Disclaimer: Ok, I'm just gonna shut up now. It will be the best for both of us.

Chapter Fifteen

Owen frowned lightly at the turn of events as he watched the turtles curiously. They consoled on the other side of the clearing.

'What are they doing?' He debated over reading their thought, but chose not to. They wanted their privacy, otherwise they would not have moved away from the group to talk, so it would be wrong of him to impose.

But still.

He watched as the turtles argued over something before Don pulled out some sort of device and activated it.

However, that was all he caught.

"It's a turtle thing."

It was that annoying girl again.

He suppressed a roll of the eyes as the girl stood before him, blocking his view. He huffed, but did not argue.

Whatever it was, it didn't matter.

"I have to go, anyway." He stated coldly. Stepping away from the girl, he silently enjoyed the look of disparity that passed over her pretty face. Reaching over, he retrieved his things once again, but stopped at the sight of Donatello and Raphael finally breaking from the little "huddle" to join the rest of them. They made their way over, their eyes watching him expectantly.

He knew they were talking about him, and now this only confirmed his suspicions.

Don watched his teacher, immediately recognizing the tediousness in his features. With that look came the nervousness that fluttered in his own stomach all over again. After some persuasion, Leo had agreed to have Owen live with them, even though he was still standoff-ish about the entire situation. Nevertheless, they planned it all out; They would giving him the night to get himself organized and then tomorrow night, Mike, who had volunteered to do the deed, would come with Donatello and rendezvous with the vampire here before taking him back to the lair.

Now all they needed, then, was vampire's word, and everything would be in motion.

However, Donny soon found that it was easier said than done.

"No." Owen stated simply. Donny blinked.

"What?"

"No." He stated again, this time his arms crossing in mild annoyance. Owen stood his ground. "No, I will not accept your pity or your housing. I have taken care of myself for centuries, and I can do it now."

Well that was unexpected.

Donny blinked one more time before rubbing his temple. Why wouldn't he just live with them?

Why did he have to be so stubborn?

'Because he's embarrassed, that's why?'

Don nodded to himself slightly before actually realizing what his mind was telling him. It was then that he straitened.

'What?'

'He's embarrassed over all of this attention. He's lived alone for hundreds of years, you know that. And something like that doesn't happen by accident. He's self reliable, probably because he has never had anyone to rely on. So, he won't accept your pity, because he doesn't know how.'

'Pity? Is that the problem?' Well then, if that was the case…

"We have a dojo…We can continue out lessons there, but only if you are up for it." He disguised the plea with the talk of their dojo. It was still a question of if Owen would accept their offer to take him in, but Donatello cleverly used the excuse of his lessons to draw Owen into the agreement.

But would Owen accept that?

Owen blinked, catching Donatello's ploy immediately.

But would he accept?

"I'll think about it…" He offered before turning away. He just missed Donatello's grin, Raph's sigh, and Centrice's smile as he did. Obliviously, he continued. "Nevertheless, we will meet here tomorrow, and then we will take it from there." Don grinned wider at the coincidence. That had been their plan as well.

"That would be fine." He stated, unable to hide the grin from his voice.

Owen ignored it, nodding once before disappearing into the night; however, not before thrusting three more packs into Don's arms. Slowly, Owen began to walk away. Raph watched the retreating figure. He couldn't help but admire the old vampire. Not only for what he knew, but also for how he seemed to handle himself. A great contrast to how young he looked, that was for sure. It was only through his behavior did you see his true age; otherwise he just looked like another snot nosed teenager with a weird hair dye and even weirder eyes contacts. But in reality, that "snot-nosed kid' knew more about life and death then any mortal elderly person ever would.

He could only imagine what that kind of knowledge would do to one's mind. But he could tell that Owen handled it well, and for that Raph admired him.

Way more than he would ever let on, that was for sure.

-

Owen stepped into the seemingly abandoned building only to be bombarded with white tile and a busy information desk.

AVTech Headquarters.

Katrina looked up immediately, smiling brightly at his deficient glance.

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in."

"Hello Katrina." He ran a hand through his hair absently, leaning on the desk top. "Are there any bounties I should know about?" He would have never come in, but with him being down to two and a half cigarettes and with the need for some clothing came the need for money. Katrina eyed him before turning back to her computer. She typed just as quickly as she talked, which was pretty fast.

