Disclaimer: Once again the only thing I own is Brianna, all government/military personnel, and the story plot. Everything else belongs to Eastman and Laird.

Ch.4 - Splinter Returns

"Package for a Mr. Jones,"

"That's me, thank you," A man with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing an old, dirty, white tank top and blue jeans, answered. He took a medium-sized crate with air holes on it from the uniformed man and continued on to an alleyway in the back. Once there, he checked to see if anyone was around. There wasn't, so he opened the crate and a five-foot tall rat with an old tattered robe on stepped out.

"Thank you, Casey," The rat said to the man.

"No problem, Splinter," Casey replied. Casey then lifted a manhole cover to the sewer off, which Splinter went down. Casey soon followed after him.

"So Dr. Donnie, what's your diagnosis?" Mikey cheerfully asked his brother, when he saw him appear in the room. The purple bandanna turtle rubbed his head, as if in deep thought, before answering the question.

"There's, something, different, about her," He said like he was searching for the right words to say. This confused the three turtles who looked at each other as if to say 'what the..?'

"Gee, maybe you'd like to repeat that again in english?" Raph asked.

"Well, uh. What I meant was that, she's healing super fast. A normal girl her age probably would've been out 'til at least tomorrow. And they definitely wouldn't be walking around like she was,"

"So, she's a fast healer?" April suggested. She didn't think the girl was any threat to her turtle friends. So what if she had begun healing a lot faster than Donnie had expected? He wasn't a doctor after all. Plus she knew a few people who seemed to recover quicker than most people.

"I guess, but-" Donnie started to say, but was interrupted by Raph.

"It's gotta be something MORE than that," He said. Raph didn't really have any facts to back up his theory, but he had caught the look she had given him when he asked if she was in trouble. He knew she was in some kind of trouble, Raph just didn't know how bad it was. Also he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that there was something more to her than meets the eye.

"Could be, but we don't know for sure," said Leo. The fearless leader, for that what he was often called by his younger brothers (especially Raph), agreed with his brother. However he had to stay in control of the situation and not let his instincts overcome him, like they often did with Raph. Leo also had a feeling that the girl would not tell them anything if she felt the least bit threatened.

"Remember the look she had when I asked her if she was in trouble? She's absolutely hiding something. Something big,"

Leo let out a sigh as he knew his hot-head brother was right, but also knew they'd never learn anything if Raph had things his way so he told him, "You're probably right, but we can't do anything about it now,"

"PROBABLY? I AM RIGHT! And you KNOW it, Leo!" Raph yelled back to Leo as he started to get angry at how his perfect brother couldn't admit that he was right about something! Mikey and Donnie knew that a fight was coming on. Normally they'd just leave and go hide out in the kitchen until Raph stormed out and Leo went into the dojo. Not this time though. Not when they had a patient trying to get some rest, who could very likely be awoken by the two turtles fighting.

"Guys! Stop! Ok? We don't want to risk waking her up. She needs all the rest she can get," Donnie said as he and the orange bandanna brother got in between the other two. April had decided long before to just sit on the couch and watch them solve their quarrel.

"Maybe we outta wake her up! Perhaps then we could find out some answers!" Raph angrily yelled. He couldn't believe that all of his brothers were against him. Couldn't they see that the girl was probably a dangerous threat to them? Hell, she could even be working for the Shredder! Trying to worm her way into their lives and in the end destroys them. Just the thought of it made him sick. Out of anger, he pushed Donnie and Mikey onto Leo, who then fell to the floor, crushed by the weight of his two brothers.

"Ooof, get off me," Leo said as he pushed them off of him and started to get up. He thought about going after Raph, as he was headed towards the doorway with his hat and trench coat in hand when he saw Splinter standing there, with Casey right behind him.

"Rapheal! What is going on here? Why are you shoving your brothers and who is this she? I can see that it is not April," Splinter demanded. It was clear that he had just gotten home and had not heard the whole conversation. However he had heard enough to know that something was going on in his home.

"Raph brought home a young female who had been shot, so Donnie fixed her up. She was up for a little bit but got tired so he helped get back into bed," Leo quickly answered his sensei. What a goody-two shoes. Always gotta be the perfect son for their Master Splinter. Raph hated how Leo always did things like that. It just made him even angrier than he already was.

"Gee Raph, looking for a hot date?" Casey teased. Raph just growled and glared at his friend.

"Thank you Leo. I would still like to know why Rapheal is shoving the three of you and where he found this girl," He said as he gave a short bow to Leo, who returned the bow, and then turned to his hot-headed son for an answer. Raph glared at Leo before turning to his master and replied, "I KNOW that there's something going on with the girl that she won't tell us about! They know I'm RIGHT but Leo refuses to admit it!"

"Even if you are right, a true ninja does not shove others over who is right and who isn't. You haven't answered one of my questions. Where did you find her?"

