Chapter Two: House Call

Callista walked into the living room with a few bowls filled to the brim with popcorn and a few dozen bottles of every soda. Eros and Amity were over for the weekend and they were going to pig out. Movies as sappy as they came- even though Callista would have personally enjoyed a few action movies- lined the place around the TV, and three sleeping bags covered the floor. Eros wanted to do a makeovers, but with Delaney gone, she had no one to back her up. Eros was usually the only one who wanted to do makeovers during the sleepovers, but she would usually wear Delaney down to agreeing with her. Now, she wasn't even sure if she should say something. She wanted to, but it wasn't the same.

They all missed Delaney.

After her escape from the hospital the police have named her the most endangered run away in New York. Someone killed both of her parents and apparently was now after her. The people responsible were also being accused of breaking into the hospital that night and into Delaney's old room. Thank goodness she did escape when she did. No one knew the guy was there until the next morning when they found a puncture mark going through the bed. They were going to kill her as she slept. Luckily for her they didn't know that she had escaped only an hour or two before.

Callista sat down on her sleeping bag and put down the popcorn in the center of the three girls. She took and handful of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth before looking up at the TV screen. She rolled her eyes once seeing the picture and swallowed the popcorn.

"Not another kissing scene," she grumbled and leaned back on her elbows, "Where's the action? The explosions? Car chases? I mean, how many of those kissing scenes does this movie have?"

"Just five, last time I counted," Eros said in a wispy voice as she tried to feel her way to the popcorn bowls, not wanting to advert her eyes from the TV set.

"Am I the only one, or do you guys feel weird in doing this?" Amity looked away from the TV, toward Callista, "I mean it isn't the same. I know we did this to give comfort to one another, but… I can't help but to feel even more depressed. She isn't here, and that's a mistake in itself."

"It wasn't a mistake," Callista said harshly and made Eros turn away from the heart-melting scene on the television, "Those bastards killed her parents without remorse. Now they're after her, and we have no idea where she is. I hope she's thousands of miles away from this city. Maybe she could find her brother or something, you know?"

"And put him and his family in danger? I don't think so," Amity said shaking her head, "Her brother may have severed himself from his parents, but she would never put him or her nephew and niece in danger."

"True," Eros nodded and looked at the other two girls, "If all else, I hope whatever training her father did teach her will keep her alive until the police find the people who did this."

"Yeah," Callista put another handful of popcorn into her mouth and heard a knock at her front door. She swallowed and looked at the others, "Well, I'm glad I'm in sleep over clothes, otherwise I would let them freeze their ass off."

"You know that it's actually not very cold out there, right?" Eros tried to sound smart.

"Yeah, yeah," Callista tried to miss up Eros's hair as she walked by her on her way to the front door.

"Hey!"

Callista walked to the front door trying to pull down her black tank top over her red and gray camouflage sweat pants. Whoever it was, she didn't want to be showing any skin to them. In New York, there were too many little boys who thought that they're thugs. She approached the door and listened to the rhythm of the knocking on the door. Three short, light taps and two deep hits. Only three other people know that knock besides her, and two of them where inside the apartment all ready. Callista unlatched everything and opened the door open faster than anything ever before.

"Delaney!" she saw the pitiful picture of her friend, out of breath and dirty as hell standing in front of her.

"About time," Delaney gave a smart-ass smile and was grabbed by Callista and pulled her in the apartment, locking the door behind her, "You know how long I was standing out there doing the stupid secret knock?"

"Sorry, movie night," Callista shrugged her shoulders and hugged her friend with all her might, "Where have you been?"

"A warehouse, somewhere I could be without anyone know- wait, you guys are having a movie night without me?" she tried to do her pout, but couldn't succeed all that well.

"We needed comfort," Callista shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "Does anyone know that-"

"No. No one even knew where I was to begin with. Until tonight. Someone found out and sent some goons after me. Luckily someone came to rescue me, but I got away without anyone following me. They lost me going over a stone wall."

"Why come here? Wouldn't they look here?"

"Haven't the police already been here?"

Callista nodded, "You think they are following what the police know?"

"Probably. Look, I only need to stay here for the night. Tomorrow I'm taking off again. I'm not going to put you guys in any more danger than what you are. Which brings me to my next point. I want all three of you to leave town."

"What? You can't be serious," Callista looked at her in the face and was met with a stern and determined girl, "You are serious."

"Go back to California with your family, they just got settled into that new house down there. Have Amity and Eros do the same. Get away from here. If they find the connection between us, they will come after you guys and I don't want to lose my 'sisters'. Please."

"And what are you going to do? Run off to the sewers?" Callista tried to make it sound like one of her sarcastic jokes.

"If I have to," Delaney smiled and looked down, "I just need a place to stay tonight."

