A/N: I want to thank the reviewers who actually have reviewed: sayian-girl-cheetah, RainySunshine and JeFfYzGaL2. I really do appreciate the feed back. Now to one-on-one to reviewers.

Sayian-girl-cheetah: Glad you like it so far and I hope you keep reading! -

JeFfYzGaL2: I'm happy that you found another one of my fictions. I hope you enjoy this one and that I have improved.

RainySunshine: First off, grabs Mikey back and hugs him tightly, Mikey is mine...lol. I'm glad that I am not alone out there that is old enough to start their own life and yet is falling back in love with TMNT. I'll try my best on the whole time frame, but since I have all ready written the whole fiction, it might be a little fast, but I tried my best with my plot line. Thanks for your input and compliments.

Now that that is done, on with the next chapter!

Chapter Three: Just When You Think You Could Get a Good Night's Sleep

"Delaney, come on," Callista pulled on her arm and tried to get her back away from the skylight.

"What about, the giant turtle?" she asked a little concerned about the now living myth.

"I'll be fine, babe," he pulled out his nunchakus and began spinning them in his hands and looked up at his opposition, "Go on. Get to the safest room ya guys got."

Delaney went against her better judgment and turned from the kitchen and ran with her friends to the living room. She grabbed her bag from the floor and her three friends did the same, grabbing extra clothes as they went. Callista led them to her back bedroom, where there were hardly any windows, and they could be safer then sitting out in the open. As soon as Callista closed the door Delaney could hear the skylight in the kitchen break in and Michelangelo start to yell as if he was going to have fun instead of fighting a couple dozen of those guys.

Callista locked the door and propped a chair up against it. Delaney got out the outfit that Eros gave her and began to change. Something in her gut told her that she would have to get out fast, and she didn't want to be caught in an oversized nightshirt. Callista took her hint and changed out of her camouflage sweat pants and into a pair of dark blue jeans. Eros and Amity looked at one another and began to change into day clothes as well. As soon as Delaney shoved on her boots and did a quick tie job she heard as if someone was thrown over the living room table and hit the far wall.

"Sorry for the mess, Callista," she apologized looking at her newly dressed friend.

"No problem, I was thinking about leaving the place anyway," Callista smiled and nodded to the backpack she had now slung over her shoulder. Delaney looked at each one of her friends noticing that each one have a single bag slung over their shoulders or secure on their backs and started to shake her head.

"I thought I told you it would-"

"Be too dangerous. We know," Amity put her hand on her shoulder and put her face in front of hers, "But it doesn't seem like that's going to matter much anymore, now is it? They're going to follow us no matter what now."

Delaney closed her eyes and took a huge breath. They were right, no matter what she did now they would be after her friends too. She slowly nodded her head with the realization and then quickly turned to the door as she heard more crashing and more voices coming into the apartment. Great, all they needed were more ninjas, she felt as if Michelangelo could only handle so much. Even if he was a mutant turtle with apparent ninja skills.

"We got to help him," Delaney headed for the door and took the chair away from the door. Before she opened the door it was knocked down and all the girls stepped back further into the room.

"Not such a good idea, kid," another turtle walked into the room and crossed his arms in front of him.

Delaney put her arms out in front of Eros as she began to scream again, thankfully shortly lived this time. Amity stood behind Delaney, but decided to look over the new turtle instead of yelling at it. Callista stood at the side of them pushed toward her bed more than the others.

"Where's Michelangelo?" Delaney asked.

"Fighting to save your ass, apparently," the other turtle said gruffly in a hard Brooklyn accent. He looked a lot like Michelangelo except that he looked just a little older and had a red bandana on instead of an orange one.

"What's going on out there?" Amity asked nodding toward the hallway.

"We got to get you girls out of here," the older turtle turned back around and began leading them down the hallway. The girls looked at one another trying to decide wether or not they should follow the strange creature. After a few seconds they decided that following the turtle would be better than facing the dozen or so ninjas that would be sure to kill them. As they made their way down the hallway the girls made sure there was enough space between them and the turtle. looked over the fight and cursed himself for letting Leo volunteer him to look for the girls. He was missing all the fun. He turned back to the girls, "Is there any other way outta here?"

"Front door sound good?" Callista shot out from the middle of the group.

"Not really," the turtle looked at the options and began to step out again with the girls. He tried to lead them around the fight far enough that the ninjas were too immersed in the fight with his three brothers that they wouldn't pay much heed to the four girls and other turtle climbing next to the wall.

The girls watched the fight as well as looking out for any more ninjas that may come after them. There seemed to be four turtles all together, each with a different colored bandana around their heads. The girls found Michelangelo on the far side of the room, fighting with a few of the ninjas in the kitchen. He knocked one square in the chest with one of his nunchakus sending him across the room and through the window. There was one turtle with a long staff-like weapon in the middle of the living room, sizing up his opponents before he attacked. He kicked off the ground and did a complete three-sixty from the center of a circle of ninjas, knocking most of them out. The last turtle was near the front door holding two objects that looked like swords. He began exchanging blows with other ninjas, making sure that they couldn't get back up to attack again.