"Well, there are a few guys you can track for us. I didn't even bother sending them to your IP Account, since I assumed you quit. I haven't seen you for at least a week."

"You assumed wrong." However, Owen ignored her last comment taking out his card as he did. It had always been in his pocket since he transferred it into this jacket from his sport jacket way before…"the incident," and that was where it stayed. He now threw it up, catching it easily.

"Well, did you send them now?" Just like old times, the IP flipped between his fingers as he waited impatiently for her fingers to finish there task. After a few moments, she smiled, pressing enter.

"There, it's sent. But seriously, Owen, where have you be-" She turned back only to find no one there. Owen's black coat billowed as he made his way over to the IP machines. She sighed, rolling her eyes. Typical; never giving her the time of day. However, she still felt drawn to him, despite his attitude.

Actually she found it kind of cute…in an annoying and rude kind of way.

Meanwhile, Owen made his way over to the machines, losing interest entirely in what Katrina had to say. It didn't matter anyways, he really didn't care.

All he cared about now was the money that would soon be his.

Impatiently, he made his way over to the machines, finding one that was uncharacteristically empty. Actually, it was then that he realized that every machine was uncharacteristically empty.

'Where is everybody?'

But he didn't bother to give it a second thought for the female mechanical voice interrupted him.

Welcome, Owen.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He swiped the card, touching the screen to put him at the "wanted" page. He scanned through the names, easily memorizing each one, as well as their stats and the leads. In his mind, he set the time for when they all would be in, feeling the giddy nervousness in his gut he always felt with a bounty head. This work excited him, there was no denying it. This game of search and capture was his life. For a moment he couldn't remember why he had even given it up.

'Donny and his brothers…'

He remembered now, but that didn't mean that he wasn't disappointed. This was his line of work, not teaching. But you had to do what you had to do.

And right now, he had to get some money.

With a smirk, he left the headquarters, and hit the streets.

Mentally, he set his clock for when the four vampire scum bags would be off of the streets. He would be done by midnight, giving himself three hours.

He had better get started.

With a smirk on his lips and a new vigor in his heart, he was gone, off to do his favor to society and to the corporation. No more harm would come from those creeps again, no more dead victims from their madness.

He would make sure of it.

-

"He said no."

Leo blinked. "What?"

Don couldn't help the wiry grin as it spread across his face. "I said the same thing." However, Don's humor was all but lost to Leo as he only rubbed his temple. "Why would he refuse, he has no home?" Mike and Raph shrugged, Centrice was silent. It was only Don who spoke up, answering the rhetorical question.

"I think…he was embarrassed…" He stated hazily, his own eyes distant. All eyes were on him, but he didn't notice. All he remembered was the way Owen had reacted to the entire situation, and his thoughts at the time. Raph snorted.

Yeah right.

"Embarrassed? Embarrassed over what?!" He couldn't see Owen being embarrassed, it just didn't match up. However, Donny's next words made the image and the feeling match up pretty well.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe because he just lost his home and all of a sudden, giant, mutant turtles are offering him charity for his misfortunes. I think that would seem kind of demeaning, don't you think?" At Donny's question, Raph fell silent. Well, that did make a little sense, but Donny didn't have to rub it in his face. Although, it was unconscious, Don picked up on the thought immediately. "I'm sorry Raph, it's just…arg!" Donny stood, suddenly angry. Owen could just be so stubborn. He could almost give Raph's stubbornness a run for his money.

Almost.

Immediately Centrice was at his side, a comforting hand on his shoulder. She understood Don's frustration, but knew that it was ill-placed as well.

"Just give him time, he will come around."

Don closed his eyes, reaching up a hand to squeeze hers.

"I know."

-

A/N: Ok, the part when Owen and Katrina are "talking," they switch between "mind speak" and speaking aloud through out their conversation. It's like how a person that knows how to speak two languages switch between the two all of the time, except here it's between speaking with the mind and speaking aloud.

Don't worry about it, it's a vampire thing…

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Side note: I found that ff.net was not accepting my 's as boundaries anymore, so I changed it to -, hoping that it would help. I don't know what the deal was, or why they weren't accepting my other boundaries but I will make due…

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OK, cooler. Another chapter out in no time. Enjoyed it? Then tell me! R and R!