"If you leave tomorrow, I'm going with you."

"No you're not."

"You're right, she isn't. We all are," Delaney turned to see both Amity and Eros standing in the hallway connecting to the entryway. Amity leaned against the wall with a light blue pair of sweat pants and a white tank top. Eros barely stood on her own two feet and was dressed in her favorite purple shirt and short spandex shorts.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Eros ran up to Delaney and almost knocked her over with the impact of her hug, "You know how worried we've been?"

"I can imagine," Delaney mumbled from under Eros's hug trying to regain her air.

Suddenly Eros backed up from Delaney almost dropping her to the floor and waving a hand in front of her face, "And you have any idea on how bad you stink?"

"Well Eros I have been wearing the same outfit for about two weeks now. My other one that I was originally wearing is probably even worse," Delaney smiled and looked toward Callista, "Mind if I use your bathroom?"

"No problem."

"Weren't you wearing this outfit the day you left?" Eros asked.

"Yeah," she looked at Eros's skeptical face, "So I like this outfit. Sue me, I have two pair."

"I have some extra clothes, and we're about the same size," Eros went over to her bag and got out some loose blue jeans and a white and orange t-shirt. She gave them over and Delaney went into her bag to pull out some underwear. Her friends looked at her weird.

"You don't have any other clothes, but you manage to grab your lingerie?" Amity questioned.

"I'm not that unsanitary. And there is no way I'm going commando," she grabbed the clothes from Eros and turned back to Callista, "And the whole discussion about coming with me is dropped. It's over, decision made. Got it?"

"All right," Callista looked away as Delaney made her way to the bathroom. Amity waited until the bathroom door closed and the shower started to run until she started to talk to Callista.

"We're just going to let her walk out of here tomorrow like she isn't in the danger that she is waist deep in?"

"Nope," Callista smiled and looked at her, "She just didn't say which way it was decided. I took it as we are all going with her. Let's get packed."

Amity smiled and looked at Eros, "No problem here. I have everything I need right in my gym bag."

Amity looked at Callista, "Then I guess all we have to do is get you together, because I have my essentials as well. We just have to pack light."

"Got ya, essentials only."

Delaney laid out on one of the sleeping bags in the living room watching the last bit of the action movie that Callista finally got to watch. She felt so much better after the shower, but she knew that her three friends were keeping something from her. She was glad to be back with all three of them, but they were holding something back. Whether they knew something that she didn't or if they were just playing with her mind, she didn't know, but it didn't matter too greatly to her. Let them play with her head all they want, it may be the last time they'll be able to.

It looked like all of her other friends had fallen asleep during the movie, even Callista- and she was the one that wanted to get an action movie in before they all had to retire. Delaney smiled at all her friends and sketched a little in the small light coming from the television. It had been a long time since she had enough time to just sit and sketch. She didn't even know she had her sketchpad with her until a week ago. She finally closed the pad over a picture she was trying to draw of a sleeping Callista who was a few feet away.

She tried to get up to turn off the video to find that Eros had fallen asleep using her legs as her pillow. Delaney rolled her eyes and gently slipped her legs from beneath Eros's head. She stumbled to the tape player and turned it off along with the TV. The room's lights were turned off before they even started the movie, probably contributing to the girls falling asleep.

Once turning off the television the moon flooding through the windows was the only light in the place and Delaney took her time in the light. She hasn't been out in the open for a quite a few weeks, and she was happy to finally stand in some kind of natural light. She stretched out her arms and closed her eyes; she was safe for the time being. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw a shadow disrupt the moon's light coming into the living room. It passed the window quicker than Delaney could turn around and see what made it. Her little moment of safety was immediately shattered and she was scared as hell. She sneaked over to her bag and pulled out her canister of mace. Hopefully she hadn't used the last of it on that guy last week that tried to mug her. She looked at her friends and slowly snuck into the kitchen trying to make sure that the back door was closed and locked. She watched the windows, knowing perfectly well that they don't stop the people that are after her at all. She saw that demonstrated more than once.

She went to the door and made sure that the lock was in place, checking quite a few times before letting her breath go and turning back to the living room with her friends.

"You know, there are other ways people could get in other than doors."

Delaney froze in her spot. That wasn't the voice of one of her friends, and it was coming from her side. From the shadows… but who ever it was wasn't there to kill her. If they were, she would have already been dead.

"Who are you?" Delaney said slowly turning her head toward where the voice came from. Out from the shadows came the same figure that was trying to help her in the warehouse. It was one of the turtles. The one who found her among the boxes and crates.

'I totally forgot to rub that in Callista's face,' Delaney reminded herself also thinking that it was one of the most inappropriate thoughts at the moment.

"You," the syllable escaped from her throat involuntarily. Her tone was that of amazement. Did he actually follow her all the way from the warehouse?

