Authors Notes: Hi!! I want to thank all of you for letting me know I'm not doing anything wrong! You don't know how much of a relief that is! And I'm beyond glad that you're all enjoying this. Um…lemme see…who to thank. I have to go back to the beginning don't I? Aw, crappy! Lol, just kidding! First of all to those of you who reviewed the prologue, thanks a ton. That was written on a whim because I believe all good stories have to have an in depth beginning to give you some insight into the situation. Am I right? I'm just glad it grabbed your attention.
Ramica, thanks a bunch for reviewing! I'm still faithfully reading and falling for your fics and am beyond grateful that you wrote a sequel to Enemy.
Punker, or April…thank you for being the first to tell me I wasn't doing anything wrong. It's exactly what I needed to put my pouting aside! And yes…I was pouting.
Wanderer…* Pauses in her choking you and smiles * Wit, drama and emotion huh? Well…aren't you a charmer! I already told you not to expect my usual thickly applied romance. Although it will be there (how could it not) its going to take time!
Jo Dawn, Devine and meathead…thank you all for your reviews as well. It's good to know people are reading this and liking what they see. Hell…I'm just like any other writer out there who needs to know things are being appreciated or at least criticized. Am I done writing my book of thanks? Yes!! On with the story.
Disclaimer: The usual applies. I own nothing except Alex!
Chapter Three
Raphael awoke the next morning very much against his own will. The loud, impatient knock at his door interrupted the great dream he was having and with lingering images of Alex, smiling up at him with those soft blue eyes he pushed himself up and rubbed the back of his neck, calling out impatiently for whoever it was to enter.
Michelangelo's head peeked through the door once it was open and he gave his older brother a tired smile. "Mornin' Raph. Ready for some training?"
"Training?!" he said on a yawn. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Afraid not. Leo says we've got to be ready and…well," he shrugged helplessly. "Sensei agrees with him."
Cursing under his breath as he pushed the covers aside, Raph climbed out of bed, slipped his sais into his belt and joined Mike, tying his red mask in a firm knot at the back of his head as they walked. "I bet we don't even get breakfast, do we?" he asked irritably.
Mile's smile was half hearted. "If you were up at the ass crack of dawn like some people-," he muttered, not bothering to finish the sentence or to hide the fact that he too had missed breakfast and was none too happy about it.
They passed by Alex's door and Mike stopped, raising a hand to knock. Raph's hand closed around his wrist, stopping him from doing so. "Let her sleep."
"I was just gonna let her know where we were."
"She'll figure it out Mikey." He jerked his head slightly to the side. "Lets go before Leo hunts us down okay?"
Mike gave the door one last look and then nodded reluctantly, following his brother down the hallway to the training dojo. Donatello and Leonardo were already there, facing off and preparing to go at it as Splinter watched on from a large pillow in the corner. The two bowed to each other then a split second later the metal blade of Leonardo's katana cracked against the wood of Donatello's bo.
"We should probably stay out of this one huh?" Mike remarked slyly.
Raph chuckled. "I'm with you bro."
They sat on the ground, leaning back against the hard wall and watching their two brothers spar. The two were well matched so their brothers knew they had plenty of time to relax. For Raph it was time to let his mind wander back to the beautiful female sleeping in the room down the hall from his. His thoughts hadn't been far from her anyway. After last night she was all he could really think of. She was such a mystery to him, one he wanted to understand but for the first time in his life was willing to wait it out. Of course he expected impatience to sink in any time now. It usually did.
He could still remember the exact look in her eyes when they had been standing on the roof together. There was such sadness written in their depths and such desperation that it made his heart twist uncomfortably just thinking about it. And the one thing he couldn't get for the life of him was why the hell he wanted to be the one to erase that sadness. She was just a girl…and a human girl at that. What reason did he have to help her? His answer came in the form of images from his dreams. Alex standing in the darkness, looking so lost and alone, confiding in him, her gorgeous eyes filled with unshed tears, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she kissed him into mindless oblivion.
Raph stifled a groan as he pulled his knee up and rested his forehead on it. God damn it that woman was going to haunt him.
