide eyes as the four turtles stood up in a line in front of Master Splinter, both Donatello and Michelangelo looking disgruntled at their losses.

"Well done my sons. You fought well despite the long interruption to our training."

The turtles all gave a slight bow at their master's praise though, Avery noticed the flick of a gaze that Raphel flashed at her. Once more she frowned at the unwarranted show of anger but turned her attention back to Master Splinter, who had started to talk once more.

"Donatello. you fought very well but you need to take advantages when they appear, hesitation in a real battle is not as forgiving."

He nodded, "Hai sensei."

"Michelangelo, you need more focus my son. You have much potential but…"

The rat hesitated, his left ear suddenly flicking backwards as his brow furrowed in concentration. The sewer was silent as everyone looked to statue still rat, his eyes narrowed to black slits as both his ears flicked. The four turtles shared a look before turning back to Splinter who was concentrating on something that no one else could hear.

"Sensei?" Michelangelo finally broke the silence, waving a hand at his master.

The rat's ears shot up as he seemed to come to, his eyes darting to each of his sons.

"Someone is in the tunnels." He hissed suddenly and the sewer seemed to grow cold.

"Is it the Foot Master Splinter?" Leonardo asked, his hand going for one of his katanas.

The rat shook his head, "I do not know my son, but we must head back to the lair."

"But sensei! If the Foot are down 'ere then we can't let 'em near our home again!" Raphel growled, spinning his sais expertly.

Splinter seemed to think, "Raphel, we cannot allow the Foot to know that we are here in the first place. If…" he stopped for a second.

"If it is truly them. But I cannot tell for certain who it may be."

Raph seemed to grin, "So recon?"

The turtle's sensei sighed, "I will accompany three of you but one of you needs to bring Ms. Avery back and scout out our home."

The rat's black eyes flashed as he glanced over at the girl, who folded her arms over her stomach. She wasn't fond of having to be given an escort.

"Raphel."

The red banded turtle's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched as his Master pinned him in place with the same dark stare.

"Go back home and make sure that they have not beaten us there. Make sure Ms. Avery is safe as well."

"But Master Splinter I-"

"That is not a request Raphel." The rat barked, his tail snapping back and forth.

"The rest of you, this way." He looked over at Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo.

The three other turtles nodded and followed their Master, flashing glances at the silently fuming Raph before disappearing down the dim sewer tunnel. Within just a few seconds Avery was left sitting across from the hulking figure of Raph.

The calmness that she had been able to muster up around the other turtles melted away and the nervousness came back with a vengeance. What was Raph going to do? Was he going to yell or threaten her again?

She felt her eyes go wide as the turtle approached, his hands still clenched into fists. But before she could say anything he simply stomped right past her, going back the way that they had come from the lair, muttering something about babysitting. Avery turned her chair around and realized that the turtle wasn't going to wait for her.

"Hurry up!"

The growl came from up ahead as Avery pushed her wheelchair forward, her hands shaking slightly. Luckily, the turtle didn't seem too keen on getting back home and Avery was able to catch up, following only a few feet behind Raphel's shell.

The sewer was eerily quiet as they continued forward, though the tension could be felt coming off Raph in waves. Avery felt the same spark of irritation at the turtle's coldness and the unwarranted hostility. Why did he seem so much angrier then the others?

The two continued forward through the pipes until they came to a junction that led next to a channel of water. The young woman wrinkled her nose at the smell of moistness and prayed that she'd be able to wash the smell out of her clothes when she got a chance. With a sudden jolt Avery hit a patch of slippery floor and felt her chair start to slide and tip, just like when she had first come down to find the turtles.

"Oh dammit!" he yelped and plugged her nose in preparation to hit the water.

This time it never came.

With a wrench Avery was righted and she looked up to see that Raphel had grabbed the arm of her chair and righted it with a flick of his wrist.

"Th…thanks…" she panted, trying to calm her suddenly pounding heart.

The only acknowledgment that the turtle gave a snort of what seemed to annoyance as he turned back around and started walking once more as if nothing had happened.

The spark if irritation grew into a burning feeling in her chest as Avery stared at the turtle's back.

"What is your problem?!"

The words were out of Avery's mouth before she could stop them. They echoed down the sewer as the red banded turtle halted and turned to look at the young woman with a sharp glare.

"S'cuse me?" he grumbled taking a step back towards Avery.

She swallowed nervously but used the adrenaline already pumping through her veins to fuel her speech.

"Look, I don't expect five star service but can you at least stop treating me like some pest!? Ever since I dropped in here you've been looking at me like some animal." She almost shouted despite the shaking that had broken into her voice.

The turtle gave a bout of humorless laughter, "Oh, I'm the one who's been treatin' you like an animal?"

"How long was it you were hidin' in your little hole? Shivering like you'd been cornered by monsters!" he growled back, his amber eyes narrowing.

At this Avery felt taken aback, she hadn't realized that she'd really done anything wrong.

"If you haven't noticed I've been kinda in the middle of mutating!" she shot back in defense, indicating the scales that continued to spread on her neck.

"HA!" Raphel broke out into a snarl.

"Welcome to the show chica, you've been a mutant fo' what…a few days? Try being one fo' SEVENTEEN YEARS!"

The turtle's voice had risen to a yell and echoed down the sewer. At this Avery felt the little bit of bravery she had mustered vanished as she looked at the turtle before her, his shoulders heaving.

"I…" she stuttered, "I didn't…"

Raph snorted, "You didn't what? Realize tha' you ain't ever been rejected in your perfect little life?! Never been looked at like a freak!"

Avery sat back at that comment, feeling like she had been stung. But the truth was undeniable, she didn't even realize that she was complaining about something that was a brutal reality for the turtles. And out of all of them Raphel had been the only one to really pick up on her selfishness.

"How bout you try hiding from everyone up there cause they don't know what you are sumtime!? Hiding cause they all think you look like a freak." Raphel pointed a finger accusingly at Avery, making her back up.

There was a silence that followed the last comment, replaced by the fizzling anger that resonated from the turtle. The young woman didn't know what to say as she rolled backwards, shame and fear making her feel like an ant under a boot.

On an impulse she wrenched her chair around and began wheeling in the opposite direction, fighting the tears that were forming in her eyes. Avery refused to cry in front of Raphel but at the same time felt like she didn't care about anything anymore.

Raph watched the girl turn and take off down the sewer, anger and frustration fueling his shaking limbs.

"Yeah, you run…go back to your own life." He muttered, turning to walk in the opposite direction, gaining a slight sense of satisfaction.

He continued on a few steps but as he went further and further away, a feeling of uneasiness set in. Much to his annoyance. Visions of his Master's disapproving looks flashed through Raphel's mind as he imagined them coming back to the lair with the girl long gone.

'She deserved it!' He thought in his own defense.

The idea of the young woman getting lost in the maze of sewers or falling back into the rushing channel of water came to mind this time and Raph rolled his eyes, feeling like a babysitter with an unruly child.

"Pain in my ass…" he growled, stopping before slowly turning to jog down the side of the sewer.