Longer chapter to make up for the short last chapter.=) I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 14

Donatello began furiously typing on the computer. He had managed to set up Katherine's internet as well as install anti-virus software and update her operating system. It was several hours later and he was expecting his brothers back anytime now. Katherine had been in and out of the room several times that day, but as much as he tried to show her how to do everything, he could see that her mind was elsewhere. He could also see that she was still exhausted. Guilt would wash over him every time he would look at her pale face and pure white hair.

Katherine walked into the room and he frowned. She was carrying some of his clothes. "Your brothers are back." She huffed out.

He looked at her irritated face. She looked at him and smiled. "Leonardo and Raphael are fighting, again." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm getting Raphael to chop a pile of wood, Michelangelo is making dinner and I am getting Leonardo to organise the library, put it into some sort of order." She said with a smile.

"So basically you are getting them out of your hair." Donatello said to her wryly.

She laughed. "Something like that. Anyway now that you actually have some clean clothes, I was thinking it is time to change the sheets on the bed and get you into a bath or something."

"What?" He asked stupidly.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, but you are getting a little ripe." She said pointing to him. "It probably didn't help that you were shot when you were already sweating up a storm, but..." She shrugged.

Donatello blushed. "You are not giving me a bath." He growled.

She looked at him and laughed. "No, I am going to run a bath for you, help you get into the bathroom where you will proceed to get yourself into the tub and then you will successfully wash one half of your body, then be stuck as to how to wash the other side." She said with an impish smile.

"I can wait until..." He began. He'd wait until his brother's were free, he would wait...He smelled himself. Okay he was not waiting. He glared at her.

"I'll be good and not peek or anything." She said with a smile. She walked into the bathroom and he heard the bath begin running. She walked back into the room. "By the way it is one of those giant claw footed tubs, so be careful getting in. I put everything within reach and even put some nice girly bubble bath in for you." She said with a devilish smile. She looked at his arm and frowned. "Do you feel up to eating and drinking, or do we have to keep your IV in?" She asked him.

Donatello looked down at his arm. He reached up and turned the IV drip off and pulled the IV out. She looked at him and nodded, a dark look passing over her face. He looked at her with concern. "Katherine..." He began.

She shook her head. "Already had this conversation with Leonardo, my choice remember? And unless you want me pissed off at you too then please continue that thought." She said with a quirk of her lips.

"Thank you." He said softly.

"That's better. Let's get you up and into the bathroom." She said helping him out of the bed and into the bathroom. She looked at him and touched his cheek gently. She walked behind him and began untying his mask. She pulled the purple strip of fabric from his eyes. She looked down at it touching the fabric gently.

He looked at her as the need for her warred with the horror of what she had done for him. She walked around in front of him. She reached down to his pants. "Katherine what are you doing?" He asked as he tried stepping away.

She grabbed the top of the band of his jeans and held him still. "You can't open your jeans with only one hand Donatello." She said with a smile. She undid his jeans, her fingers lingering on the band of his jeans.

He swallowed. Even as injured as he was, he wanted her. Desire raced through him and it was all he could do not to ask her to join him in the bath. "I'll be right outside for when you need me." She said stepping away from him. She left, gently closing the door behind him.

He stripped off his pants, and underwear, made use of the toilet, and trying not to use his left arm too much, he slowly climbed into the tub.

He sighed. The water was warm bordering on hot and felt good against his cool skin. He could only submerge himself so much because of his bandages but he was able to make good use of the deep tub. He found the soap and managed, as Katherine predicted, to wash half of himself perfectly fine, but without being able to move his other arm washing the other half of his body was going to be impossible. He sighed. He didn't know what was worse, having the woman he loved help wash him, which sounded like a great idea except he didn't know how she actually felt about him, or having her have to smell him, which was, unfortunately, rather unpleasant.

There was a knock at the door. "Can I come in Donatello?" Katherine asked.

He looked at the plethora of bubbles that surrounded him. "Yes." He said to the door, a blush rising up on his cheeks.

Katherine opened the door and walked in, closing it gently behind her. "Reached an impasse?" She asked.

"Something like that." He grumbled.

She laughed. "Give me the soap. I will assume you got all of your lower half and guess that you are having a problem the around your injured arm."

Donatello's blush deepened. "Yeah."