"Hey," Michelangelo said, jabbing him lightly in the arm with his elbow. "We're up."
The older turtle raised his head. "Good," he muttered, eager to do anything that would stop thoughts of her and the things she could do to him. And of course when it came to him and his problems, fighting was always the answer.
*~*~*
Hours later Alex awoke, stretching sleepily, each aching muscle pulling. When she didn't feel the immediate ache of the lovely laceration on her neck she grinned, sparing only a brief moment to be glad that she was what she was. She recovered slightly faster than most humans, which was a plus. But that was pretty much the only upside.
As that brief moment passed another fact stubbornly surfaced in her mind, forcing her to remember. She closed her eyes again, turning over and groaning into one of her many pillows. God, she had kissed Raphael! What had she been thinking? How could she do something like that? "Ugh, he probably thinks I'm just this insane, desperate, totally messed up person," she moaned, pushing the ends of the pillow against her ears as if she could shut out all of the thoughts bombarding her fully alert mind. But as those thoughts kept coming, ruthlessly forcing her to remember her wonton act, another enforced itself to be recognized. True, she had kissed him but…he hadn't stopped her. In fact, if she remembered correctly he hadn't even tried. Maybe he had liked it…as much as she had.
"Well, he's never going to know how much you liked it dope," she muttered angrily to herself, flipping over once again and staring up at the ceiling. "Just act like nothing happened." Yes, that was it. She would treat it as if it were something she had never done. Knowing Raph, even for the short time she had, he would probably do the same.
Alex lifted a hand unconsciously brushing her nails against the irritated skin around her wound. What if he had liked it though? She had to admit it had been a nice kiss. His lips had been firm yet yielding at the same time. They were…perfect. A tingling shiver rushed down her spine and a tiny smile curved her lips. Okay, so Raphael intrigued her. That wasn't a bad thing. She would only even admit that there was a tiny amount of attraction there-but only to herself.
Now itching at the reddening skin, Alex frowned. So the plan was to act like nothing happened. She could do that. How hard could it be? Her frowned deepened and she looked down at where her hand was itching determinedly at her skin. "What the-?" A burning itch had started around her wound and was growing more irritated by the second. It was healing. "Damn it," Alex swore, jumping up and making a desperate grab for some thing to cover up with. What she ended up with was a slightly over sized red and navy striped men's dress shirt that covered her legs to mid thigh, completely hiding the short boxers she was wearing.
With her hideously long wound itching like mad, she threw her bedroom door open and scampered barefoot into the hallway, hastily buttoning up the front of her shirt. "Donnie, Donnie, Donnie," she started yelping as soon as the living room came into view, desperate for someone to help alleviate the unbearable itching.
Sitting on the couch and reading the paper as Leonardo watched television next to him, Don's heart leapt into his throat when he heard the pleading female voice calling out his name. "Alex?! What's wrong?" he asked, at his feet only seconds after Leo.
The young woman came skipping into the room, a pained expression on her beautiful face and her long blond hair hanging in waves over her shoulders. "Help me! It itches like freakin' crazy!"
Noting the hand that covered her chest, twitching as if it wanted to move somewhere, Don realized what she was talking about. "Come on," he said, smiling as he crossed the room and led her down the hallway to the bathroom. "It's healing already huh?"
"Yes, and it feels great," Alex remarked bitterly, giving in to the temptation to itch.
Don laughed softly, allowing her to enter the bathroom before him and then opening the mirrored cabinet. "That's pretty amazing considering you only got it not even two days ago," he observed as he searched through the cabinets contents. "Here we go." Untwisting the top to an unused tube of topical Benedryl he faced Alex. She unbuttoned the top two buttons on her shirt and while holding one side in place, pulled the other aside so that he could get to the cut. Chuckling at her enraptured sigh once the cool cream hit her irritated skin, he applied it carefully, avoiding the cut and rubbing it into the red skin around it. "Better?" he asked once he was finished.
"God yes!" She buttoned up her shirt, trying to keep the fabric from rubbing off the cream as best she could. "Thank you so much Donnie."
"No problem. Glad I could help."
