She had dared hunt on crimson turf again.

Cat often did her work in the known territories of gangs. The crimsons. The dragons. The foot. Places most street kids avoided were ripe for the picking. Some of them, especially where the foot staked their claim, were pretty good ones. High class. She cleaned out, and so far she had always been lucky enough not to be caught.

Tonight her luck would hold out. But just barely.

She was being chased, but they hadn't seen her face. If she could get away, she could return. The best way was to go underground. Into the shadows.

She saw the storm drain...one of the huge ones down near the subways, and was already sliding down it when she sensed her pursuers closing in. Her feet hit water, the thick black doc martins splashing it up. It was damned hot up there, and damned hotter down here.

They would be after her in a moment. She glanced up, saw what she was looking for, and grabbed the pipe. With a breath she hoisted herself up amongst the pipes, trying not to imagine the rats, spiders, and gods knew what else was up here. There. One of the grates. She pressed a palm against it and it slid back. She lifted herself into the duct and slid the great past. She could see down through the pipes, but she was sure she was hidden. She crouched, and waited.

Four of them. All boys about her age. All in street clothes, but she knew they were more than they looked.

They rushed past, not even glancing up. She heard their feet splashing in water,. and then after a long moment, silence.

She smiled to herself and touched her pocket. Six wallets. And almost $200 cash money. A great haul. A haul that would feed her for days. Feed the others too, if she could find them. She'd have to send out word to meet.....

She looked into the dark of the crawlspace and thought *I could do a little exploring. Make sure the footboys are gone. Maybe look for...them .....a bit. Why the hell not? I have no where to be, and the day is young.*

Softly, she began to crawl forward. Listening in the dark, lost in her own thoughts. The space was not as bad as she thought...a little dusty and once she jerked her hand back when something that felt like a bug or a spider, scrambled over her hand. But there were no rats, no smell, and she didn't encounter any more creepy crawlies.

Not too bad at all.

********

Mike laughed and crashed over the sofa, the mars bar in one hand "Come on Raph, you're getting slow! Come and get it little doggy!"

Raph dove after him, looking pissed, but his eyes gave him away. He was actually amused. The two brothers wrestled across the floor of the candy bar.

Don rolled his eyes with a small smile from behind his book.

*********

She heard the crash and the laughter. She'd been on the move for almost two hours at that point. It was far away, but she followed it like a dog on a scent.

She was very very very close. The question had occurred to her.

*Why am I doing this?*

She really couldn't answer it. Curiosity. Yes. And the thought that these...creatures...would be worth a lot had come up too. A LOT. She could get Rabbit off the street with that. She could become and emancipated minor; she could have a life.....a real life. A safe life. With money like that she could start all over again.

But that wasn't all it either.

She really didn't know. Her motivation was a mystery even to herself.

But Cat didn't waste time thinking on unnecessary things too much. She could plan and plan well. But she was a creature of instinct first and foremost honestly.

And she was going on pure instinct now.

*********

She watched them from her perch. The pipes his her from view, and she peered through the wire mesh. They were turtles. She could see that now in the dim light of their hide away. Some kind of humanoid turtles.

Two were wresting on the floor. At first she thought it was a real fight, but quickly saw it was just horseplay. She knew one of them...even in that brief glimpse so long ago, it was etched in her memory.

*He's the angel.*

She smiled a little, triumphant.

*** "Gimme the bar Mikey!" Raph said

"Finders keepers!" Mikey stuck his tounge out

"I'm gonna pound your shell if...." And then from above there was the groan of old twisted steal. Some of the pipes high against the ceiling sagged.

The brothers looked up "What the...." Said Raph.

****

Cat felt the crawlspace floor sag. She thought *I am in a lot of trouble* and then the old rusted metal gave under her weight. The floor ripped open, spilling the teenaged girl into the air fifteen feet above the floor.

*Oh shit* she thought and then the world shut off.

She twisted once in the air and they all heard her body strike the pipes on the ceiling twice before rolling off and twisting toward the floor.

Raph reacted first. He leapt forward, arms outstretched. The girl fell into them like a princess in a fairy tale, but her eyes were closed and her face pale. Blood was in her hair, and her right arm had been cut open from the elbow in a jagged tear six inches toward the shoulder. He could see flakes of rust in the cut.

He didn't even think, just scooped up one of the blankets from the sofa and began to wrap her arm to stop the bleeding "Get Splinter" He ordered Mikey.