She just nodded, grabbed the soap and gently lathered it in her hands. She washed around his bandages, and beneath his injured left arm. She then took a cloth and washed the back of his neck and his face. He was embarrassed and yet at the same time it felt good. His eyes drifted closed as the rough scrape of the cloth made its way across his face and head.

"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Katherine's voice asked him softly. He opened his eyes. Katherine was behind him, face so close to the back of his neck that he could feel her heat radiating from her skin. "There's the smell I know and love." She said with a smile, pulling away. "Well, mostly anyway, its kinda being subverted by the raspberry bubble bath." She said laughing.

Donatello felt himself flush. She was too close, too near him. He needed to distract himself before he did or said something foolish. "Can I ask you something?" Donatello asked her. She shrugged. "What did you mean when you told Leo that we have free will, and that is what made us human." She frowned in confusion. "We aren't human." He whispered.

She moved around and knelt beside the tub folding her arms on the edge. She lay her head on her arm and placed her hand in the water grabbing at some bubbles. She looked at the bubbles in her hand. "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?"

Donatello looked at her in confusion. "Shakespeare?" He asked.

She nodded taking his hand in her bubbly one, gently tracing the lines on his palm. "The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1. You say you are not human, and you are right, you aren't, but that does not exclude you from the human experience." She said looking at him in the eyes. "We are all animals, but we are beyond the mere necessity of survival. We need more out of life than just to eat, sleep, mate and die. We have the ability to think rationally, to love, laugh, and cry. We are able to experience a plethora of emotions and experiences." She paused as she tipped his hand over tracing the lines of his veins on the back of his hand. "No two lives are ever going to be the same. You and your brothers think you live on the outside, which I will admit, to a certain extent, you do. But you have far more in common with humanity that say, a turtle living in a tank. Besides, there are so many people who live on the outside as well, whether through choice or by circumstance, that you are not so far on the outside as you think. Besides, your world keeps expanding as you bring new people into it. You may not actually look human, but you are human, in here." She said with a gentle smile as she let go of his hand and lay her hand lightly on his plastron right over his heart. Then she smiled wryly. "Or maybe we are all just mutant turtles inside." She said with a laugh. "Humans come in all shapes, and colours and sizes. So your skin is green, so you come with a few interesting pieces of anatomy." She said tapping on his plastron. "It still doesn't change who you are on the inside."

Somehow her words left him stunned. He knew any who saw him or his brothers usually viewed them as mutated freaks of nature, as something that was 'other' and therefore bad, but not her. She just saw them as human, perhaps wearing a different skin, but ultimately, she actually saw no difference between herself and him.

He closed his eyes. "No one will ever accept us for who we are." He said softly.

She laughed. "Most people feel that way normally. And what does it matter? As long as those who do know you, love you for who and what you are, who cares about anyone else." She said with a shrug.

He looked into her smiling green eyes. "You are an amazing woman." He said softly.

"I don't see why, but I'll take the compliment anyway." She said eyes crinkling in the corners.

"Katherine." He said to her seriously.

There was a knock on the door. "Donny are you okay?" Leonardo's voice said from the other side of the door.

Katherine opened her mouth but he put his hand up and covered her mouth. She looked at him in confusion.

The last thing Donatello wanted was for Leonardo to find out Katherine was in here with him. He wasn't quite sure why, but he knew that things would not go well. He lifted a finger to his lips and pointed to behind the door. She shrugged and went to stand behind the door.

"I'm fine Leo. I'm having a bath."

"You're doing what!" His older brother shouted at him. The door swung open and Leonardo strode in. 'What do you think you are doing!"

Donatello closed his eyes and sighed. "Kitten told me I stunk and to get my butt into the tub so she could change the sheets on the bed." He said to his brother.

"She said what?" He asked in shock.

"Well she was much more polite about it, but that was the gist of the conversation. She ran me the bath. But I think it's time to get out because I'm all pruney now." He said looking at his right hand, the hand Katherine had so gently been holding a few moments before.

"So she just left you in here?" Leonardo asked in shock, anger beginning to leak into his eyes.

Great now Leonardo was beginning to get angry with Katherine. "Well she did offer to help give me a bath." He said under hooded lids.