They went back to the living room and after thanking Don once again and saying hi to Leo, Alex veered off in the direction of the kitchen, her stomach demanding sustenance. As soon as she walked through the doorway she knew it was a bad idea. Michelangelo was at the stove cooking something that smelled absolutely wonderful and Raphael was sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up when she entered. The minute their eyes met the tension in the room rose dramatically. "Hey," he said softly.
Alex tried to smile through her embarrassment. 'Act like nothing happened, act like nothing happened,' the mantra repeated itself over and over again in her head. "Hi," she replied. An uncomfortable stillness penetrated the air, punctuated by the sound of bacon sizzling as Mike dropped it into an electric skillet on the counter. Alex lifted a slightly trembling hand to her arm, her mind switching into overhaul and throwing several tension breaking lines at her, none of which sounded all that great. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about breaking the silence. Mike took care of it for her by asking her how she liked her eggs.
Alex smiled at him, feeling a telltale heat creep into her cheeks like the heated caress of an unseen lover. "Um…scrambled with cheese and a little garlic," she responded after a moments pause.
He threw Raph a funny look, which went unnoticed and then turned that same look on her. "Really," he said in a slow drawn out way. "That's exactly how Raph likes his. Huh." He went back to his cooking. "What kind of cheese did you guys want?"
"Cheddar," the replied in unison.
Again they were shot that funny look. "Oookay then."
Smiling, Raph nodded to one of the other chairs at the table. "You can sit down Alex. I ain't gonna bite ya."
The heat infusing her cheeks intensified to the point of almost unbearable but still she held her head high and took a seat across from him.
Raphael watched her progress out of the corner of his eye, having no desire to cause her further embarrassment by openly staring at her. She looked sexy and at the same time adorable in the too short boxers and an overly large stripped man's dress shirt. Her dark blond hair was slightly tousled, something of which she attempted to rectify as she sat quietly, her eyes occasionally drifting to where Mike was cooking. Raph was tempted to tell her to stop. For one, her hair was definitely not cooperating with her and two; the disheveled look worked for her. His gaze dropped from her hair to her lips and the jittery feeling from last night returned, settling like a rock in the pit of his stomach. Had she thought about that kiss at all? From the way she was avoiding making direct eye contact with him he was going to have to guess she had. So how did she feel about it then? Had she liked it? Was she as confused about what to do now as he was? All good questions that he had every intention of asking…when he got the guts to.
"Here ya guys go!" Mike said cheerfully, setting down two plates piled with golden yellow scrambled eggs and two pieces of toast. "I'm gonna go see if Donnie and Leo want some breakfast. Be right back."
He disappeared, leaving Alex and Raph alone. Keeping with the flow of conversation, which was non-existent at the moment, Raphael started to heap his eggs onto his toast, sparing another quick glance at Alex in the process only to see that she was doing the same thing. "Alright," he muttered with a smile, "knock it off."
"What?" Alex looked up. Her already pink cheeks flared bright red when she saw what he was doing and she quickly dumped the eggs from her toast, uttering what he could barley make out as an apology.
He shook his head. This was getting ridiculous. "Alex," he started, the questions he had thought of earlier resurfacing once again and demanding that he voice them. She raised her guarded eyes to meet his slowly, almost as if she were afraid to do so. "Listen. About last night-." And that's where the questioning stopped. His three brothers noisily entered the kitchen and Alex turned away from him. Biting back an exasperated sigh as well as a few choice words, he returned to the food cooling in front of him.
"So Alex," Don started as he took a seat next to her, Leo sitting down next to Raphael. "I talked to Leo about you coming with us tonight."
She immediately perked up, her vibrant blue eyes shooting to Leo.
"It's fine with me as long as you stay close," the blue masked turtle said in his "fatherly" voice, answering the unspoken question that may as well have been written all over her face.
"I will," she said eagerly. She sounded like a child who had just been granted a trip to the zoo so long as she behaved herself. "I promise."
"We'll leave later tonight then, around 9:30. Is that okay?"
Alex nodded. An overjoyed smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Fine by me. And thank you Leo."