Delaney had the bright idea to follow on the back so that she could make sure the others were safe in front of her. It was her fault that they were in this mess to begin with. She should have never come back to Callista's. The big mistake that she really made was being too distracted in the fight taking place and not watching her own back. Delaney felt herself being pulled back by the waist by two strong arms.

"Let go of me, you freak!" she boxed off her arms and twisted her upper half to connect her elbow with the guy's jaw, making him drop her. Big thanks to her father for teaching her some basic self defense. She scrambled to get to her feet, but felt the guy tackle her back down to the ground. She struggled under his weight as he took a needle from his small sash-like belt and stuck it in the side of her arm. She watched the liquid flow from the needle and into her blood stream.

"Delaney!" she heard Eros yell before she felt her world start to grow black.

Her mind was rushing on so many thoughts and feelings she didn't know what was going on and felt so confused. She remembered her last thought before she totally knocked out, 'Oh great. So I run all this time, just to die of lethal injection?'

Michelangelo knocked out the last guy he was fighting and jumped over to the guy holding Delaney down and knocked him to the floor with his nunchakus, "Now that's not very nice, dude."

The few ninjas that were left standing started to disappear out the skylight and the back door that they knocked in, leaving behind most of their unconscious and injured. Not to mention the now unconscious Delaney. Michelangelo leaned over her and held her head with one of his hands. Eros began to step foward with apprehension of the turtle, but was stopped by Amity's arm on hers. He lifted her mouth to the side of his head to make sure she was still breathing and nodded in satisfaction as he heard her rhythmic breaths rush in and out of her mouth. He nodded to his brothers and they put their weapons away.

Delaney's friends all rushed over and had to ask all at once if she was going to be all right. Michelangelo nodded and looked up at the turtle with the blue bandana that had just walked over.

"So now what, Leo?"

"You tell me, Mikey. You started this whole thing," the one with the red bandana asked leaning on the nearly demolished wall.

"Shouldn't we at least let Splinter take a look at her?" Michelangelo looked at his brother with pleading eyes totally ignoring the other's statement. The one called Leo looked at the one with the purple bandana who had almost the same expression on his face as Michelangelo.

"All right, but you know how apprehensive he is going to be with us bringing a girl into the lair," Leo turned and walked by the one with the red, "Remember what happened last time, Raphael?"

"Hey, I had a good reason. She was mugged," Raphael put up his hands in defense, "And now she one of our best allies."

"Actually, it will be four girls," Amity spoke up from the floor where Michelangelo was trying to pick up Delaney without trying to hurt her.

Raphael looked over the situation and saw where it was going, "No, no way! We are not taking four broads down to the sewers with us. You are staying here."

"Sewers?" Eros scrunched up her nose and gave a disgusted face.

"Look, Prince Charming," Callista walked over to the one referred to as Raphael and poked him in the chest, "Delaney is like a sister to us, and we are not letting four giant turtles carry her off into the sewers without us knowing what happened to her. And need I remind you that the fight that just took place totally demolished my apartment? Where the hell do you expect me to go, huh?"

"Ever heard of a hotel?" he turned away from her and started to walk to the door.

"Maybe that's good for you, but we're not leaving Delaney's side."

"Good, then we could leave her here and not have to worry about it. Take her to a hospital."

"They can find her there. They did the day after they killed her father."

"Who?" the one with the purple bandana interjected before his hotheaded brother got back into the conversation.

"We don't know. Delaney doesn't even know," Eros stood next to Michelangelo who held Delaney, "One day they killed her father in the police department and then her mother in her apartment. Then they came after her."

"We need Splinter to take a look into this. These guys are ninjas. He may know something about them," Leo took a shuriken from the doorframe and put it in his belt, "What do you think, Donatello?"

"It would only prove that the ninjas will be after them now too. They are close to the girl they're after-"

"Her name's Delaney," Callista reminded. Amity nudged her in her side with an elbow, "What?"

"Alright," Leo said quietly, "but you will have to trust us, never tell anyone where or what we are. Got it?"

All the girls minus Delaney nodded their heads and followed the turtles out of the demolished home via fire escape since everyone is probably watching the front door. The noise was probably enough to wake the whole neighborhood. Once they reached the street below they found a man hole cover and quickly filed down into the sewer, trying to be careful with Delaney. Eros carried both Delaney's and her bag and had a bit of trouble getting down the hole. But Amity had suspicions that she was staling so she wouldn't have to go down the manhole at all. Eros always had a thing about dark and slimy places, so the sewer was not her cup of tea. Not to mention none of them really knew what they were getting into. These turtles were nothing but tabliod legends a few days ago and now they are real things.

As they made their way down the sewers Michelangelo carried Delaney all the way, shifting her position every once in a while to assist his now numb arm. He mostly stayed in the middle of the group as they continued their walk down the tunnels. Callista started out walking behind the whole group, but decided to speed up after being too close with Raphael for too long. She just turned her head away from him and tried to move toward the front of the group either toward Delaney or Amity. He didn't mind too awful much since he didn't particularly want to talk to the girl. She had too much attitude for his liking.