He watched as another emotion flashed across Leonardo's face. It wasn't quite anger. Donatello frowned. "You guys were all busy helping Kitten, so I gave myself a bath." He said with a shake of his head.

"So where is Kitten right now?" Leonardo asked, the strange emotion flitting across his brother's face.

His eyes flicked to the door. He was a bad liar, and could never lie to any of his brothers.

Leonardo turned around and looked at the door. He looked back at him and looked at the door. He walked towards the door. Donatello sighed. "Would you have a problem if she was in here Leo?" Donatello asked as Leonardo swung the door open revealing nothing but the space behind the door.

Leonardo had a death grip on the door. "No." Leonardo said through clenched teeth.

"I don't know where Kitten is, but you are letting all the cold air in." Donatello said with irritation. "Maybe you could give me a hand." He said as Leonardo attempted to hide the relief that had flooded his face at the discovery that Katherine was not in the bathroom with him. Leonardo closed the door and helped him from the tub.

He managed to get himself dressed, rejecting the offer of help from Leonardo, pulling on a pair of sweats and forgoing his underwear. He just opened the door as Katherine entered the room. Donatello wasn't sure how she had gotten out of the room, but he was glad she had been able to. She gave him a searching look that he interpreted to mean they would talk about this whole thing later.

"You okay Donatello?" She questioned.

Leonardo glared at Katherine. He closed his eyes. Great now Leonardo angry with Katherine.

Thanks a lot Donatello. Her look said to him.

"His legs aren't broken Leonardo." She said to him. "Besides I just left the room for a moment. I went to grab him some water and something to eat since he hasn't eaten anything in nearly two days and we took out his IV so he could have a bath." She said putting a glass of water on the nigh table and a bowl of oatmeal. "I thought perhaps something with substance, but not too heavy." She said gently to Donatello. She helped him gently into bed, fluffed his pillow, tucked him in, and set up a tray for him to eat. He closely watched his brother as she performed all of these tasks. Leonardo's face was devoid of all emotion, but his white knuckles were clenched angrily at his sides.

After Katherine was satisfied that he was well taken care of she turned and looked coolly at Leonardo. "I think you and I need to have a talk, after dinner." She said icily as she turned and left the room.

Leonardo paled. "Leo, she's like, five nothing and 100 pounds, if that. She's not going to hurt you." Donatello said jokingly as he closely studied his brother's reaction, realization having dawned on him.

"I know." Leonardo said looking at the closed door. "So why does she scare the hell out of me?"

Donatello blindly looked at his bowl of oatmeal. He found his appetite had deserted him, but if he didn't eat, Katherine would stick his IV back in. "Leo, she scares you so much because she had the ability to hurt you in ways our enemies never could." He said softly.

Leonardo didn't turn to look at him, just gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. "You want me to keep you company Donny?" Leonardo asked him.

"I'm good." He replied as he watched Leonardo exit the room.

Raphael was sweating heavily. He looked to the pile of wood he had chopped and the pile of wood that still needed to be chopped. He growled. He was still pissed off at Leonardo for trying to brush off the fact that he was being an ass and owed Katherine an apology. Leonardo didn't think he owed her an apology because he was not in the wrong for trying to protect her.

He swung the axe, the blade arching down and hitting the log, but not splitting it. He frowned. He brought the axe back up and tried to drive it through with the next swing. He tried several more times but the axe was not cutting through the log and it was stuck. He tried to pry the axe from the log.

"It is amazing how many people think they know how to use an axe, but don't." Katherine said shaking her head as she walked up to him. He looked at the pile of wood he had chopped.

"What? Wood is being chopped." He said angrily.

"Yes, but you are making it harder than it has to be." She said as she took the embedded axe from his hands. "You are supposed to aim away from the knots you know." She said pointing at the log.

"It's stuck." He grumbled.

"Move." She said bumping him out of the way with her hip.

He backed up. "You aren't going to be able to get that axe out."

She quirked her lips. "Wanna bet?" She asked him.

He folded his arms over his chest. "You wanna lose?" He asked her.

She smiled. "Tell you what, I will not only get this axe out, but I will also split it, with one swing."

"Fine, you're on. What do I get when I win?" He asked.

"You won't win, but fine, what are the terms?" She asked hip cocked to the side.

His lips quirked as he strode up to her. He tipped her face towards his. "I win, I get a kiss." He said to her.