The eldest turtle blushed at the shortened us of his name. It was the first time she had ever called him that and he felt that, in a way, she also did it to let him know that things really were okay between them now and the argument had been forgotten. "No problem Alex," he replied kindly before digging into the plate of food Michelangelo had set before him.
*~*~*
Later that evening Alex sat on the ground at the small, battered coffee table in the living room. Across from her on the couch, swearing under his breath was Michelangelo. "Ya know, I think there's a reason they recommend that you play with more then two people in this game," he muttered as he collected Uno cards from a deck in the middle of the table, searching for either a blue card or a six-or possibly something else that would save his ass at the moment. "There!" He threw that something else, a wild card with a picture of four tiny cards in the upper corner, on top of the scattered pile of cards next to their neat deck. "Draw four babe!" Mike cried triumphantly.
Laughing, Alex drew four to add to her own meager pile. "If you don't start laying more down soon we're not going to have anything left to play with hun. What color?"
He made a big show out of checking his cards, which he had given up on actually holding and separated into four piles, obviously by color. "Lets go for green."
Alex's lips curved in a wicked smirk. "I was really hoping you'd say that." She started laying down cards. "Skip, reverse, skip, skip." The last card she slapped down with a laugh. "And draw two!"
"Damn! I was wondering where the hell all those were!"
Alex giggled as Mike drew two, grumbling the entire time. "You are going to loose Mikey. You know that right?"
"Hey Alex, you ready to go?"
She looked up, watching Leon and Don enter the room in matching trench coats and fedoras. "Only if I get to wear one of those snazzy hats," she said, smiling at the two.
Dona laughed shortly. "Sure."
"Alright then. I'm ready." She started to get up laying her cards face down on the table.
"What? You're quitting?!" Mike yelped indignantly.
"Mikey you knew I was going with Donnie and Leo tonight."
"I can't believe you're quitting!" he went on as if she hadn't said a thing. "Do you have any idea what I do to quitters?"
Alex released a shriek as his hand shot forward, grabbed her wrist and drug her across the table. Cards scattered across the table and onto the floor and Alex landed in a laughing heap in Michelangelo's lap. "Mikey, what-."
"I'll show you! No one quits on the God of UNO!"
Alex's laughter turned hysterical as he dug his fingers lightly into her sides and began tickling her. "Mikey NO!" she gasped, writhing in his lap in a desperate attempt to free herself.
"What's wrong Alex?" he asked innocently, his voice bubbling with suppressed laughter. "Ya ticklish?"
She was laughing so hard by now that tears were forming in her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. Even if she wanted to provide him with an answer there was no possible way she could.
"Mikey, come on," Don said, smiling at the two. "Let her go."
"Yeah, we're already late on time as it is here." Leo added, trying to look stern and failing. Alex's laughter was just too infectious.
Finally Mike released her. After taking a few deep breaths to compose herself Alex sat up and dashed the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "We'll have a rematch later tonight when I get back, okay?" She stood and leaned over, placing a light kiss on his cheek. "I'll probably still kick your ass though."
"We'll see about that," he said, grinning widely. "You guys be careful."
"We will Mikey. See you later," Don assured him as he placed a hand at the small of Alex's back and led her out of the lair. Following behind, Leo picked up Raph's fedora from the table against the wall and plopped it down on Alex's head.
Moving into the darkness of the damp tunnels, the two mutants slipped into a state of alert awareness. They opened their senses to everything around them, every sound, every movement however slight it may be.
Between them, Alex smiled. "You two just went all stealth mode on me, didn't you?" she asked, only half joking.
"When you're us you can never be too careful," Don muttered dryly.
"And," Leo spoke up, keeping his voice low, "it never hurts to exercise a little extra caution when you're dealing with an enemy and you have something they want."
Alex shuddered, feeling a sudden chill sweep over her. Just thinking about Danny and his pathetic followers made her feel cold and hollow. They were sick, sadistic bastards and she never wanted to lay eyes on them again. She also seriously doubted she was free of them. Danny never had been the giving up type. Wrapping her arms around herself, she methodically rubbed her biceps and tried to think of something else. Only one other thing came to mind and as much as she wanted to avoid thinking about Raph he was a welcome change when compared to Danny. As soon as the thought of the turtle in red entered her mind the chill evaporated, replaced by aching warmth that started in her stomach and unfurled languidly through her entire body.