"In the sewers, I tripped over her," After learning that Raph had tripped over her, the other three turtles and the two humans broke out in laughter. Raph glared at his brothers even more and looked ready to kill them. Splinter saw that look and hit his crane on the floor, causing everyone to stop and look up.

"Enough! Let him be. Rapheal go practice your kata's in the dojo, I will talk with the others now," Raph angrily stormed his way into the dojo, where they could all hear him beating the stuffing out of the practice doll in there.

"Casey and I need to get going now. Tell her she can keep the clothes. It was good seeing you all again," April said as she and Casey got up to leave. She stopped when she reached Splinter she said, "Welcome back Splinter," They waved goodbye to the turtles and climbed up the ladder and were gone.

"What do you know about this girl?" Splinter asked his sons.

"Her name's Brianna, Master," Mikey said. He was getting tired of everyone calling Brianna, 'the girl', she had a name! 'Course only he, Donnie, and April knew that.

"Ah, Brianna. Lovely name," Splinter said as he took a seat on his favorite chair. Looking up at them, he asked, "Anything else?"

"She appears to be in some kind of trouble but we haven't learned how much or how bad. I thought it best to gain her trust if we're to learn what it is," Leo said. Brianna, what a beautiful name. It certainly fits her. She is quite lovely. Leonardo had thought when he learned what her name was.

"You are right in doing so, my son,"

After a few hours, everything seemed to calm down. Raph was still in the dojo, Splinter and Leo had retreated to their rooms to meditate, Mikey was watching his cartoons, and Donnie had returned to the research on the bullet. Donnie was very careful in his work that he did not wake Brianna up.

"What? That can't be right. Wait, no it's right. Oh dear," He muttered to himself as he had finally figured out where the bullet had come from. What he couldn't figure out was why the military would be after her? Unless she's like a criminal or something. But, she's just a normal 17-yr-old right? He took one last long look at her and quietly left the lab/infirmary. Upon entering the living room, he was spotted by his younger brother who asked him, "Yo Donnie! Whatcha find out, huh?"

"This could be bad, let's go find the others. They need to hear it too,"

Mikey and Donnie gathered up everyone in the living room. Raph was still a bit angry but had calmed down considerably. Finally as soon as they were ready, Donnie told them what he had found out.

"What does the military want with her? She's just a girl," Mikey pointed out. They were all having a tough time with the information that Donnie had presented to them. According to his research, the bullet had come from a gun that was only used by the military. This meant that they were probably the ones that had shot her. But why would the military shoot a 17-yr old girl? It didn't make any sense. They were so engrossed in their debate that only Splinter took notice of Brianna when she appeared in the room.

"How are you feeling my child?" Splinter asked. This caused his 'sons' to stop talking and look up at their mysterious guest who had managed to get up and walk out to the living room without help again.

"Better. I can walk on my leg now without falling over,"

"I am glad to hear that you are healing so well," Splinter told her. Before anyone could say another word, Raph stepped in front of her and demanded to know what the government wanted with her. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie went to go pull Raph away, but before they could, Brianna punched the turtle and sent him flying across the room, where he hit the wall hard. Everyone stopped at what had just happened. Raph too, was stunned, and took a bit longer to get up than normal. Before he could get up all the way, Brianna teleported over to Raph and picked him up like he weighed nothing and tossed him across the room. He hit the other wall now, only this time he got up quicker and now the other turtles joined in the fight.

In a split second, Leo tried to kick her in the head, but she ducked and effortlessly tossed him over her shoulders. Raph came at her again but she used his speed against him and tossed him into his older brother. Seeing their two older brothers being beat up, Donnie and Mikey both went to go pin her down. However right at the last second, she jumped a few feet into the air, causing Donnie and Mikey to collide into each other. She continued to pound on the turtles like she was fighting rag dolls. Splinter watched for a few moments, studying the girl's abilities as she proceeded to kick the living crap out of his 'sons' as if it were nothing. During all of this, the turtles were screaming at her to stop but she wouldn't listen or perhaps didn't hear them. Realizing that she may not stop until the turtles were dead, Splinter took out a whistle that Casey had left behind one time and blew into it as hard as he could.

Finally all the fighting ceased. The turtles looked at Splinter and then back at Brianna. Brianna looked at her hands as she knelt down on the floor, refusing to look up at anyone. Mikey was the first who spoke up as the others were still stunned at what she was capable of.

"Man... no.. wonder... the military's... after... her.." He said as he tried to catch his breath. The dudette was excellent when it came to fighting! To think that if Splinter hadn't gotten her attention, she might not have stopped, was unbelievable!

"NOOOO!" Brianna screamed as loud as she could. She quickly got up and bolted out into the sewers before any of them could get up. Raph was about to go after her when Splinter stopped him.

"No Rapheal. Do not go after her. I do not think it wise for you to be the one to follow her. After all, you are the reason she got violent. I believe Leonardo is the one who needs to go," Splinter said as he put his cane in front of Raph, blocking him from going after Brianna. Leo nodded to his master and went out of the lair in search of Brianna.