Amity stayed up front with Leonardo, trying to comprehend their origins by observation only. She had yet to ask one question about them, and eventually gave up after a few moments and began to try to have casual conversation with the one who seemed to be the group leader. Even though she was interested in their origins, she still had a small fear of them. They were animals after all... right? Toward the back of the group were Donatello and Eros. After walking for a bit he offered to carry one of the bags and placed her heavier gym bag over his shoulder. She smiled at the gesture and began to ask him about himself.

They reached a portion of the sewer where the air started to become more bearable and the clutter began to disappear. The girls became a little more secure with the company of the turtles and even Callista began to relax once the sewer began to clear up. The turtles began to slow their pace and turned a corner and entered an open area that once looked like a subway station. An old subway car was parked at the side of their home filled with what looked like computer and lab equipment and in one of the corners of the open room there were a few dozen sets of televisions and a large couch facing them. Michelangelo walked over to the couch and laid Delaney down gently.

"Hey Leo, might as well tell Splinter we're home," Mikey called over his shoulder.

"No need, Michelangelo," an old looking four foot rat came out from one of the better looking tunnels covered by two Japanese style doors, leaning on a short stick he used as a cane, "And I see that you've brought company."

The three conscious girls looked at the rat and each decided to react in their own way. Callista looked at him with interest, but then decided to look around the turtles' abode a little more, looking down each tunnel from where she stood and wondered where she could sleep for the night. Amity looked the rat over as well, but with a little more scientific interest than Callista showed. She would have to figure out how the turtles were mutated and how this 'Splinter' was also mutated. Then good old Eros did as every other person who has seen Splinter for the first time has done. She fell back wards in a dead faint. Donatello caught her before she hit the ground and lead her safely to the floor of his home.

"Master Splinter, one of them was injected with something and fell unconscious. We were hoping that you could help her," Leonardo explained and showed him to where Delaney was now laying peacefully on the couch. Splinter nodded and went over to Delaney.

Meanwhile, Donatello tried to fan Eros and bring her back to consciousness. It was bad enough that her friend was out; they didn't need another one out for the count. Amity came over next to Donatello and looked over Eros and opened her eyes to look at them.

"She'll be fine," she stated, "She just got another shock. She wasn't expecting it."

"And we were?" Callista asked with a sarcastic tone.

"No, but you know how Eros can get sometimes… Remember last Halloween?" Amity grinned up at Callista.

Callista smiled and laughed to herself, "Yeah, we got her good that time."

"First time I actually saw someone faint," Amity said nonchalantly and shrugged her shoulders.

"So," Raphael started to look over his sais and then placed them back into his belt, "Are you girls goin' to introduce yourselves or what?"

"Maybe," Callista replied, "I not really in much of a mood to say anything to you, Mr. Manners."

"Mr. Manners? What is that? A cartoon show that you watched this morning?"

"No, it was just an insult of your intelligence. So far, I don't think your brain could retain a small thing as a name, so I have yet to say mine. Besides I just met you, what... an hour ago?"

"Why I otta," Raphael started to take a step toward her until he caught a look from Master Splinter and backed off.

The old rat looked back at Delaney and then at Michelangelo who watched from the top of the couch. He smiled at his sensei, "Can we keep her?"

Splinter rolled his eyes, got up and looked at the other girls, "Your friend will be fine. She was injected by a sedative and should be up in a matter of hours. I doubt they wanted her asleep for too long."

"Thank you," Callista said with a hestitant bow of her head, "We really appreciate it."

"Why are you down here, may I ask?" he started to walk over to the girls, motioning them to sit in some chairs that they overlooked earlier, "I can see the urgency for your friend, but I am curious to why my sons have brought all of you down here."

Amity pulled Eros's head into her lap as she kept fanning her friend's face totally entranced with the four-foot rat and his origins.

"We didn't give them much choice in the matter," Callista took the seat next to her and looked at Splinter, "Delaney is like our sister. She goes, we go. It's a simple as that. We are sorry to intrude on you, but someone is after our friend, and we don't want to lose her again."

"Again?"

"Her parents were murdered about a month ago. The day she was told she ran from the hospital she was at. Just in time too, because that night someone sneaked into her room in an attempt to try and kill her. She came to my apartment for a place to stay a night, and then it was her plan to keep running in the morning. But she isn't going without the rest of us. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't let her go alone again."

"I see," Splinter closed his eyes and pressed his fingers together in thought.

"Master," Leonardo stepped forward and knelt down next to Splinter.

"Yes, Leonardo?"

"The ones who attacked in the apartment, the ones we fought… they are ninjas," Splinter turned to his son and Leo handed him the shuriken that he took from the doorway, "They left this behind."

Splinter looked at the symbol on the weapon and stood up, "I must meditate for a while. Show the young women to where they can rest."

"Yes, Master Splinter," Leonardo nodded and let his master pass to his room at the far end of the lair, gently opening and closing the sliding doors.

"So," Amity looked up from Eros who seemed to finally be coming to, "Should we make our introductions first, or should you guys?"