What was it about him? One minute he could make her so angry at his arrogance and the next he could be so understanding and kind. The main problem was she liked his attitude-all of them. She like that he could frustrate her so much and make her so confused. She liked that he could make her feel things she had only ever felt in moderation before. Feelings that made her heart flutter and her stomach turn into a mass of butterflies. She liked what he made her feel. She liked…him. As unexpected as it was she couldn't deny that she had feelings for him. Whenever he spoke to her or touched her something would flare to life within her. The feeling was foreign and she didn't have a name for it yet but she was really hoping that one day she would.
"Alex, we're here," Leo called, dragging her from the depths of her troubled thoughts. She blinked a few times, surprised to see a ladder in front of her. Don was already making his way up the corroded iron rungs. She must have been thinking quite hard to not even realize how far they'd walked.
"Its clear Leo," Don quietly called down, his form obscuring the light that shone through the manhole.
Leo motioned for Alex to go first and she did so, allowing Don to help her out of the dark sewers and into an only slightly brighter alley way.
Pulling something from his belt, Don held out a set of keys. "These, I believe, belong to you."
"Thanks," Alex took the keys, sliding the ring onto her fingers as she listened to the soft jingle jangle of the metal objects. "Right through the front door then?"
"That's what we've been doing. No one really seems to notice."
"That's because a majority of the people in this building are either old or new parents. They all go to bed early."
Leo joined them and after another quick look around they entered the building and went up a narrow staircase to the seventh floor to where Alex resided in her cozy one bedroom. "I'd say welcome to my home…but you guys have already been here, haven't you?" she asked conversationally while working the key into the lock and opening the door to her apartment that she had not seen in three days.
"Yup," Dona answered. "Nice place by the way."
"Thanks." She flipped on the light switch, bathing the comfortable confines of her living room in soft white light. Everything was just the way she had left it. Her one piece of living room furniture, an overstuffed burgundy and cream-colored couch faced her modest television and the wide window that took up much of the east wall across from them. Below the window was her large artificial plant, used only for the sole purpose of decoration. Her artwork, abstract oil pieces she had done here and there when inspiration struck, still graced the walls, their deep colors adding warmth to the room and brining out the dark stain of the hardwood floors.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to turn and she faced Leo with a sad smile. "I really wish I could take it all."
The smile he returned was one of understanding. "I know. You'll be able to come back once we know you're safe. For now just grab what you need. Oh, and Casey put your mail on the table."
With a slight nod Alex moved to the table that sat against the wall next to the doorway. She shuffled through the stack of envelopes. As she did that Don and Leo walked slowly around the apartment, checking every possible hiding spot before moving into the windows and watching the activity taking place on the streets below. Alex separated bills from junk mail and took the important mail with her to he bedroom. She tossed it on the thick violet and green quilt that covered her simple full sized bed and went to her closet. She picked out a large duffle bag from amid the piles of clean laundry she had yet to hang up or put away. That too went on the bed, as did every piece of clothing picked up off the floor or pulled from a hanger. Next it was onto her underwear drawer. Sighing joyously she grabbed handfuls of the lacy and silken under garments from the top dresser drawer, shoving them into a side pocket of her bag. Casey Jones was a great guy and all but he sure needed to rethink his idea of what clothing was a necessity when it came to packing for a woman. She had been on one pair for three days now and had on several occasions considered going commando.
Checking over her shoulder to make sure Leo and Don were well out of sight, Alex slipped out of her jeans, changed underwear and pulled them back on, stumbling in her efforts to be quick. With that done she went to her adjoining bathroom and grabbed a few more things. Once everything was safely packed away she scanned the room once more just for good measure and turned to leave when something caught her eye. A black box sitting on the top shelf of her closet. The PS2 she had bought to give to Danny for his birthday. What was she going to do with it now? She'd already taken it for a test drive and beaten the game she'd purchased for herself, Final Fantasy X. But now it was just sitting there, collecting dust. Who would really appreciate a PS2? Voices carried to her from the living room and she smiled. The guys would love a PS2!
