TMNT does not belong to me. Just Annie & Co. Big thanks to The Silent Hunter. :)


Two days after I was shot, I was discharged. Splinter and Leo had decided that it wasn't safe for me to stay in the city. And I didn't have the strength to argue with them. So, at the moment, all of us are heading up to Casey's grandmother's old farmhouse in New Jersey. Raphael's sitting right beside me in the middle seat of April's van with his arm around me, and Mikey's behind us in the back next to Shadow. Who's fast asleep in her car seat.

I'd really wanted to be alone with the red-masked turtle (well, as alone as we could be with April and Casey in the front) to talk. But like his bigger brother, Mikey had insisted on on not letting me out of his sight. And I didn't have the heart to tell him no. The others have Zeb with them in the Battle Shell.

So, instead of talking with Raphael, I spend most of the trip recounting old Cherokee stories. And I have to say, I most definitely have the best audience. It seems like no time has gone by at all when we pull up to the slightly dilapidated farmhouse.

April turns back to me, "Sorry about the view. Casey and I are still working on it."

I smile at her, "That's okay. When you've lived in Miami, you've seen a lot worse. And, it's really not that bad. I kind of like it."

As soon as we stop, Mikey literally jumps out, sheds his hat and raincoat, and starts running around. If it didn't hurt me so much to laugh, I would have been rolling. I settle for a few quiet giggles. Raphael rolls his eyes, muttering, "What a bonehead."

That fedora Red's wearing has been distracting me the whole trip. Because the windows in April's van aren't tinted, the two turtles who rode with us had to go incognito.

I cannot help it. Once Raphael picks me up and has me firmly in his arms, I pull that ridiculous hat down over his eyes, giggling.

"Annaleigh! Do you want me to drop you?" he says, exasperated.

Which only makes me giggle harder, no matter the pain. "I could not resist," I respond in very bad French accent as I knock the ridiculous thing off his head.

He rolls his eyes at me. "You're spending way too much time with Mikey." But I can tell he's amused. I can see it in his beautiful amber eyes.

When that bullet had grazed Raphael, I'd realized something. He was important to me. Is important. More important than anyone else I've ever known. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I really like him. A lot. But how on earth am I going to tell him that?

I don't know what my problem is. I know for a fact that he's fallen for me. But I can't seem to open up to him. All of those years spent hiding from the world has left me more than physically scarred.

Raphael walks inside and sets me on the couch. Leo comes in with my bags. No matter how many times I'd said that I could walk on my own and carry my own stuff, the boys insisted on carrying me and my things. Well, usually Raphael carried me (even though I was pretty sure his leg had to have been hurting him). But when he was sleeping in this morning, it was Leo who'd carried me into the Lair. I know that Fearless (Raphael is rubbing off on me) blames himself for what happened. I'm gonna have to fix that.

Before I can plan my strategy, Shadow starts crying in her car seat. "Just hand her and her bottle to me, Case."

"Are you sure?" Casey looks at me uncertainly, then to Raphael, who's shaking his head. I elbow Red, hard enough to bruise my elbow on his shell, while I'm still looking up at Casey.

"You might as well. Since I can't do anything else." I glare at Raphael out of the corner of my eye, "And it's not like she's going to hurt me."

"Okay Annie," he says setting the baby in my arms. I hold back a gasp when he accidentally brushes against my side. And although the man doesn't notice, the turtle next to me certainly does. Raphael clenches his fists, gritting his teeth. I know he's not angry at Casey.

He's furious at the bozo who shot me. Which is the real reason I had agreed to this little vacation. I don't want Raphael going on a quest for revenge. I want him with me. Where I can both see him and know that he's okay.

Casey hands me Shadow's bottle and I lean against Raphael as I feed her. I'm trying to calm him down, or, at least, distract him. It works. He wraps his arm around my shoulders again.

Since everyone else deemed that it wouldn't be safe for anyone to try to carry me up and down the stairs, it was decided that I would sleep on the couch. I didn't mind, of course. I'd spent most of last week on the couch in the Lair. Raphael and Mikey both refused to sleep anywhere else, so they were sleeping on the living room floor. Which is were they are now. It had been such a long day, we'd all decided to turn in early.

It's now about five in the morning and I'm wide awake. I don't know why. I haven't had a single nightmare since that night that Raphael had held me as I cried. But I just couldn't get back to sleep. Then I hear someone coming down the stairs. Two someones. From the sound of it, it's one turtle followed closely by Zeb. And I immediately know that the turtle's Leo.

Zeb's been sticking close to the blue-masked turtle ever since that night. My mutt (as Raphael calls him) is a lot smarter than they give him credit for. He knows Leo's upset about something.

Said turtle walks past my couch and his sleeping brothers, heading straight to the door. I sit up slowly, quietly.

"And where do you think you are going this early in the morning?" I ask, crossing my arms.

Leo whips around, surprise evident on his face. Thanks to my mutation, I can see him perfectly in the dark. "Annie, what are you doing up?"

Then it hits me. This is why I'm up. Somehow, I knew Leo would be up too. This is my chance to fix things, to get him to quit blaming himself. "Probably for the same reason you are. And I'm not talking about trying to get my katas and meditation done before Mikey wakes up."

He chuckles at that.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Annie. You can barely walk-"

I hold up my hand to shush him. "That wasn't what I meant. I was just wanting to talk with you some. If that's okay?"

His expression is a little uncertain. "Umm... okay." He moves to pick me up.

"Wait. I kind of need to leave the others a note. They'll freak out if they wake up and I'm not here."

"You mean Raph will freak out," he says, looking at his red-masked brother, who's currently snoring like a chainsaw.

I wince as my eyes travel to the bandage wrapped around Raphael's thigh. It's not Leo's fault. It's my fault that we both got hurt. If only I had been faster.


Please R&R.