"The name's Michelangelo," the giant turtle smiled at her and put out his hand for a handshake. Delaney looked at his hand and then at his face, holding the canister of mace tightly in her grip. The turtle looked at her stance and the canister and then back at her, "So are you going to use that or are you going to put it away and play nicely?"

Delaney raised an eyebrow and put the canister on the counter and looked over the turtle, "It was probably empty anyway."

"And you're still not making a move to shake my hand, dudette."

"Dudette?" she chuckled a little at the word choice, "No one has used that word since I was in like the second grade."

"Well, let's just say that I like to hold on to old memories," the turtle put his hand down and looked her over as well, 'She does clean up well.'

Delaney tugged on the single braid in her hair. She was wearing an extra long shirt that Callista let her borrow for the night. She was very thankful that it reached past her knees. Some of her hair fell over her eyes as it escaped the braid and hid her hazel eyes as she moved her head.

She looked closely at the turtle standing in the middle of her friend's kitchen. He was just over an inch taller than her which many people could do since she wasn't the tallest person in the world at a height reaching five foot six. He had an orange bandana wrapped around his head. It would have covered his eyes if it weren't for the two holes cut out for him to see. He seemed very muscular and she noticed that he had a pair of nunchakus in his belt, along with her hat.

He followed her eyes and pulled out her hat and handed it back to her, "This is yours. You kind of dropped it back at the warehouse."

"Thank you," she said softly and took the hat from his three fingered hand.

"You know, you are the first girl, or human for that matter, that didn't scream or yell at the sight of me. I mean even April did that."

"Call me crazy, but I've believed in much more gruesome things. I think I'll save my screaming until I really need something to scream about."

"Well thanks for the compliment."

"I didn't mean that you were gruesome. That came out wrong," she gave a small smile and looked at him, "What are you doing here? Other than returning my hat, that is."

"You seemed like you were running from something. From your conversation with your friends, it sounds like I'm right. You were scared in the warehouse and I wanted to know why."

"So you're the valiant hero that is suppose to make everything all better?"

"Not exactly, but I do like to help where I can," he sat down at the small table Callista had in her kitchen area and tried to make himself a little more comfortable, "So tell good 'ol Mikey what your problem is."

Delaney went to the table and sat down across from Michelangelo, "I doubt that the 'good 'ol Mikey' can fix this problem."

"Who's after you?"

"I don't know," she answered a little taken back from his forwardness, "They killed my parents and now they are after me. Them finding me in the warehouse only confirmed that."

"So you're the girl they're talking about on the news. April reports on you almost every other night."

"You mean April O'Neal?"

"She's a friend of mine. She tells me that your story has been one of the longest running she's ever had. You're called the 'most endangered runaway'."

"The name's Delaney," she said and looked at the table, "So… Michelangelo... how is it that you're going to help me?"

"It seems like I have to be your body guard."

"Just like that? I have no say?"

"It's better than running, don't you think?"

She squinted her eyes at the turtle in the dim moonlight that shrouded the kitchen area. Then all at once the lights flick on and Delaney's three friends stood at the doorway connecting the kitchen to the hallway, each holding something to use as a weapon. It looked like poor Eros had to use the spatula. Delaney stood up and looked at her three friends each holding a face of surprise. Delaney looked down on the ground to find her new 'body guard' on his shell, trying to roll to his side to get up.

"My hero," Delaney mumbled.

"Help, I'm a turtle and I can't get up," Michelangelo said and reached out for Delaney's help. She shook her head in feigned disappointment and helped him up.

"And you say you want to protect me?"

Michelangelo brushed off whatever was on his shoulder blades and glared at Delaney. She looked at her friends and before she could say anything both Eros and Amity began screaming at the top of their lungs. Callista and Delaney covered their ears, as Michelangelo could find nothing else to do but to release a short scream from surprise as well. After the two girls screamed all they could Michelangelo turned to Delaney who was trying to regain her hearing again.

"That's the usual response that I was expecting," he tried to explain.

"Well, you got it," Delaney shook her head and looked at her friends again, trying to calm them down.

"My God, you've actually found a way to make your imagination materialize," Callista smirked, trying to hide her apprehensiveness about having a giant turtle in the middle of her kitchen, "I have to admit, you have good detail."

"I am not from her imagination," Michelangelo said a little disgruntled being called fictional.

"And I'm thinking, neither are they," Eros pointed at the skylight in the kitchen. Just on the outside of the glass stood a few dozen ninjas, prepared to jump in.

"All right, great defender," Delaney touched Michelangelo's arm, which was heading for his nunchakus, "Are you ready to defend?"

"I would be a lot better if my brothers were here."

"Work with what you got, and I'll do the same."