Running to the closet she pulled the sleek box from the shelf and the one other game she had bought with it, the epitome of a man's game. Those found a place among the clothing and other items in the duffle bag. It was noticeably heavier; she though as she adjusted the strap to rest comfortably over her shoulder, but it was going to be worth the burden just to see the looks on her new friend's faces. Humming softly she turned out the lights and shut the door behind her, feeling only the slightest twinge of melancholia when the door clicked shut with a note of finality. One day she would be able to come home-she hoped.
"Ready to go?" Leo asked as she entered the now dark living room. They had shut the lights off, an action that spoke volumes of how uncomfortable they were being out of their element. Alex could sympathize seeing as how she had been in that same position not so long ago. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said.
Leaving the apartment they returned to the alley and descended into the sewers once more. The two brothers remained silent as they walked. The only words spoken were when Don had offered to carry her bag for her, but nothing after that. And that uneasy silence was starting to get to Alex. "So how tight are you guys wound right now?" she asked after a while. They both gave her confused looks that she could barley make out through the darkness and she sighed loudly. "I'm drowning in the tension here guys! Come on. Loosen up a little. You're starting to make me nervous."
Leonardo grinned sheepishly but the stress remained in the ridged set of his shoulders. "Sorry. I just can't shake the feeling that we were being watched up there."
"I know what you mean," Don agreed quietly. His hands clasped and unclasped at his sides. It was almost as if he was holding himself back from grabbing the bo secured to his back. Apprehension stole over Alex as she realized that Leo was doing much the same thing. Latching on to both of their arms she pulled them close. "You…you don't think we're being followed do you?"
There was a moment of silence in which neither of them answered, only making the tension worse then it already was. Finally Leo spoke. "No. I don't think so," he said at length, "but it's better to be prepared, you know?"
Although his excuse provided a small amount of comfort, Alex still shot him a skeptical look. She wasn't completely assured. They fell into silence again. This time it didn't end until they reached the safety of the turtle's lair.
The first one to greet them when they came down the short flight of stairs was Michelangelo. "Hey!" He vaulted over the back of the couch and started towards them. "Did ya bring me something nice?"
Alex smiled at him, glad to have her mind on something either then being followed. "Actually, I did."
Mike's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yup!" Alex looked back at Don, pulling the fedora off her head and smoothing her hair back. "Donnie, can I have my bag please? Oh, and will you guys go stand with Mikey?"
The purple masked turtle handed her the duffle bag as he passed and she set it on the floor at her feet. Giving the guys a quick, secretive grin, she knelt down and started unzipping her bag. As she did this she missed Raphael's silent entrance. She also missed the look that he shared with Leo before nodding and disappearing again. "Alright guys, are you ready for this?" she asked, looking up at the three turtles leaning against the couch. "Or should we wait for Raph to get here?"
"Hell no!" Mike immediately protested. "Bring on the presents!"
"As much as I hate to do this, I agree with Michelangelo," Leo said. "Raph usually stays out pretty late anyway. I'm sure he wont mind."
Alex started pulling the PS2 box slowly from her bag. "Oookay. If you say so." Three sets of eyes went wide as she held the PS2 up in front of her, a satisfied smile curving her lips. "Happy early birthdays!"
"No way!" Mike breathed.
"I was going to give it to my ex but he tried to kill me. You know how it goes." She shrugged, trying not to act as if the thought of Danny bothered her. "But anyway, it's yours now."
Mike crossed the room to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Alex, you are the coolest." The hug of course didn't last long. She hadn't expected it to. One minute he was there and the next he was with his brothers in front of the television, trying to hook up the PS2. She watched them with a certain amount of amusement. It was always fun to see grown men, or mutants in this case, reduced to children by a new toy. She just wished Raph could have been there for hit. He probably would have loved the game she had bought to go with it.