She smirked. "Fine, and if I win...hmmm let me think..." She said deviously. "I get your mask, and if anyone asks why you lost your mask, it's because you don't know how to use an axe."

"Done." He said positive he wasn't going to lose. Even if she did manage to split the damn thing there was no way she was going to be able to do it in one swing.

She hefted the axe and log up. He smiled. The axe plus the log had to weigh half of what she weighed. She flipped the axe backwards, heaved it over her head and brought the back of the axe head down on the stump he had been chopping wood on. There was a crack as the log split in half.

He looked at the log in shock. There was no way. She grinned at him. "I win. Now let's hear it." She said curling her fingers towards herself in a 'come on' motion.

"I started it off for you." He growled at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is someone a sore loser?" She asked with a mock pout. "You want to see it again?" She asked pulling off her jacket.

She grabbed another log and positioned it on the stump. "Your problem is..." She swung the axe up and brought it down cleanly splitting the log in two. "Is that you don't pay attention to where the knots are, and you choke up on the axe too much." She said grabbing another log and deftly splitting it in half.

He watched as she split 5 more logs and then began splitting the logs she had halved into quarters. There was something about watching her wield the axe that was beginning to turn him on. She wasn't muscular, but she was toned, and he watched as her skin tight shirt hugged every curve of her chest, and rode up exposing her belly.

"Now you try." She said holding the axe out to him. He had been so entranced by watching her that he had completely tuned out what she had been saying.

"What?" He asked stupidly.

She rolled her eyes, picked up a log and pointed to the knots. "You want to bring the axe down alongside the knots, if you can, rather than through them." He took the axe from her hands. "See you are doing it again." She slid his hands down the axe. "Now when you swing, bring the axe up directly over your head, you have a tendency to swing a little to the left. Bring the axe straight down."

He glared at her, glared at the log and brought the axe down on it, splitting it cleanly through. He blinked. That had been much easier.

"Come on, say it." She said to him.

"Fine, I didn't know how to use an axe. Happy now?" He growled at her.

She smiled and grabbed her coat from the ground. "I think that's enough wood Raphael." She said pulling on her jacket. "Oh, I almost forgot." She said as she walked up to him. She stood against him, breasts pressed against his chest as she put her arms around his neck. Raphael swallowed hard. Was she going to kiss him anyway? He wondered as he grabbed her around the waist. He felt the tug as she removed his mask. She pulled herself from his arms and smiled at him. "Can't forget this." She said as she wrapped his mask around her throat and tied it into a bow one tail trailing down between her breasts. He never through he could be jealous of a scrap of fabric, but right now he was jealous of his mask. She turned and grabbed a few logs to take into the house.

Raphael grabbed some logs from the ground. "Too bad you didn't win." She said in a husky voice coupled with a flirtatious smile. "But after all I couldn't lose, you would have been even more insufferable than you already are." With that she turned and walked into the house. Raphael's brain stalled and he forgot he was holding an armful of logs. He raised his arm to call her back but ended up dropping the logs on his foot. He glared at the fallen pile of wood. Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? He asked himself. Did she mean that she had wanted to kiss him, or did that just mean he was now going to suffer for losing?

He walked inside empty handed and found Michelangelo finishing the final dinner preparations. "Where's Kitten?" He asked. Michelangelo shrugged as Katherine walked into the kitchen. He looked at her and looked at Michelangelo irritated that he couldn't ask her if she had wanted to kiss him or not.

"How was chopping wood Raph?" Michelangelo asked him. His brother looked at him. "Where's your mask?"

"Fine." Raphael replied curtly looking at Katherine trying to figure out which of the two meanings her cryptic words had meant.

Katherine smiled evilly at him. His shoulders slumped. "It was fine Mikey, Katherine has my mask because I don't know how to use an axe." He growled.

Katherine burst out laughing Michelangelo looked at them in confusion. "Lose a bet or something Raph?" Michelangelo asked as Raphael glared at her.

Leonardo walked into the kitchen, and went for a glass in the cupboard. Leonardo looked at him and frowned. "Where's your mask?" He asked.

Raphael glared at Katherine and repeated what he had just said. Leonardo looked at him in confusion. Katherine and Michelangelo were in whoops. "You totally lost a bet Raph!" Michelangelo said clutching his stomach.