With a sigh she stood, stretching her arms over her head. As she dropped them back to her sides a hand closed around her wrist and pulled her arm behind her. She was on the verge of telling Raph to knock it off when she realized two things. The first was that the hand holding her wrist did not have three fingers, it had five. The second realization was-whoever had her was not Raph and any thoughts of it possibly being Casey vanished when the unknown person yanked her arm up, stopping just short of snapping it. The agonized scream that tore from her throat was cut off by the other hand but not before her friends had heard it.
Leo, Don and Mike whipped around, drawing their weapons with amazing speed. As they did this, the hand holding Alex's wrist fell away and returned with a blade, pressing it to her throat. Wild fear slammed into her with the force of a train. "One move and she dies," a young voice warned.
"Sorry kid. I don't buy that," Mike said grinning menacingly and taking a step forward. "Bringing your lame ass leader back isn't going to work without her."
The young man laughed callously, pressing the blade of his katana harder against Alex's throat and drawing forth the tiniest trickle of blood. "I was only sent to find her. I could care less whether she lives or dies."
That was enough to force Mike to retreat. Alex stared at her friend with wide, pleading eyes even though she knew they wouldn't do anything. They had no desire to see her dead.
"What do you want?" Don demanded through clenched teeth.
"I bring you a message."
"Holy shit…a message. I didn't see that one coming," Mike remarked dryly.
The man tilted the blade and Alex whimpered as it bit further into her skin. "I'd keep quite if I were you freak. Now that I know your whereabouts there will be no stopping us. Dan intends on having this woman back and he will get what he wants. She is no longer safe here." He started backing up towards the entrance, dragging Alex with him. He may have been daring but he was not foolish enough to stick around and face the mutants on his own. "When I return I will not be alone and we will…take the girl."
"Do me a favor buddy," Leo spoke up, a cruel grin forming on his lips. "Try and remember that there's four of us, not three."
The young foot ninja halted in his cowardly escape. "Wha-," his voice ended in a guttural moan accompanied by a dull thud as if something had struck him. When the mans grip loosened on Alex and the blade fell harmlessly away from her neck, she yanked free with a desperate cry, stumbling forward into Michelangelo's waiting arms.
"Hey, it's okay babe," he whispered, brushing a hand over her hair as she trembled against him. "Bad guys gone. You're okay."
Alex nodded wordlessly against his shoulder. She slowed her breathing, forcing her shot nerves to calm themselves. Behind her she could hear Leonardo speaking in hushed tones. The voice that responded to his was no doubt Raphael's and although it was just as low as his brother's Alex could make out what he was saying and could tell he was far from happy.
"What was I supposed to do Leo?" he was asking. "Remember what happened last time one of those guys found us? I don't know about you but I sure as hell don't want to go through that again."
"You have a point," Leo reluctantly admitted. "But Raph-."
"He could have killed her Leo."
A shiver of foreboding skirted its way up Alex's spine as she listed to the exchange. Something wasn't right. She lifted her head and saw that Mike was looking at something behind her, the expression on his face one of mingled fear and sickness.
Confused, she turned in his loose embrace to see what exactly was going on. Leonardo and Raphael were standing across from each other, each of them looking slightly lost. Her gaze fell to what lay between them and her heart lurched painfully as the air left her body in a shuddering gasp. Sprawled on the floor, his left arm twisted at an odd angle, was the Foot ninja. Imbedded in his back clear to the hilt, each of the three deadly prongs buried in the man's flesh, was Raphael's sai.
Hearing her, Raph lifted his head and their eyes met across the room. Whatever fear or regret lingered in his onyx eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by cold detachment. "Did you want the guy to kill you?" he asked evenly.
Alex shook her head. "N-no."
He looked like he wanted to say more but he didn't. Instead he bent over and yanked his sai from the fallen man's back. The now blood stained weapon slid free with a sharp hiss. "Go get Master Splinter," he stated in a dull voice, his eyes fixed on the thick crimson liquid that had begun to pool beneath the Foot ninja's lifeless body.
Don left the room. Behind Alex, Mike lifted a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "You might not want to be here for this," he said softly, attempting to pull her away from the sight of the corpse. "Come on Alex."
"Okay," she whispered. She turned her gaze to Raph, giving him one last searching look before turning her back on the scene and retreating to the safety of her bedroom.