"Mikey!" Raphael yelled at his little brother.

"No seriously Raph, this is too good, Raph actually admitting he can't do something!" Michelangelo laughed.

"That's it Mikey you're dead!" Raphael said as he lunged at his little brother.

"Now Raphael, a bet is a bet." Katherine said to him as he grabbed Michelangelo around the waist tumbling to the floor with him.

He glared at her. "You're going to pay for this Kitten." He growled at her angrily.

Leonardo knelt down looking him straight in the eye. Anger raged in Leonardo's eyes. "Did you just threaten her?" He asked quietly, too quietly for Katherine to hear.

All of Raphael's anger left him as he looked in shock at his older brother. He pushed himself up and helped Michelangelo to his feet.

"Okay Michelangelo you've had your fun, bet's done." Katherine said stepping between him and Leonardo. "That is what you get for being so cocky." She said pulling him away from his brother's angry gaze. Katherine threw a look over her shoulder at Leonardo as she led him to the table.

Leonardo watched the flames dance and flicker in the grate. He paced back and forth as he waited for Katherine to meet him. She had said she had wanted to talk to him and if her anger had died down since they last spoke, it was raging again. His fingers itched for his swords. He felt naked and unprotected without them, and right now, he felt like he needed protection.

He closed his eyes. The next two weeks were going to be hell. Katherine was right, if he tried hard enough he could probably manage to avoid her. There were only two problems with that idea; the first was that he had to keep an eye on his brothers, especially Raphael who seemed to be getting overly familiar with Katherine; the second problem being that he felt miserable when he wasn't around her. If she was not near him he felt empty, felt as if something was missing. He was trying to be strong, but his defences were beginning to fail.

He should have been happy that Katherine was so angry with him. It should have made it easier if she wanted nothing to do with him. Unfortunately he couldn't have her thinking he hated her. The thought that she believed that he hated her made him feel physically ill.

The door to the library opened and Katherine walked in closing the door behind her. Leonardo swallowed.

She walked past him and slid up onto the desk. She tipped her head to the side as she coolly assessed him. He felt nervous and his hands here slick with sweat. He looked into her cold angry eyes. She blew out a breath and closed her eyes. "You really have no idea that you are constantly doing it, do you?" She said opening her eyes and studying him. Her eyes were no longer cold, or filled with anger, more resignation.

"Doing what, pissing you off?" He asked her, defensive anger rising in its place. No wonder Raphael was so angry all the time, it was his defence mechanism against his constant barrage of lectures. Having all of your actions constantly being called to task was uncomfortable and made him feel like he was child. Great now he owed Raphael an apology. He thought to himself

He glared at her. She sighed. "Besides that." She said rolling her eyes. "Come here Leonardo." He walked up to her. With her sitting on the desk she was slightly taller than he was. He looked up into her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

"I know you worry about your family, and I know you worry about me, but you aren't their father, and you aren't mine. Believe me, I already have one overprotective parent, I don't need another one." He could hear the smile in her husky voice. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes, her thumbs brushing against his cheeks. "I love that you care, and I love that you are protective, but when you treat me like some frail damsel in distress it pisses me off. So stop it." She said with a reproving smile. She lightly kissed his cheek. "You're a good man Leonardo." She said sliding off the desk forcing him to move away.

All of his anger had vanished the moment she had touched him. Her lips had been like the softest of flower petals against his cheek. He looked down at her, a need he had a hard time identifying coursing through him. He wanted her. He wanted to touch her, kiss her properly, strip her naked and take her right there on the desk, but besides all of this, there was something else rolling around in his gut. "You ever think about having kids Kitten?" He asked, the words coming out even before his brain had time to process what he was saying.

"Why, because I am so good at handling the four of you?" She asked with a laugh, but tipped her head to the side as if seriously thinking over the question. "I don't think I have ever thought about it that much. I have never been one of those girls who is baby obsessed, and I'm a little young," She said pausing in thought. "But I suppose in a few years, I suppose I would like to have kids." She said studying him.

Leonardo gave a nod and strode to the door. "We good?" He asked unlocking it and opening it.

"I don't know, you tell me." She said from across the room.

"Yeah, we're good." He said as he managed to put one foot in front of the other as wave after wave of realization crashed into him.